Asia’s flag carriers have found different ways of coping with the threat from the growing fleet of low-cost rivals. Some, like Japan Airlines and Singapore Airlines have bought stakes in these upstarts or, in the case of Qantas, developed their own. Eva has decked out its planes in Hello Kitty livery. Cathay Pacific has chosen another path: focusing on premium business and tight cost control. Is that enough in an industry it admits is volatile and will always be highly susceptible to external factors beyond its control?
亞洲的旗艦航空公司找到了不同的方法，來應對層出不窮的低成本競爭對手的威脅。有些，像日航(Japan Airlines)和新加坡航空(Singapore Airlines)，購買了新創航空公司的股票，另一些則像澳航(Qantas)那樣，發展了自己的低成本航空。臺灣長榮航空(Eva)給它的飛機塗裝了Hello Kitty彩繪。國泰航空(Cathay Pacific)則選了另一條道路：專注於高階業務和嚴格的成本控制。在一個自認有波動性，且永遠易受超出自己控制的外部因素影響的行業，這樣做是否足夠呢？