AirAsia X premium fares to go up after refurbishing

[Sri Ramani K. 0]

he's an AirAsia cadet, btw. the name given to X-ray Echo was named by a first officer.

[Sharil Abdul Rahman 0]

Indeed the new seats makes the cabin feels much larger than it is, thanks to the light colored seats.

 

Although cleaning the seats will be harder than just wiping off leather seats i reckon - unless those are leather not cloth from where i am seeing it.

[Mulyadir Fitri 0]

he's an AirAsia cadet, btw. the name given to X-ray Echo was named by a first officer.

Thanks bro. BTW, no more Xcite?

[Waiping 12]

Just had another nasty thought.

 

Since they introduce convenience fee for payment with credit card online, wonder if they would introduce another fee for the new seats. I'm thinking "Comfort Fee".

[Cheng Long 0]

Perhaps portable Xcite player for all now.. or maybe no IFE at all..

[Isaac 0]

Perhaps portable Xcite player for all now.. or maybe no IFE at all..

The PTV on D7 is doomed to fail from the start. This is a no frills airline and they should just operate like a normal low cost carrier without imitating the full service carriers.

[Sri Ramani K. 0]

i was told that maintenance of the handheld "IFE" is so much easier. probably that would be the only option of entertainment available onboard. will reconfirm soon.

[Kenneth T 0]

Just had another nasty thought.

 

Since they introduce convenience fee for payment with credit card online, wonder if they would introduce another fee for the new seats. I'm thinking "Comfort Fee".

 

Perhaps the so called 'Comfort fee' without IFE....

[Andi C 0]

Check out D7's new seats!

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/johan.farid/AirAsiaSNewXLSeatsOnXXE

 

http://www.johanfaridkhairuddin.com/

 

Anyone here know him? Invite him to join MWings (or is he already a member here?)

[Kenneth T 0]

http://www.johanfaridkhairuddin.com/

 

Anyone here know him? Invite him to join MWings (or is he already a member here?)

 

 

May seems good idea....

[Peter Smith 1]

FYI, -XXE has entered service with the new cabin

[Kenneth T 0]

Good news

[Kizz 0]

FYI, -XXE has entered service with the new cabin

 

Is there any way to find out what route they are on Liam?

 

I'm flying Per-Kul tomorrow (Feb 10) in economy and returning on the 17th in premium.

Edited February 9, 2010 by Kizz

[flee 5]

XXE had to go into service on 28 Jan 2010, D7 took off XXB for maintenance. From 1 Feb, XXE will primarily focus on Melbourne.

[Peter Smith 1]

Only flight I have seen it on is XAX2724/2725 (red eye Melbourne)

[Sing Yew 1]

Only flight I have seen it on is XAX2724/2725 (red eye Melbourne)

 

I suppose that's the reason why, they have 'Promo' fares on Premium for one of the flights but not for the other.

 

[flee 5]

Here is Azran's post in the AirAsia.com blog:

 

Finally, New Seats for AirAsia X - including the World’s First lie-flat bed seats on a Low Cost Carrier!

16 Feb 2010 by [AirAsia Blogger] Azran

 

Ever since the first new A330 aircraft delivery for AirAsia X came with the “non-reclining” black leather seats in November 2008, we knew this was going to be a big issue for us. Sure enough, the complaints started pouring in incessantly about these uncomfortable seats.

 

We’ve been tackling this for almost a year and a half, and now, finally, we believe we have a much better seat solution for our long-haul guests.

 

When we first ordered aircraft in 2007, the global aviation industry was very different. It was the boom time, and airlines were ordering new planes by the hundreds. Seat manufacturers were buzzing with more orders than they could fill. We were left with only one seat supplier who was willing to design seats for our aircraft, at a reasonable price, according to our required timeframe. We had no other choices.

 

They pitched to us a new design called ‘fixed-back shell’ seats. The idea was that the seat would not recline backwards, but would achieve the same recline-angle by the seat bottom gliding forward and the seat back moving along to get its ‘recline’ angle. The advantage was supposed to be better personal space management, so that you’re not bothered when the person in front leans back (especially when you’ve got the meal tray down trying to eat or work on your laptop, or when you need to get out to the aisle).

 

Lesson Learned. When the seats were manufactured, this design turned out to be very problematic, mainly because the cushion was too hard, the gliding mechanism too stiff, and edge of the seat bottom that was supposed to drop down to create ‘knee-space’ did not – which meant knees were banging on the seat in front. It was a disaster.

