Aerospace Diary

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Dec 24, 2013 Even budget carriers have a heart it seems! AirAsia X, the long-haul, low cost carrier affiliate of the AirAsia Group today celebrated the joy of Christmas eve with 331 passengers on board flight D7 372 from Kuala Lumpur to Taipei. All passengers onboard the flight received a surprise Xmas gift – one return free flight voucher to a selected AirAsia X destination which includes flights to Hangzhou, Chengdu, Taipei, Perth and Adelaide. Ofcourse they will have to buy their return tickets- well thought out gesture!   Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X said, “Our X-mas giveaways today is part of our surprise token of appreciation to our passengers in conjunction with this joyful celebration. As Christmas is all about joy, love and heartwarming moments, we wanted to show ours by rewarding our guests and we hope it was a memorable traveling experience for them.”                   ...

Neelam Mathews Feb 24, 2013   Before the rumor mill goes amuck, we at AerospaceDiary learn from a pretty reliable source that the new CEO of AirAsia India (I like the sound of that!) will not be from the airline industry. Again, we cannot confirm this and just reporting a strong tailwind. However, we do know from past history of the airline, there were few airline-associated top guys, starting with founder,Tony Fernandes, who refers to himself as a ‘dreamer’ in his twitter profile, while Azran, the CEO of AirAsia X calls himself a “madhatter running AirAsiaX, or sometimes just running aimlessly. Outdoor freak.or sometimes just freaking out randomly. On a plane!” Azran in Paris It is becoming increasingly clear the new guy will also be out of the aviation space, bringing in fresh ideas while the Tatas strive tirelessly with the regulator making it possible for Tony's dream to become a reality.

Neelam Mathews Feb 16, 2013 AirAsia X, the long-haul low fare affiliate of the AirAsia Group started its inaugural flight to Jeddah from Kuala Lumpur's Low Cost Carrier Terminal.   To mark the inaugural flight, AirAsia X treated the public at LCCT with kurma giveaways. AirAsia X’s staffs dressed in Arabic attire were seen walking around, engaging the public in promoting Jeddah as the gateway to Mecca and Medinah. AirAsia X flies to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia three flights weekly. The airline will start four flights weekly from May.

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Jan 19, 2012 The recent decision of AirAsia X  to stop  flying to Mumbai and London raised many eyebrows about the sustainability of long haul low cost services. Though the immediate concerns  point  towards high jet fuel prices, immigration concerns as well as  high  airport  taxes  have  also impacted the overall grand strategy to increase  yields,  rationalization and allocation of aircraft fleet to more profitable routes, says consultancy Frost & Sullivan. “These routes (Delhi and Mumbai and Paris and London) were  bleeding  on  a  low cost model and with the MAS-AirAsia collaboration, cutting off duplicate capacities makes sense,” says Amartya De, Frost & Sullivan Senior Consultant for Aerospace & Defense. “Part of the  network rationalisation process is also to bring passengers from European destinations on MAS up to Kuala Lumpur and then giving the...

AIN Air Transport Perspective » January 16, 2012 by  Neelam Mathews Europe's ETS, higher UK passenger duty taxes and high airport and handling costs in India have convinced AirAsiaX to refocus on Asia. (Photo: AirAsia) January 12, 2012, 10:24 AM AirAsia X, long-haul subsidiary of Malaysia’s AirAsia, the largest Asian budget carrier, plans to withdraw 11 weekly services to Mumbai and Delhi in India and 10 weeklies to its only European destinations—Paris and London—from its Kuala Lumpur hub. Services to Mumbai and Delhi will cease from January 31 and March 22, respectively, while flights to London and Paris will end on March 30 and March 31. “The implementation of the Emissions Trading Scheme and escalating Air Passenger Duty taxes in the UK, which will rise yet again in April, have forced our decision to withdraw our services to Europe,” said Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X. AirAsia X has faced excess capacity a...

Low-Cost carriers Aviation Daily Dec 02 , 2010 , p. 07 Neelam Mathews Malaysian long-haul buget carrier AirAsia X will launch its 15th international destination — from Kuala Lumpur to Christchurch, New Zealand — with four weekly nonstops, starting April 1, 2011, and using new Airbus A330 aircraft. "AirAsia X flights will open up routes and connectivity to New Zealand not just from Malaysia, but from India, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, China and London via AirAsia X's Kuala Lumpur hub," said Tourism New Zealand CEO Kevin Bowler. "We have strong growth in demand from Southeast Asia, and this new service will go a long way to fulfilling this increased interest," Bowler added.

Asia-Pacific Neelam Mathews Aviation Daily Nov 19 , 2010 , p. 16     Malaysian long-haul carrier AirAsia X will launch its second European route Feb. 14, when it starts four weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to Paris Orly International Airport ; it already serves the Kuala Lumpur-London route. The new route will be operated with Airbus A340 aircraft seating 327 passengers, including 18 in Premium class. The aircraft offers new Premium FlatBed seats. “The Paris route is a significant achievement for us ... at an affordable price. The commencement of the inaugural flight from Kuala Lumpur to Paris on Feb. 14, 2011, is our Valentine's gift for loved ones and families from the Asian region who want to celebrate the occasion in the romantic city of Paris,” CEO Azran Osman-Rani says. It is offering a promotional fare of $160 each way. 

Airports Aviation Daily Sep 01 , 2010 , p. 12 Neelam Mathews Budget long-haul operator AirAsia X has started negotiating use of passenger boarding bridges at Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s new budget terminal “subject to receiving a commercial proposal from Malaysia Airports that we can accept,” says CEO Azran Osman-Rani. The new low-cost carrier terminal, the opening of which has been delayed from the end of 2011 to mid-2012, is expected to be the largest in the world. Known as KLIA 2, the terminal initially will handle 30 million passengers a year. Capacity is expected to increase to 45 million in phases. The current low-cost terminal hosts AirAsia, Thai AirAsia, AirAsia X, Cebu Pacific Airways and Tiger Airways. AirAsia previously has said its growth has been pushed back because it requires a larger terminal with passenger traffic forecast to reach 30 million by 2013. Meanwhile, principal AirAsia may convert debt owed by its associates into equity when they seek l...

News AWIN First Aug 05 , 2010 Neelam Mathews NEW DELHI Malaysian long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X has started daily Airbus A330-300 flights from Delhi to Kuala Lumpur. This is AirAsia Group’s ninth destination added in India in the past 10 months. New Delhi becomes AirAsia X’s tenth destination worldwide, and the second in India after Mumbai. With three A330-300s to be delivered this year, it will be starting operations to Melbourne, Australia; Tehran, Iran; Seoul, Korea, and “another destination” later this year, Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X told AviationWeek. Subsidiary Thai AirAsia starts flights to Delhi and Kolkata from Bangkok in October, putting an end to the carrier’s further expansion in India as of now. “We will now consolidate and develop these routes ... and try to get frequencies higher,” says Azran. The carrier says it is not looking at any alliances with budget carriers in India in the “conventional sense of an alliance,” but is in preliminary talks...