AirAsia X (D7, Kuala Lumpur International) will extend its international reach further from Kuala Lumpur International amid growing demand for air travel, announcing on June 15 the resumption of its long-haul route to London later this year and the launch of new routes to Dubai International and Istanbul Airport.
While these are not yet on sale and no dates were given, several other new destinations are - Tokyo Haneda (2x weekly from July), Osaka Kansai (2x weekly from October) and from Osaka onward to Honolulu (2x weekly from October), Sapporo Chitose (4x weekly from December), and Sydney Kingsford Smith (2x weekly from September).
These cities will join two routes that are already in operation according to the ch-aviation capacities module, from Kuala Lumpur to Delhi International and Seoul Incheon.
The low-cost long-haul specialist, which completed debt restructuring earlier this year in efforts to patch up its pandemic-ravaged finances, aims to have 15 aircraft in service by the end of 2022, its chief executive, Benyamin Ismail, told reporters after an event to mark the route announcements.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, AirAsia X currently operates twelve A330-300s, three of which are currently active. That is down from a pre-pandemic fleet of 24 aircraft, the ch-aviation fleets history module shows, plus an additional 13 (now eight) at subsidiary Thai AirAsia X (XJ, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) and two (now zero) at Indonesia AirAsia X (IDX, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta).
Ismail said that pilots and cabin crew who had been on furlough would be gradually brought back. AirAsia X, which was unprofitable even before the pandemic, will now focus more on medium-haul flights to ensure long-term commercial viability, he added.
“The key thing in our strategy is to have a model that flies profitably,” he said, as quoted by The Edge Markets. “We have to make sure that route decisions are commercially viable for the business itself. Generally medium-haul is the model, but I think we saw the pent-up demand of going to Europe, especially London. Also, the fact that we have been able to restructure the business, [which resulted in] cheaper costs, it looked more feasible for us to do it.”
However, he ruled out other destinations in Europe for now.
Kamarudin Meranun, executive chairman of AirAsia X parent Capital A, said at the event that “the resumption of four popular medium-haul routes and announcement of three new long-haul services is a significant milestone following the most challenging time in aviation history.” Colin Currie, the group's president (commercial), pointed to the refreshed branding as signalling a fresh start.
