Air Asia X (Fly Asian Xpress) Budget Flights KL to Australia / Europe
| Air Asia X / Fly Asian Xpress are awaiting the delivery of 25 Airbus A330s in order to expand their budget long-haul service out of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Air Asia originally announced in January 2007 its intention to operate ultra cheap flights between Malaysia and Europe under the 'Air Asia X' banner. |
Background on Air Asia and Fly Asian Xpress / Air Asia X
Air Asia operates a variety of domestic Malaysian routes as well as flying to Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Macau, Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia. Their success has been dramatic over the last 5 years - being a very well run outfit with entrepreneur Tony Fernandes at the helm - who has turned them into the the biggest discount airline in South-East Asia.
They have gained further global recognition through sponsorship deals of both Manchester United footbal team and the Williams Formula 1 team constructor.
Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) was a subsidiary of Air Asia. FAX used to operate 22 routes within Eastern Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah) using small Fokker 50 and Twin Otters aircraft. These routes were handed to Malaysian Airlines so that FAX could focus on operating the long-haul Air Asia X. The name Fly Asian Xpress was officially changed over to Air Asia X in late 2007.
The A330 aircraft from Airbus start to be delivered in late 2008. In the meantime Air Asia X are leasing aircraft to operate 2 services: Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Gold Coast (OOL), Australia and KUL to Hangzhou, China (HGH). Services from KL to Perth and Melbourne in Australia will start in November 2008 to coincide with the A330 deliveries.
In August 2007 Virgin's Richard Branson invested in a 16% stake in Air Asia X. (Air Asia owns 16%, venture capitalist funds from Japan and Bahrain own 10% each and a Fernandes consortium 'Aero Ventures' owns the remaining 48%).
Other potential Air Asia X routes are likely to be Kuala Lumpur to Europe (Prague, Moscow), UK (London Stansted, Manchester), Australia (Newcastle, Adelaide) and cities throughout Asia and the Middle East. The London - KL flights should be running by March to June 2009.
This is good news for travellers. Not only will they benefit from cheaper flights to/from KL - lowest prices per sector will be around $250 - but they will be able to connect to Air Asia's extensive destination network. And as the long-haul operation develops it will also give passengers options for great value business and leisure flights from say Australia to Europe and Japan to India etc. Average Air Asia X fares should undercut the major airlines by 50% but you will pay for extras like food and drink, checked luggage etc.
This will also help Kuala Lumpur (KUL) develop as a primary regional airport hub, in competition with its rivals Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong which can only benefit the Malaysian economy. So if you are looking for an ultra cheap flight to Asia, watch this space for further news on Air Asia X.
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