AirAsia X plans return to London
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AirAsia X is planning to resume flights to London as early as next year, group CEO Tony Fernandes has revealed.
Having met with London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, during his recent trip to Asia, Fernandes said that he hoped to relaunch the Kuala Lumpur-London route in 2015.
“We have [had] good discussions with Johnson on the kind of support that we needed. We have discussed with Airbus to accelerate the aircraft that we want because we need a slightly heavier aircraft to carry a bit more fuel and I hope we will get that next year,” the AirAsia boss was quoted saying by Malaysia’s Bernama news agency.
AirAsia X suspended all flights to Europe, including its London and Paris routes, in March 2012, due to high operating costs.
But the airline will face more competition on the route this time around; British Airways is also planning to resume its KL-London service in May next year. The UK national carrier will serve the route daily using a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. At present, only Malaysia Airlines flies the route direct, with twice daily Airbus A380 services.
Last week, AirAsia X revealed that it would decelerate the expansion of its Malaysian unit in 2015. The long-haul LCC will not take delivery of any new aircraft next year, and the airline’s CEO, Azran Osman-Rani, said the airline’s capacity would be “tactically managed”, with frequency reductions during off-peak seasons.
“2015 will see a drop in the number of flights to Australia, while North Asia and other regions will see an increase in number of flights,” he added.
UK educated Fernandes was speaking to reporters at the launch of the new Epsom College campus in Malaysia.
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