November 27, 2008 23:50 PM
From Muin Abdul Majid
LONDON, Nov 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X is weighing its options for Europe following the London Stansted-Kuala Lumpur (KL) service which is set to take off on March 11, 2009.
"The big question is whether we put all our efforts into London and this becomes the hub for Europe, and from there (London) people can go off to France, Germany or other destinations, or whether we eventually have one place in central Europe, one place in eastern Europe, for example," said AirAsia group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes.
"That's to be debated. (AirAsia X chief executive officer) Azran (Osman-Rani) and his team will look at it," he said at the London-KL route launch, with fares starting from 99 pounds each way.
Fernandes said he personally had mixed feelings about the matter.
"I think sometimes it's good to have a lot of frequency in one place and then farm it out. But it would be nice to say we're going to fly to Rome, Prague and so on. What makes financial sense will drive us," he said.
The airline chief said the next step would be to have daily flights between KL and London, and possibly introducing two flights a day for the sector.
AirAsia X is scheduled to fly five times weekly between the two cities using the Airbus A340 from Air Canada.
Meanwhile, Azran said he would definitely introduce daily flights to London if he could get a second A340 plane.
To a question, he expressed hope that the load factor for the London sector would hover in the 83 to 84 percent range.
"It works for us if it's in the mid-70s in terms of breaking even. Eighty percent is really good, but 84 and beyond is what I'm hoping for," he said.
Azran said Germany was a potential destination for AirAsia X.
Source: BERNAMA
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