AirAsia X premium fares to go up after refurbishing

[flee 5]

And here is Business Traveller's take on the new seats: http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/exclusive-new-air-asiax-seating-for-london-kl-r

 

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. <_>

The expanded LCCT is not as bad as before. But to really make it worthwhile travelling by D7, you have to wait for their zero fare sales. I believe there is one coming up soon as they open the new block of seats for booking (Nov 2010 to Jan 2011).

Edited February 23, 2010 by flee

[flee 5]

From Bernama:

 

AirAsia X will operate flights to Melbourne and Perth, with three more Airbus A330 aircraft coming in, as securing routes to Seoul and Sydney are a challenge.

 

Currently, it is using six A330 and two A340 aircraft.

 

"For some reasons we are not privileged enough to get some routes. So, we will be adding more flights to Perth and Melbourne and keep pushing Mumbai and New Delhi routes in 2010," says chief executive officer Azran Osman Rani.

 

AirAsia X will service the New Delhi route in August.

"However, that doesn't mean AirAsia X is dropping those routes from its plan, we still want to fly to Seoul, Sydney, Jeddah and to one city in Japan as there is huge demand.

 

"So, the guys next door are not going to run away from competition as we will keep throwing in more flights in the current routes," he told reporters after unveiling the budget airline's premium "Lie-Flat Bed" seats at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang today.

 

As for Mumbai, Azran said AirAsia X has the rights to fly four times a week to the Indian city and was pursuing to secure another three more landing rights as only then the route would be economically viable.

 

"We hope to secure the rights within this year.

 

Singapore Airlines operates four flights to Mumbai daily, meaning Malaysia is losing out," he said.

 

Asked on possible code-sharing arrangements with other budget airlines, Azran said it did not make sense to do code-sharing as with on-line booking, travellers could do it themselves

 

Meanwhile, AirAsia X is spending RM110 million to upgrade both premium and economy seats aboard its 11 aircraft, the CEO said.

 

"To refit one aircraft is RM10 million and it will be financed by internally generated funds. We already have eight aircraft and three more will come in by year end with the new seats fitting," he said.

 

The flatbeat seats are standard business class specification of 20" width pitch and can be streched out to 77" when in full reclined position, while the economy class seats have been revamped with new ergonomical, reclineable seats at 31" pitch.

 

The premium seats feature universal power sockets, adjustable headrests and built-in personal utilities namely tray table, reading light and privacy screen.

 

The airline has also moved away from traditional black leather and opted for a mix red and grey to brighten its cabins' ambience.

 

The new seats re-fit will be done in stages for all long-haul flights to Melbourne, Gold Coast, Perth, Taipei, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Chendgu, London, Mumbai and New Delhi, Azran told reporters after unveiling the new seats.

 

The refurbishment will allow AirAsia X's A330 to have a seat configuration of 12 flatbed premium seats from 28 currently, and 365 economy seats from 355 currently, while for the A340, the new configuration will be 18 flatbed compared with 30 now and 309 economy seats from 256 currently, he said.

 

The refurbishment exercise is due for completion in June this year.

 

To introduce the new seats to customers, AirAsia X has thrown in some exclusive promotions with Citibank and some discounts as well.

Edited April 5, 2010 by flee

[samir 0]

was looking at flying to perth in may, Looked at few Airlines

QF, JQ, TR, D7, SQ,

 

Cheapest was TR, but timing coming back to sin was unacceptable,

2nd Cheapest was JQ by $50 SGD from QF but timing back to sin was even worse then TR.

Best price was QF. timing was coming back to sin was perfect. SQ was the most expensive.

AAX, was in par with JQ price but i need to fly to KL to catch it and might have stay in a hotel, ended up being same as QF price and timing was pretty crap as well and it not full service same as JQ, TR.

 

Point of the story is all these so call low cost are not really that cheap....it all gimmick we as consumer fall for it not realizing we've been con....