The budget airlines flying from Singapore in 2026 are not quite the lineup from a year ago. Jetstar Asia, for years a default cheap pick from Changi, shut down on 31 July 2025, so any older list that still names it is out of date. What remains is a strong field led by Scoot, AirAsia and a clutch of foreign low-cost carriers such as VietJet, Cebu Pacific, Firefly and Japan's ZIPAIR. The headline fares look tiny, sometimes under S$50 to Kuala Lumpur, but the real number is the all-in cost once you add a checked bag, a seat and the airport fees that are quietly rising. This guide covers which budget airlines actually serve Singapore now, what each really costs, how the new Changi levies and a coming green tax change the maths, and how to spend so the saving survives checkout.
A budget airline, or low-cost carrier, strips the fare down to the seat and charges separately for everything else. Baggage, seat selection, meals and changes are add-ons. That model is why a Scoot fare to Bangkok can start lower than a taxi to Changi, and why the same fare can double by the time you reach the payment page.
The biggest change since 2025 is the exit of Jetstar Asia. Qantas closed its Singapore-based intra-Asia arm on 31 July 2025, blaming supplier costs that had climbed by up to 200 percent along with rising airport fees and tougher regional competition. Sixteen routes from Changi went with it. If you are reading an older budget-airline roundup that still recommends Jetstar from Singapore, treat the whole list with suspicion, because the market has moved on.
Scoot is now the dominant home-grown budget carrier. Owned by Singapore Airlines, it flies to more than 70 destinations across the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East from Changi Terminal 1, and it is one of the few low-cost airlines doing genuine long-haul on Boeing 787 widebodies, plus newer Embraer E190-E2 jets opening up smaller regional towns. AirAsia, the big Malaysian group, runs the widest short-haul network from Terminal 4 and leans on frequent sales. Foreign budget carriers fill the gaps: VietJet for Vietnam, Cebu Pacific for the Philippines, Firefly out of Seletar to Subang near central Kuala Lumpur, and ZIPAIR for a budget-widebody run to Tokyo.
For weighing a one-off trip against where else that money could go, run the total through the personal budget calculator before you book, not after the add-ons have stacked up.
| Airline | Based in | Changi terminal | Network strength | Cabin bag included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoot | Singapore (SIA group) | Terminal 1 | 70+ destinations, some long-haul | 10kg |
| AirAsia | Malaysia | Terminal 4 | Widest short-haul Asia network | 7kg |
| VietJet | Vietnam | Terminal 4 | Vietnam plus regional Asia | 7kg |
| Cebu Pacific | Philippines | Terminal 4 | Philippines plus regional Asia | 7kg |
| Firefly | Malaysia (MAG) | Seletar | Subang near central KL, regional | 7kg cabin, 10kg checked free |
| ZIPAIR | Japan (JAL) | Terminal 1 | Tokyo widebody, weight-based bags | 7kg |
The fare on the search page is the base fare, and on a budget carrier that usually buys you a seat and a cabin bag of 7kg to 10kg, nothing else. The carriers make their margin on the extras, and those extras are where a cheap fare turns ordinary. The discipline is to decide what you genuinely need before you reach the add-ons screen, because every box looks reasonable in isolation and punishing in total.
Checked baggage is the big one. Scoot and AirAsia both sell a checked bag from roughly S$20 to S$40 when you buy it with the ticket. Leave it to the airport and you pay excess by the kilogram, around S$20 per kg for shorter flights and S$25 per kg for longer ones, which can cost more than the seat itself. Scoot's 10kg cabin allowance is a quiet edge here: it is 3kg more than the 7kg most rivals give, enough to skip a checked bag entirely on a short trip.
Seats, meals and priority boarding are skippable on a two-hour regional hop if you are flying to spend the least. A hot meal runs about S$12 to S$13 on Scoot or Jetstar-style menus, while AirAsia's start nearer S$4 in ringgit terms. The change and cancellation fees on the cheapest fare class are steep, so only book a non-refundable budget fare once your dates are firm. Treat the insurance offered at checkout with caution too; a standalone Singapore travel policy is usually cheaper and broader, as our guide to whether you need travel insurance sets out.
