If you fancy a quick getaway during the holidays, the solution might be a cheap flight to an exotic destination. There is a healthy budget airline industry in Southeast Asia, writes Nancy Zhang.

The National Day holidays are upon us. As always Shanghai will be crowded, so it's a great time to get away from China and explore other parts of Asia.

You may have heard of budget airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair in Europe, but Asia also has a well-developed budget airline industry. These mostly originate from Southeast Asia, so trips to popular locations like Thailand and Malaysia are not just convenient, but also very cheap.

If you're looking to go further afield, Asia's budget airlines can also help.

Southeast Asia from Shanghai

From Shanghai you can catch two budget airlines. Air Asia is a Malaysian airline that connects Shanghai with Kuala Lumpur. Established in 1993 it pioneered low cost, ticketless travel in Asia. Air Asia flights land at Hangzhou International Airport, but it's easily reachable via shuttle bus from Shanghai Huangpu Bus Station for 100 yuan (US$14.65).

The other airline that stops in Shanghai is Cebu Pacific Air. Flying from Pudong, it is the largest airline in the Philippines with the most number of routes and flights to the Philippine region.

If you are short on money but not on time, you can also fly with Cebu Pacific Air to Hong Kong or Taiwan. The flights go via Manila so it will take significantly longer.

Air Asia also connects to Thailand, but only from Shenzhen in Guangdong Province. In Shenzhen you can also find another budget airline, Tiger Airways, which flies to Singapore and Darwin in Australia.

Tiger Airways is the largest Singapore-based budget airline and flies to countries within a five-hour radius from Singapore.

From Hong Kong or Macau

Hong Kong is an international air connection hub. From there you can reach most countries in Southeast Asia.

From Hong Kong another two budget airlines, Jetstar Asia and Bangkok Airways, become available. Bangkok Airways flies to Thailand and Cambodia.

Jetstar Asia, a subsidiary of Qantas Airways, connects to Singapore plus Indonesia via its sister budget airline Valuair. Cebu Pacific Air also operates flights to all the above destinations from Hong Kong.

Macau is a good connecting hub for budget flights to Australia and Vietnam. From here you can catch Viva Macau to Sydney and Hoh Chi Minh City in Vietnam, plus Jakarta in Indonesia.

To compare prices you can also check Tiger Airways for their flights to Singapore from Macau.

Europe, Australia, India

The now defunct Oasis Airline provided flights at rock bottom prices from Hong Kong to Europe. But with its shock demise in April, expats wanting to go home are left with slimmer pickings.

Now Berlin Air is the budget airline of choice, though from Shanghai it only goes to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. But with the proliferation of cheap flights within Europe you can make your way cheaply from there.

The second best alternative is British Airways. Though not considered cheap in its native United Kingdom, its prices are surprisingly cheap on this side of the world.

A note to keep in mind for the future are the long haul routes planned on Air Asia X, a franchise of Air Asia. Partly owned by the Virgin Group, planned destinations include the UK, Australia, Russia and the Middle East amongst others. These will be reachable from Shanghai via Kuala Lumpur.

Australia's proximity to Asia means it is reachable by many of the budget Asian airlines. Apart from going via Macau you can also fly via Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia which gives you the choice of Melborne, Perth or Brisbane.

Similarly Tiger Airways connects China with India by going through Singapore.

Japan, S. Korea, US

The absence of the United States from the above list is matched by the similar absence of Japan and South Korea. The reason these countries have remained steadfastly aloof to budget airlines. US low-price flights are in trouble due to rising fuel prices. Budget airline Skybus collapsed earlier this year.

The proximity of South Korea and Japan to China mean that it's more convenient to book direct flights via one of the many all-purpose websites based in China, which service a huge range of countries and have excellent English language service.

The best, largest and often cheapest is Ctrip.com. Though you have to call for international flights, their attendants speak English well. The next best thing is Elong.net, travel giant Expedia's China partner with whom you can book international or domestic flights online.

Student Discounts

STA specializes in student travel in Europe and you can also find their branches in Shanghai. If you are an international student at one of the Shanghai universities you can go to their offices to apply for an International Student Travel Card which gives you special discounts on some flights.

If you are not a student but under 26, you can still be eligible by applying for an International Youth Travel Card also from STA.