Cathay Pacific's purchase of rival HK Express was an inevitable plunge into the no-frills market as the premier marque belatedly faces the reality that it can no longer ignore the budget sector, analysts say. Asia's biggest international carrier has historically eschewed the low-cost sector, even as the region's rising middle class has fuelled an unprecedented boom in air travel and demand for cheaper routes. But last week it finally bit the bullet, announcing it was buying HK Express for $600m from the debt-laden Chinese conglomerate HNA Group. The move allows Cathay to take over the city's only budget carrier and gifts it much needed slots at one of the world's busiest transport hubs -- prompting many to ask why it had taken the airline so long to make such a move. Analysts say Cathay's reluctance to embrace the budget model was a result of its conservative way of thinking, in much the same way Nintendo was dragged kicking and screaming into the mobile gaming market after years of weak earnings. But it is not too late for the airline, they say. "It's more like catching up rather than changing the landscape," said Jackson Wong, analyst at Huarong International Securities, adding that Cathay realised it had to "face reality" that the budget market was something they needed to embrace.<br/>