AirAsia X will make a decision by the end of October on the final shortlist of European destinations that it could potentially serve through the Request for Proposals (RFP) it launched in association with Routesonline earlier this year. The long-haul, low-cost carrier says it has received a “tremendous response” to the RFP for the expansion of its European route network.
It launched a Pre Qualifying Questionnaire (PQQ) to deem if the airports met the basic operational and performance requirements of the airline’s aircraft on June 2 and more than 40 applicants passed through to the formal RFP stage, a very detailed criteria set by the airline to ensure high quality submissions.
The airline had originally intended to announce its shortlist on September 1, but Senthil Balan, Head of Network Planning and Regulatory Affairs, AirAsia X confirmed to The HUB this week that due to the extensive documentation the airline received from the applicants, it has taken slightly longer to generate the final list.
“We have been absolutely delighted with the level of interest we have received from potential airport partners. There has been a fantastic level of quality substantive information supplied to us, and in order to digest this and ensure that all the responses are looked at in their entirety we require a little more time before announcing our final shortlist,” he said. “We appreciate all the effort and resources that have gone into the development of the submissions we have received, and we have been grateful for the interest that has been shown across Europe for the AirAsia X service. We now hope to reveal the shortlist in October and really appreciate the continued support of all the airports still involved in the process.”
AirAsia X has been using Routesonline’s Route Exchange online trading zone to manage the RFP. “We have been delighted to work with Routesonline. Using Route Exchange to manage this process has brought a level of structure to the procedure and airports have highlighted to us how much they have appreciated the transparency of using this confidential platform. We also like to put on record, our appreciation to the Routesonline team for their professionalism and dedication in undertaking this RFP process,” added Senthil Balan.
For more information on AirAsia X, please click here to view the airline's Route Exchange profile.
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