News
AirAsia X seeks European LCC partners and AirAsia Group launches Singapore subsidiary
September 30th 2016
Long-haul low-cost carrier (LCC), AirAsia X, is planning a return to Europe with its 66-on-order A330neo aircraft from 2018 and is on the lookout for potential European partners to feed into its long-haul services. Read More »
AirAsia X CEO, Benyamin Ismail, said in China last week that easyJet and Ryanair could be potential suitors. Ismail did not mention fast-growing Norwegian, despite the carrier saying earlier this year that the AirAsia Group would be “a perfect match” for a Europe-Asia LCC partnership.
Ismail confirmed AirAsia X would launch an initial four-weekly A330-300 triangular Kuala Lumpur-Osaka-Honolulu route in the first quarter of 2017, with fifth freedom rights on the Japan-Hawaii leg, with plans the upgrade to daily flights in the northern summer.
The AirAsia X CEO said the three times a week Kuala Lumpur-Tehran route, launched in June, is performing above expectations, with load factors exceeding 94%, aided by a large number of Iranians visiting Malaysia.
“Malaysia is the most Islamic country in the region. It's a great destination for them,” he said, and added the carrier was keen to launch services to Iran “before the Iranians started really growing their Boeing and Airbus fleets”.
In Singapore, the AirAsia Group announced it has formed AirAsia Pte. Ltd, a wholly owned Singaporean subsidiary to handle all “airline operation services” in the city, including dealing with the relevant authorities and service providers.
