A low cost airline that advertised flights to Hong Kong for £65 has gone bust.

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines went into voluntary liquidation today and has cancelled all flights.

Chief executive Stephen Miller told a press conference this morning: "It is with great regret that Oasis Hong Kong Airlines has today voluntarily applied to the Hong Kong courts to appoint a liquidator."

The carrier launched in October 2006 and sought to offer low cost, no-frills flights between the Gatwick and Hong Kong, and later between Vancouver and Hong Kong. The flights typically cost from £65 one-way or £150 return, plus around £106 in taxes.

It’s not the first long-haul, low cost airline to fail. Laker Airways, launched by Freddie Laker in 1966 and widely considered the first low cost long-haul airline, sought to offer one-way flights between London and New York for around £130 (including taxes). It went out of business after an aggressive price war with British Airways and TWA.

Others have so far succeeded where Laker and Oasis have failed – Zoom Airlines launched flights between the UK and Canada in 2003 with prices from £89 one-way including taxes, and has now expanded to fly to Bermuda, New York, Rome and Paris.

Flyglobespan, a Scotland-based carrier, also advertises low cost long-haul flights, including services to Canada and Florida; and there’s new entrant AirAsia X, which is an extension of the Asian short-haul carrier AirAsia and offers flights from Kuala Lumpur to Australia and China, with London-Kuala Lumpur next to launch.

The Oasis website is live and its homepage carries no information concerning the liquidation, but a message informs anyone trying to book a flight online that the airline’s reservation system “is currently undergoing maintenance”.

Oasis passengers stranded abroad, or those with tickets for future flights are being advised to call a hotline (0208 834 8893) set up by rival carrier Cathay Pacific. The airline is offering a one-way Economy Class fare of £160 between London and Hong Kong up to April 23 to eligible Oasis ticket holders.

Customers who had flight bookings with Oasis will only receive a refund of the unused parts of their ticket if they booked through an Atol-bonded company, such as a high street Abta travel agent. The only chance of a refund for those who booked direct with the airline is if the booking was made with a British credit card and the transaction was over £100. In this instance, customers can appeal to their credit card provider for compensation.

Other carriers that operate between London and Hong Kong are British Airways, Air New Zealand, Qantas Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

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