Air Asia X

Venggatarao Niadu, head of network and regulatory at AirAsia X, has outlined the importance of stakeholder engagement when developing new markets.

AirAsia X plans to lease more Airbus A330s in 2018 as it seeks to grow its route network by redeploying its existing fleet to new markets.

AirAsia X has spent a decade finding its feet – only to discover a new wave of low-cost rivals stepping into similar markets. Yet CEO Benyamin Ismail is confident for the future.

The approval from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) allows AirAsia X to operate services to any destination within the US market and it will now formalise its development plans to serve the market to coincide with the future delivery of new widebodied equipment. The airline is known to have been considering flights to several US states including Hawaii as part of its route expansion plans.

AirAsia X will return to the European market from 2018 when it starts to receive its Airbus A330neos and it is seeking a possible partner to help feed its routes, according to the budget carrier’s chief executive officer, Benyamin Ismail.

Is mainland China set to become the principal battleground for AirAsia as the low-cost carrier sets its sights on growing its presence across booming north Asia? We investigate the rise of the low-cost airline group and how it is tweaking its strategy to support growth in new markets and the maturity of its existing network.

Despite making its retreat from the European market back in 2012 due to high fuel costs, airport taxes and weak demand, it has been AirAsia X’s ambition to return to the Continent with more fuel efficient twin engine equipment once market conditions improved.

The anticipated arrival of the first AirAsia X long-haul, low-cost flights at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport on the island of Mauritius in October this year is just one good example of the leisure potential that Africa holds for future air service connectivity.

As air service development professionals were debating the impact of ASEAN open skies during Routes Asia and the general potential hailing from the rising middle class in Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand and a thriving economy with an overall community of over 630 million people, Tony Fernandes, founder and head of the AirAsia Group was firmly placing his support behind the regional economic integration.

AirAsia X is planning to add Auckland, the largest and most populous urban area in New Zealand, as a tag on its existing daily Kuala Lumpur – Gold Coast service and is expected to open reservations this week. It previously served Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand but closed the route after just 15 months of operation.

The new link to New Chitose Airport, located to the southeast of Chitose and Tomakomai, and the largest facility on Hokkaido, Japan’s second largest island will be introduced from October 1, 2015 and is targeted to attract the mobile inbound Japanese tourist market and support their interest in exploring the wider Asian market via the airline’s own network and its short-haul AirAsia Group partners.

Malaysian low-cost carrier, AirAsia has announced plans to launch direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to the Maldives.

Peter Harbison, executive chairman, CAPA, says growth and turbulence provide excitement – and financial risk – for Asia’s airlines in 2015 in an interview in the latest Routes News magazine.

The new four times weekly route was inaugurated on February 13, 2015 and is the only direct flight between the Malaysian capital and Jiangbei International Airport in Chongqing, one of the five national central cities in China. The city is a major manufacturing centre and transportation hub and serves as the economic centre of the upstream Yangtze basin.

The news came after the low-cost carrier’s chief executive, Tony Fernandes, revealed the intent to resume the popular route via the social networking site, Twitter.

Since its debut, AirAsia X has carried over one million passengers to and from its Japan routes and Japan contributes over 12 per cent of the airline’s total revenue to date. The airline is committed to Japan and the additional flight frequency to Narita is in line with its expansion strategy for the region, says the carrier.

The new Air Asia X service to XiÁn’s Xianyang International Airport was launched on July 2, 2014 and represents its fifth link into China after Hangzhou, Chengdu, Beijing, and Shanghai. The low-cost carrier is offering four flights per week on the route, the only airline providing direct flights between the city and Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia X has been one of the pioneers of the low-cost, long-haul airline model but its chief executive officer, Azran Osman-Rani

How will the LCCs respond to the challenges and opportunities during the next decade? Which LCCs will take the lead in the market? Can the traditional

AirAsia X is plotting its pan-Asian multi-base strategy, bolstered by a major aircraft order, chief executive officer, Azran Osman-Rani, explained to

AirAsia X, the long-haul, low-fare affiliate of the AirAsia Group, has confirmed the suspension of its services to Male, Maldives due, it said, to

Malaysian long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X has revealed it is getting closer to launching its new long-haul division in Thailand after confirming in

Long-haul, low-cost carrier, AirAsia X is to increase its current flights from Kuala Lumpur to the Australian cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to

After Azran Osman-Rani, Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia X revealed on Twitter last week that the carrier’s latest network growth would see it

The governments of the UK and Malaysia have agreed a deal to end restrictions on flights between the two countries. The former bilateral deal will be