Airline News
AirAsia back in high spirits
April 20th 2015
This week, the AirAsia Group has made the headlines in Asia-Pacific aviation again, but this time it was for the right reasons. With the focus slowly shifting away from the fatal Indonesia AirAsia crash on December 28, 2014, the low-cost carrier consortium is back with renewed vigour, with chief, Tony Fernandes, saying he hoped AirAsia would “fly to every airport in China in the next ten years”. Read More » The “man in the red cap” added the budget carrier would soon add four more destinations in China, building on the 31 Mainland cities already in its network.
Fernandes said Indonesia AirAsia and Philippines AirAsia would launch initial public offerings in the first quarter of next year. Its Indian offshoot, Bengalaru-based AirAsia India, is looking to set up a secondary Airbus A320 base at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, the home turf of rival Indigo, the country’s largest carrier, according to India’s The Hindu newspaper.
Earlier this month, long-haul low-cost arm, AirAsia X, announced a new Kansai – Honolulu A330 service from November, technically a continuation of its existing Kuala Lumpur – Kansai operation, while Thai AirAsia X also serves Osaka from Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport.
This Week in Asia-Pacific Aviation has heard the Honolulu debut is tied heavily to the re-launch of AirAsia Japan, earmarked for this summer in cooperation with Japanese travel agency Rakuten. The online company will hold an 18% equity in the airline. With both AirAsia long-haul divisions and AirAsia Japan feeding on to the Honolulu route, the budget syndicate hopes to take market share from full-service rivals, Delta Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Japan Airlines (JAL), who dominate the Japan-Hawaii market.