Run a quick worked example. A S$60 Scoot fare to Bangkok with a 20kg checked bag at S$35, a chosen seat at S$10 and a meal at S$12 lands at S$117 before the return leg. Stack the same extras on the way back and you are near S$200 all-in, at which point a full-service promo that already bundles bags and a meal deserves a look. Compare the total, never the headline.
No single carrier wins every route, so match the airline to where you are going. AirAsia and Firefly fight hardest on Kuala Lumpur, where return fares have been spotted in the low double digits during sales. Scoot is the all-rounder, strong to Bangkok, Bali, Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo, and the only budget option for some long-haul runs. For Vietnam, VietJet usually undercuts on Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, while Cebu Pacific owns the Manila and Cebu routes.
The fares below are indicative one-way base fares seen across aggregators in June 2026, and they move daily, so treat them as a starting point and confirm live before booking. The pattern matters more than the exact figure: short Southeast Asian hops are genuinely cheap, while a budget long-haul to Tokyo still costs a few hundred dollars before bags.
For the destination-specific maths, including when fares dip and the taxes baked into a ticket, our route guides go deeper, such as the cheapest flights from Singapore to Tokyo breakdown.
| Destination | Cheapest budget options | Indicative base fare | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kuala Lumpur | AirAsia, Firefly, Scoot | From ~S$40 return in sales | Firefly's Subang lands nearer central KL |
| Bangkok | Scoot, AirAsia, VietJet | From ~S$60 one-way | High frequency keeps prices keen |
| Bali (Denpasar) | Scoot, AirAsia | From ~S$80 one-way | Add a bag for surf or shopping hauls |
| Ho Chi Minh City | VietJet, Scoot | From ~S$70 one-way | VietJet often cheapest on Vietnam routes |
| Manila | Cebu Pacific, Scoot | From ~S$90 one-way | Cebu Pacific dominates Philippines routes |
| Tokyo | Scoot, ZIPAIR | From ~S$160 one-way | Budget widebody; long-haul, bags extra |
Your fare is not only the airline's price. Changi's charges sit inside the ticket, and they are climbing. The Passenger Service and Security Fee rose to S$46.40 per departing passenger from April 2025 and is set to keep rising by S$3 a year through April 2027, then S$1 a year to 2030, reaching S$58.40. The Airport Development Levy stays at S$10.80 for now. Together the departure charges and taxes run about S$65.20 per passenger in 2026 and are programmed to reach S$79.20 by the end of the decade.
These fees are identical no matter which budget airline you pick, so they are not a lever you can pull, but they explain why a S$60 base fare can read closer to S$90 at checkout. The point is to compare two airlines on the same all-in screen price, because the fixed charges cancel out and only the airline's own fare and add-ons differ.
A new charge is also coming. Singapore plans a Sustainable Aviation Fuel levy on departing tickets, originally due on tickets sold from 1 April 2026 but postponed amid a jet-fuel price spike. As of 2026 it applies to tickets sold from 1 October 2026, for flights departing on or after 1 January 2027. In economy it is modest, S$1 for Southeast Asia, S$2.80 for Northeast Asia and Australia, up to S$10.40 for the Americas, and it lands on award redemptions too. It will not break a budget trip, but it is one more reason the gap between a budget fare and a full-service promo is narrower than the headline suggests.
Budget always wins the headline, but the gap closes fast once you rebuild a full-service ticket out of add-ons. A full-service fare on Singapore Airlines or its peers bundles a generous checked bag, a meal, a seat and free changes within the fare rules. Strip those out of the comparison and a Scoot fare can still be far cheaper. Add them back, and a quiet-week full-service promo sometimes matches a budget fare for a similar total.
The clean rule: budget is the clear winner for a short, carry-on-only trip where you skip the meal and the seat. It is roughly even for a longer trip where you need a checked bag and would buy a meal anyway. And it can lose to a promo when you would have paid for every extra regardless. Frequency helps budget too, since high-frequency routes like Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur keep prices honest and a sold-out flight rarely strands you.
