AirAsia X promotes KL-Jeddah route to Indonesians via charter contract

[Naim 6]

November 17, 2009 23:44 PM

 

Air Asia Flying To Jeddah Starting 2010

 

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 17 (Bernama) -- Air Asia Bhd will be flying to Jeddah starting next year, said its Group Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes at the Youth Engagement Summit 2009 (YES 2009) held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) Tuesday.

 

According to Fernandes, the low-cost carrier was now in the midst of waiting for approval from the Saudi government to start its operations for the route.

 

"The Saudi government has been very kind and I am pretty sure that everything will take place by next year," said Fernandes during the summit's economy roundtable session.

 

--BERNAMA

 

http://bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=456032

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

OMG I am so gonna take those flights!

 

I hope they can be a bit wiser in the scheduling:

• There should be a KUL-JED flight on Friday that arrive on the same day at night because Friday is regarded as Sunday here so that those who take this flight can maximise their holidays in Malaysia and still be able to make it on time (with enough rest) for the working day on Saturday.
  
• There should also be a JED-KUL flight on Wednesday and Thursday departing at night. By doing so, potential customers may still be able to go to work full hours on the days without having to apply for leave or work half day.
  

Since 9M-XAC is expected (for surely) to be banned from entering the Kingdom, this route will be served by the A333s. MH did deployed their A333s to JED too from time to time, so there will be no issues on that. And hopefully they market this route well in Indonesia and (to a certain extent) the Philippines too - that's where the real massive market to JED are located.

 

Will there be a special uniform for the female cabin crew for this route?

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

Since 9M-XAC is expected (for surely) to be banned from entering the Kingdom, this route will be served by the A333s.

 

Why 9M-XAC is expected to be banned from entering Saudi ?

[Y. J. Foo 0]

Why 9M-XAC is expected to be banned from entering Saudi ?

 

 

 

 

One word: Raiderettes...

 

 

 

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

One word: Raiderettes...

 

I see.... thanks. Anyway to 'cover' the Raiderettes when it enters the kingdom ?

[liza 1]

wow .. been thinking of the uniform too .. would it be just putting on abaya upon arriving Jeddah just like most of the middle eastern ladies?

 

however, i do think, Jeddah would be one of the popular destination later on for Air Asia .. as currently, most were on transit flight to lower their air tickets cost.

[Azreen 0]

U go AK!!!

[Kenneth Chong WT 0]

OMG I am so gonna take those flights!

 

I hope they can be a bit wiser in the scheduling:

• There should be a KUL-JED flight on Friday that arrive on the same day at night because Friday is regarded as Sunday here so that those who take this flight can maximise their holidays in Malaysia and still be able to make it on time (with enough rest) for the working day on Saturday.
  
• There should also be a JED-KUL flight on Wednesday and Thursday departing at night. By doing so, potential customers may still be able to go to work full hours on the days without having to apply for leave or work half day.
  

Since 9M-XAC is expected (for surely) to be banned from entering the Kingdom, this route will be served by the A333s. MH did deployed their A333s to JED too from time to time, so there will be no issues on that. And hopefully they market this route well in Indonesia and (to a certain extent) the Philippines too - that's where the real massive market to JED are located.

 

Will there be a special uniform for the female cabin crew for this route?

 

I believe non Muslim can wear what they want as long as they cover they "aurat" right?

Maybe the non-muslim Cabin Crew could wear pants instead of the skirt, would that be ok in Jeddah?

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

If the AUH virtual hub function is to take effect, where the flight into JED will be via AUH, and D7 uses AUH as a crew station during their layover (like what SQ is currently doing), there should be no problem regarding the crew's uniform because the crews won't get off the aircraft in JED.

 

However, if the route is to be served as KUL-JED and the crews have to spend a few nights in JED during their layover, I believe an abaya to hide those red uniforms is sufficient. It is what currently being practice by other airlines anyway. And yes, it is ok if they don't want to cover their hair as well.