 

Our team tried to go back to all the seat suppliers to get a better design. As fate would have it, the industry turned upside down by llate 2008, and new aircraft orders almost screeched to a halt. Suddenly, seat manufacturers had extra capacity. We finally got a much better design proposal from the best supplier in the business. Took our joint team one year to detail out the designs, put the seats through safety certification (a very rigorous process), and get them manufactured for delivery.

 

New Economy Seat Back to Traditional Recline. 31" pitch for A330, 32" pitch for A340

 

We decided to move away from the traditional ‘black’ leather, and opted for a mix of red and grey, to brighten up and make the cabin less ‘optically constricted’.

 

 

Brighter Cabin

 

We also made a bold decision to scrap our ‘premium economy’ 38” pitch seats and replace them with full lie-flat bed business class seats. We felt the economics were very similar between 28 premium economy seats and 12 lie-flat bed seats, and therefore we might as well opt for the latter and up the quality of our product. Our Air Canada business class seats (on the A340s flying to London) gave us confidence that we could create a new airline product category – full lie-flat bed seats, for the price similar to other legacy carriers’ economy seat and a fraction of business class seat. After all, we felt people wanted most was a comfortable seat. The free-flowing champagne, five-star cuisine and lounge does not justify the thousands of dollars more charged in a normal business class fare. Oh yes, we’ve also added power socket on these premium seats!

 

 

World's First lie-Flat Bed Seats on a Low Cost Carrier!

 

Power Sockets!

 

The first plane with the new seats has now started operations. If you’ve been on this plane, do let me know what you think of the seats. Other existing aircraft will all go through the seat change, and by June 2010, we should be able to complete all of our AirAsia X retrofit aircraft. Hopefully, we wont face any logistics and supply issues.

 

In parallel, we’ve also decided to move away from in-seat in-flight entertainment systems (screens on every seat). Unfortunately, demand simply is not there to cover the massive cost of the system, the cost of Hollywood content, and the extra weight and complexity from the wiring. We think portable units are the way forward, and are now working on a new portable media solution that we hope to debut by mid-year.

 

One thing we’ve learned is that we’ve always got to be on our toes. Sometimes we don’t get things right the first time, but we’ve got to change and adapt. Standing still is not an option for us.

 

 

Thanks for all the constructive comments on our seats. We've listened. We've invested and revamped. Please bear with us during the transition period over the next few months.

[KK Lee 5]

Bravo D7 for listening to pax

 

[Mushrif A 3]

In my mind, the best thing about that article from Azran - is the honesty, that D7 can admit to its mistakes and then, move on with a revised product. Very few airlines can admit that it has had problems or disappointments or cutting back on frills, but will hide behind some media spin. (Remember the 97% approved,very healthy finger sandwiches in snekboxes by MH or the laughable lame excuse by a certain MH senior management guy on the leased 738 "business class" seats?)

Edited February 18, 2010 by Mushrif A

[Bhai 0]

In my mind, the best thing about that article from Azran - is the honesty, that D7 can admit to its mistakes and then, move on with a revised product. Very few airlines can admit that it has had problems or disappointments or cutting back on frills, but will hide behind some media spin. (Remember the 97% approved,very healthy finger sandwiches in snekboxes by MH or the laughable lame excuse by a certain MH senior management guy on the leased 738 "business class" seats?)

 

Yes indeed AirAsia do take passengers view very seriously. The CEO, Mr Azran always discuss with his passengers on how they feel with their flights no matter with AK or D7 flights. I observe this when I was in LCCT in which he was talking to few Aussie visitor of the problems of D7's previous economy seats.

 

Bravo to him as he makes Malaysia proud is building great hospitality and branding

[Waiping 12]

I believe that most successful CEOs will have customer focus as a main part of their business. The problem now is implementing that from top down and make sure the ordinary employee almost embrace this important factor.

[Kenneth T 0]

Well, whether like it or not, the staff just have to accept the new changes by management, it's not a choice.

[Waiping 12]

Well, whether like it or not, the staff just have to accept the new changes by management, it's not a choice.

 

Or they can choose to quit.

[Kenneth T 0]

Needless to mention, that's well understood....

[Tony 1]

I might just give D7 another chance if the price is right. Though not really my cup of tea flying into and out of LCCT. <_>