flee 5 Report post Posted November 23, 2010 From Bernama: Budget airline AirAsia will establish its fourth Australian hub in Darwin. Indonesia AirAsia president director Dharmadi announced in Darwin today that daily flights would begin from Dec 23 between Darwin and Denpasar in Bali, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reports. AirAsia will become the second airline to fly the route currently serviced by JetStar. AirAsia already operates flights out of Melbourne, Perth and the Gold Coast, primarily to Kuala Lumpur. AAP says concerns had been raised this year about the fees charged by Northern Territory Airports for carriers to operate out of Darwin Airport, as well as the flight time restrictions imposed. Earlier this month, Tiger Airways cancelled flights on which some passengers were already booked, between Darwin and Melbourne for a period of almost two months due to poor demand. Dharmadi said AirAsia would put the route on trial for up to six months but that he was confident of its success. "We will stay as long as you fly ... hopefully forever," he is quoted as saiying. He said AirAsia had not dumped any of its routes, either in Australia or Asia,since it began operating a decade ago. He said the cost of operating out of Darwin per unit would reduce as passenger load numbers increased. Northern Territory Airports chief executive officer Ian Kew said "exciting new airlines" were being attracted to Darwin to establish themselves in the "Australian gateway to Asia" market. He said A$40 million would be spent expanding the airport over the next two years. To celebrate the new route, Dharmadi said, 10,000 A$99 one-way flights would go on sale at mid-night today, for flights between Dec 23 and November 2011. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Keno Omar 0 Report post Posted November 23, 2010 It's misleading for the article to refer the 4 Australian stations as "hubs". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Smith 1 Report post Posted November 23, 2010 I was thinking exactly the same thing Keno...however in true journalistic fashion, don't let the truth get in the way of a good yarn! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BC Tam 2 Report post Posted November 23, 2010 He said AirAsia had not dumped any of its routes, either in Australia or Asia,since it began operating a decade ago. No ?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sri Ramani K. 0 Report post Posted November 23, 2010 No ?? Definitely not, BC! More often these routes just slipped out of passengers' mind and they go missing as if it never existed in the first place! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Samuel Chy 0 Report post Posted November 23, 2010 Definitely not, BC! More often these routes just slipped out of passengers' mind and they go missing as if it never existed in the first place! if we use axed? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flee 5 Report post Posted November 23, 2010 It's misleading for the article to refer the 4 Australian stations as "hubs". Agree - this is what you get when you get the stories from non-aviation sources... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BC Tam 2 Report post Posted November 23, 2010 if we use axed? Ah, a prescription for minyak angin cap kapak Agree - this is what you get when you get the stories from non-aviation sources... Don't forget contributions from our Malaysian politicians too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