[Mushrif A 3]

I see.... thanks. Anyway to 'cover' the Raiderettes when it enters the kingdom ?

 

Huge abaya stickers?

[BC Tam 2]

Huge abaya stickers?

Hah hah !

In the (unlikely) event that the said stickers become detached enroute KUL-JED, will it be necessary for the flight to make a technical detour somewhere for rectification works ?!

[flee 5]

I was just at the AirAsia.com website and amongst the destinations displayed was Jeddah. It looks like they should be launching this soon...

 

CHC is also coming soon as the feature is on the home page as well. Looks like the logjam is about to clear. Any bets on when SYD will become online?

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

OMG, hopefully they'll arrive here before I chalo.

[zeqa 1]

i wonder what the crew will be wearing? short mini skirt?hehe..

[Mushrif A 3]

i wonder what the crew will be wearing? short mini skirt?hehe..

 

Of course. That's the standard uniform of the female crew while on duty.

 

Off duty, just put on an abaya.

[jani 0]

Jeddah will be great for all those that for all this while wanted to visit the Holy Land but not fortunate enough to do so.

[Riza 0]

After the pilgrimage, surely ALMOST everybody will load 30kg of check-in luggage to KUL. Sure business for both passenger & cargo.

[Fitri Shukri 0]

Preemptive measures by D7 to counter MH Charter's two class configuration B747-400?

[flee 5]

Preemptive measures by D7 to counter MH Charter's two class configuration B747-400?

Not sure if it is - they were pushing for the rights to JED well before AUH as they know that this was a high volume route. Its the Malaysian Govt. that is taking its time to approve their application.

[flee 5]

Sorry for the false alarm.

 

Someone tweeted him:

Hi Mr Azran! i saw Jeddah in the web,is it a confirm destination or pending on approval? expansion very fast this year!

 

And here is his reponse:

neither. Its just a one-off wet-lease flight.

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

If it's a one off wet lease why did they put it on the website? Or are they not showing their hand just yet?

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

Same case like Muan before. It seemed every one-off wet lease or whatever flight of the same nature is included in the booking engine (in the past DRW, AUH appeared out of a sudden briefly too). I wonder why is it so?

[flee 5]

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) has signed an agreement to charter aircraft from sister company PT Indonesia AirAsia (IAA) for 24 return flights between Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur for US$648,000 (RM2.82mil).

The long-haul, low-cost airline told Bursa Malaysia that the two companies had on Jan 4 signed the charter agreement which summed up to 8,640 seats as a dedicated fly-through connectivity with its current Kuala Lumpur – Jeddah – Kuala Lumpur operations.

It said the transaction was aimed at promoting the Kuala Lumpur - Jeddah route to Indonesian passengers via the charter and to generate positive returns for AAX.

More: http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2016/01/04/airasia-x-promotes-kl-jeddah-route-to-indonesians-via-charter-contract/?style=biz

http://disclosure.bursamalaysia.com/FileAccess/apbursaweb/download?id=70345&name=EA_GA_ATTACHMENTS

[Mohd Firdaus Bolong 0]

So the move is purely to make positive impact on D7? Because i thought it'll be simpler to offer direct Route to JED from CGK. Bare in mind LI and GA have 2-3 flights daily to MED and JED for the umrah market. Doubt Indonesians would want to take extra flight to KUL just to go to JED.

[Amirul Mazlan 0]

Indonesians going for umroh generally booked their package through travel agents. The agents will work out which airline/routing suits best for their group of travellers. Yes, they do have flights out of Indonesia to Jeddah, even Citilink is operating Jeddah flight with tech stop at Medan and Mumbai before continuing to Jeddah. But the market is big enough for AirAsia, and even Malindo and MAS. Demand is huge, if they take the leftover they can still work it out. Nowadays i see a lot of Indonesian umroh pilgrim transiting in KUL. Some group even spent 1 or 2 nights here before continuing their journey.