AirAsia X-ing services to four cities

Long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X has written in to the Ministry of Transport on its plans to withdraw its services to Paris, London, Mumbai and Delhi, according to a source.

It is understood that the routes are losing money and that AirAsia X could stop flying there as early as February.

AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani neither confirmed nor denied this.

“I hereby confirm that AirAsia X has not made any decisions on our routes, whether to add new routes or cancel existing routes. Not least of which there has not been any approvals from Ministry of Transport,” he said via e-mail in response to questions sent to him.

Minister of Transport Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha did not respond to a text message on the matter.

It is not known if alternative arrangements are being made for AirAsia X passengers who have booked flights post-February.
A quick check of its booking engine yesterday shows that flights for London and Paris are available up to October 2012.

According to the source, various reasons were cited for the withdrawal. These include the implementation of Emissions Trading privateScheme (ETS) over Europe come January 1 2012, visa restrictions and additional airport fees in India.

The European Union’s ETS scheme calls for airlines to pay up for carbon emissions it has not already accounted for.

Come January 1, AirAsia X is imposing a carbon offset surcharge of RM80 (return) for its flights to Europe.

The Indian market has been especially tough for AirAsia X given the visa restrictions for the market, which is believed to have driven passengers to use travel agents for their bookings.

India bars tourist visa holders from returning to the country within two months of leaving.

AirAsia X, which started operating to Stansted Airport in March 2009, relocated to Gatwick in October this year.

Flights to Paris Orly started this year.

Azran had reportedly said in early November that the airline was reviewing its network “but would not make drastic changes”.

The long-haul carrier has a fleet of 11 aircraft servicing 14 destinations.

These include destinations to Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Iran, New Zealand, India and Japan.

Under a share swap deal with AirAsia Bhd founders Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, Khazanah Nasional Bhd has the option of purchasing a 10 per cent stake in AirAsia X.

by Presenna Nambiar, btimes.com.my