If you’ve been following budget travel in Southeast Asia for a while, you’ll know the frustration. You can fly Bangkok to Singapore for $40. But try to get from Cebu to Penang, or from Chiang Mai to Medan, and suddenly you’re routing through two hubs, paying $180, and losing half a day to connections.
That’s about to change.
In May 2026, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam jointly launched an ASEAN Open Skies initiative — a multilateral agreement that removes route-access restrictions between the five countries and opens up direct budget flights to secondary cities that previously had no economical air connections.
This is genuinely big news for budget travellers. Here’s what it means, which routes are opening, and how to get ahead of the price rises before everyone else finds out.
What Is the ASEAN Open Skies Agreement?
Open Skies agreements remove the restrictions that normally limit which airlines can fly which routes between countries. Under traditional bilateral agreements, only specific designated carriers could fly city-pair routes — and those carriers often had little competition, keeping prices high.
The ASEAN Open Skies framework allows any ASEAN-based carrier to fly any route between the five member countries without the usual approval barriers. Low-cost carriers like Cebu Pacific, AirAsia, Lion Air, Nok Air, and VietJet can now open routes that wouldn’t have been commercially viable — or legally possible — before.
The result: more airlines competing on more routes, which pushes prices down and opens destinations that were previously hard to reach cheaply.
The Routes Opening Up
The most exciting opportunities are the secondary city connections — not the Bangkok–Singapore type routes that already had plenty of competition. These are the routes that are genuinely new:
Philippines connections
Cebu (CEB) is the big winner here. Cebu Pacific is expected to expand its regional network significantly, with new routes connecting Cebu to Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and potentially direct connections to secondary Thai cities.
For travellers: Cebu is the gateway to the Philippines’ most beautiful diving — the sardine run at Moalboal, the Chocolate Hills in Bohol, the whale sharks at Oslob. Getting there used to mean Manila first. Now it shouldn’t.
Malaysia connections
Penang (PEN) is positioned as a major beneficiary. Penang’s hawker food culture, colonial George Town architecture, and beach access at Batu Ferringhi make it one of Southeast Asia’s most underrated destinations — and it’s been held back partly by limited direct international routes.
New connections are expected between Penang and Cebu, Ho Chi Minh City, and Jakarta — all routes that previously required a Kuala Lumpur layover.
Thailand connections
Chiang Mai (CNX) gains the most from this agreement among Thai secondary cities. The city has been growing as a digital nomad and long-term traveller hub for years, but its air access was mostly limited to Bangkok connections.
Nok Air and AirAsia are expected to launch or expand direct routes from Chiang Mai to Hanoi, Danang, Penang, and Cebu under the new framework.
Indonesia connections
Medan (KNO/MES) and Lake Toba access is perhaps the most exciting opening for adventure travellers. Medan’s Sumatran rainforests, orangutan sanctuaries, and Lake Toba — one of the largest volcanic lakes in the world — have been frustratingly difficult to reach cheaply from neighbouring countries.
Lion Air and AirAsia are expected to open new direct routes to Medan from Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and potentially Singapore, dramatically reducing access costs to North Sumatra.
Vietnam connections
Danang (DAD) and Phu Quoc (PQC) both benefit from expanded regional connectivity. VietJet — which already launched a direct Ho Chi Minh City to Colombo route in mid-2026 — is aggressively expanding its international network and is well-positioned to capitalise on the new route freedoms.
The Budget Airlines Best Positioned to Benefit
These carriers have built their business models around exactly this kind of opportunity:
Cebu Pacific — Philippines-based, dominant in the archipelago, now expanding ASEAN-wide. Their dense island network combined with new international routes makes them the most interesting new player in the regional budget space.
AirAsia — Already the region’s biggest LCC, AirAsia has the fleet, infrastructure, and brand recognition to fill new routes quickly. Their Malaysia base at Kuala Lumpur is perfectly placed as a secondary hub for ASEAN connections.
Nok Air — Thailand’s budget carrier has been growing steadily. New Chiang Mai routes will be a priority.
VietJet — Vietnam-based and aggressively expanding. Watch their app and email list for new route announcements — they tend to launch new routes with promotional fares that won’t last.