One overlooked perk: Scoot lets you earn KrisFlyer miles, and its 2025 fixed award chart now starts redemptions from 1,500 miles one-way, so a budget seat can still feed a loyalty balance. If you are weighing miles against cash on a longer trip, our guide to redeeming KrisFlyer miles shows when a redemption beats paying. Budget carriers also pair well with a no-fee travel card and a strong rewards card, which our best travel credit cards roundup covers for booking the fare itself.
| Trip type | Better value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Short hop, carry-on only | Budget | You skip bags, seats and meals; base fare is far lower |
| Longer trip, one checked bag | Roughly even | Add-ons close the gap with a bundled full-service fare |
| You always buy every extra | Full-service promo | Bundled fare can match the budget total in quiet weeks |
| Peak-week travel | Compare both | Budget fares spike too; a promo may undercut |
Most travellers give back their flight saving the moment they start spending abroad. A standard Singapore credit or debit card adds a foreign-transaction fee on every overseas purchase, commonly around 3 to 3.25 percent. On a S$1,500 trip that is roughly S$50 lost to fees, often more than the budget fare itself.
A multi-currency travel card removes that fee. YouTrip, Wise and Revolut convert at near-wholesale rates with no foreign-transaction surcharge and free overseas ATM withdrawals up to a monthly cap, and a bank multi-currency account works the same way. Whatever you carry, always pay in the local currency, never in Singapore dollars, when a terminal or ATM offers the choice. That offer is dynamic currency conversion and the markup commonly runs 5 to 12 percent, which quietly undoes the no-fee card.
Two more habits protect the budget. Change a sensible cash float at a Singapore money changer rather than an airport counter for cash-only spots, and avoid over-converting, since changing leftover currency back home costs you the spread twice. The same currency drag that bites on a trip is the same force that makes inflation erode spending power at home, just compressed into a few days. Park the difference you saved into a goal instead of letting it leak; the savings goal calculator turns a cheap flight into a funded next trip.
The main budget airlines from Changi in 2026 are Scoot, owned by Singapore Airlines and flying 70-plus destinations, and AirAsia with the widest short-haul Asia network. Foreign low-cost carriers add VietJet for Vietnam, Cebu Pacific for the Philippines, Firefly out of Seletar to Subang, and ZIPAIR for Tokyo. Jetstar Asia no longer flies, having closed on 31 July 2025.
No. Jetstar Asia, the Singapore-based intra-Asia arm owned by Qantas, ceased operations on 31 July 2025 after Qantas cited supplier costs that rose up to 200 percent, higher airport fees and tougher competition. Sixteen Asian routes from Changi were affected. Jetstar's Australia, New Zealand and Japan operations continue, but it no longer serves routes from Singapore.
It depends on the route. AirAsia and Firefly tend to win Kuala Lumpur, with return fares in the low double digits during sales. Scoot is the strongest all-rounder for Bangkok, Bali, Taipei and Tokyo, while VietJet usually undercuts on Vietnam and Cebu Pacific on the Philippines. Always compare the all-in price after bags and seats, not the headline base fare.
For a short carry-on-only trip where you skip the meal and seat, yes, clearly. Once you add a checked bag, a chosen seat and a meal, the gap narrows and a quiet-week full-service promo that bundles those can match the budget total. Price the total cost, not the base fare, and compare against any promo before deciding.
Changi's Passenger Service and Security Fee rose to S$46.40 per departing passenger from April 2025 and keeps climbing toward S$58.40 by 2030. With the Airport Development Levy and other charges, total departure fees and taxes run about S$65.20 per passenger in 2026, heading for S$79.20. They are the same on every airline and are baked into your fare.
It is a Sustainable Aviation Fuel levy on departing tickets. Postponed from its original April 2026 start, it now applies to tickets sold from 1 October 2026 for flights leaving on or after 1 January 2027. In economy it ranges from S$1 for Southeast Asia to S$10.40 for the Americas, and it applies to award redemptions as well as cash fares.
Use a multi-currency travel card such as YouTrip, Wise or Revolut to skip the roughly 3 percent foreign-transaction fee a normal Singapore card charges. Always pay in local currency rather than Singapore dollars to dodge dynamic currency conversion, carry a small cash float changed at a Singapore money changer, and avoid converting more cash than you will spend.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.