Lion Air — Dominates Indonesian domestic routes. New international routes from Medan and other secondary Indonesian cities are expected.
How to Book Before Prices Rise
Here’s the practical advice. When new routes launch, airlines typically offer two types of fares:
Inaugural promotional fares — absurdly cheap. Airlines want to fill seats on new routes to prove demand. These fares can be 50–70% below what the route will eventually settle at. They’re usually available only in the first few weeks after a route launches and they disappear fast.
Early normalisation fares — still below long-term pricing but no longer promotional. These last for a few months after launch while airlines build awareness.
Established fares — by 6–12 months after launch, prices settle at their “normal” level, which is still lower than before Open Skies but higher than those early promotional deals.
The travellers who benefit most are the ones who book in the first wave.
How to catch inaugural fares
- Follow the airlines on social media. Cebu Pacific, VietJet, Nok Air, and AirAsia all announce new routes on Instagram and Facebook before they appear on aggregators.
- Set up Google Flights alerts for the specific routes you’re interested in. Go to Google Flights, search your route, and click “Track prices.” You’ll get an email when the fare drops.
- Check Skyscanner’s “Explore” map. Set your departure city and leave the destination open — Skyscanner will show you the cheapest destinations you can fly to right now. New low-cost routes show up here as soon as they’re bookable.
- Subscribe to deal newsletters. Services that track and publish flight deal alerts will flag new Open Skies routes as they become bookable. Many of the best deals disappear within 24–48 hours.
- Book as soon as you see a good fare on a new route. Don’t wait. These inaugural prices are time-limited and the fares typically only go up.
A Sample New Itinerary That Just Became Possible
Here’s an itinerary that was awkward and expensive before the ASEAN Open Skies agreement and that should now be bookable as a smooth, affordable multi-country trip:
The ASEAN 5-city loop:
- Fly into Penang from your international gateway (connecting from Singapore or Kuala Lumpur)
- Penang to Cebu — new direct route, Cebu Pacific (previously required Manila)
- Cebu to Chiang Mai — new connection via AirAsia or Nok Air (previously required Bangkok)
- Chiang Mai to Hanoi — now direct on VietJet or Nok Air
- Hanoi to Medan — new route opening North Sumatra to Vietnam travellers
- Medan to Kuala Lumpur — AirAsia, onward to your international flight home
That loop — Penang, Cebu, Chiang Mai, Hanoi, Medan — is genuinely extraordinary. It covers some of Southeast Asia’s best food cities, its most beautiful dive destinations, its most ancient temples, and one of the most dramatic volcanic landscapes on earth.
Before ASEAN Open Skies, routing that trip was expensive and inconvenient. Now, with the right booking timing, it should be achievable for $150–$200 in total regional airfares.
What This Means for Australian Travellers
For travellers departing from Australia, the ASEAN Open Skies agreement doesn’t directly affect your long-haul flight from Sydney or Melbourne to Southeast Asia. Those routes are governed by separate bilateral agreements between Australia and individual ASEAN countries.
What it does change is what you do once you’re in the region. Your first flight to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, or Bangkok gets you into the ASEAN network, and from there, the new Open Skies routes open up a much richer set of connections at budget prices.
Think of it this way: you fly Sydney to Singapore on Scoot for $350 return. And then from Singapore, you’re plugged into a newly liberalised budget network covering five countries and dozens of secondary cities that previously required expensive connections.
That’s a meaningful upgrade to the Southeast Asia travel experience.
Staying Across the New Developments
The ASEAN Open Skies agreement is being implemented in stages throughout 2026 and into 2027. Not all routes will open immediately — airlines need time to file route applications, get scheduling slots, and announce fares.
To stay across what’s opening:
- Bookmark the AirAsia, Cebu Pacific, and VietJet route news pages
- Set Google Flights price alerts for the specific secondary city pairs you’re interested in
- Check back here — I’ll be updating this post as new routes are confirmed and inaugural fares appear
The travellers who pay the least for Southeast Asia in the next 12 months will be the ones who move quickly when new routes launch. The window for the best deals is always short.
Planning a multi-stop Southeast Asia trip? Read my post on the AirAsia ASEAN Pass to see whether a regional flight pass makes more sense than booking individually — especially now that more routes are opening.
