D7 to launch KUL - LGW from 24th October 2011 onwards

[flee 5]

AirAsiaX announces Gatwick Airport as new base for its

Kuala Lumpur-London route

 

12 July 2011 - AirAsia X, the Malaysian based long haul, low fare affiliate of AirAsia has announced that from 24 October 2011, it will commence flights from Kuala Lumpur to Gatwick Airport. The new base for the airline is set to further increase passenger traffic from South East Asia to London and Europe with six flights weekly to Gatwick Airport by mid-December.

 

AirAsia X’s decision to switch from Stansted to Gatwick Airport was to maximise commercial opportunities at Gatwick, to ultimately drive increased traffic flow between UK and Malaysia, and also the various key feeder markets within AirAsia’s network in Asia Pacific. AirAsia X guests will be given a wider choice to of both domestic and international connections via Gatwick Airport. Public transport and accommodation facilities are easily accessible via Gatwick for guest stop overs or for those heading towards central London and the surrounding region.

 

AirAsia X launched its maiden flight into Stansted International Airport (London) in March 2009. The low-cost long haul airline is currently operating six times a week between Stansted and Kuala Lumpur. The route has fast turned Kuala Lumpur into a regional hub connecting three continents, with Australians and New Zealanders flying into the Malaysian capital and connecting on AirAsia X to London. And British and European travellers using AirAsia X’s service to Kuala Lumpur, in turn, hop onto AirAsia’s extensive route network to travel at low fares throughout South-East Asia, to such popular destinations as Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.

 

To mark the occasion, AirAsia X is offering one way all-in fare from as low as RM1,039 (£338*) for Economy seats and one way all in fare from as low as RM 3,429 (£930) for Premium Fly Flat bed seats through online bookings made from 13 – 24 July 2011 at www.airasia.com for the travel period beginning 6 February – 6 June, 2012.

 

AirAsia X Chief executive Officer, Azran Osman-Rani said, “Our aim has always been to open up travel for all. The popularity of the London-KL route is further testament to the pent-up demand for long-haul travel, provided the fares are low and the quality is high. That is the combination that we at AirAsia X are offering our guests.”

 

“Gatwick Airport was chosen as it demonstrated the passion to work with us in realising our objectives to grow passenger traffic between our hubs in Asia Pacific and London. With our new home base in Gatwick, guests would be able to further benefit from the airport’s destination served, airline diversity, and beyond market connectivity potential with faster and cheaper rail connectivity to the city as compared to Stansted. AirAsia X see’s strong potential for the airport as we believe our entry will address the fact that direct services to Asia is significantly underserved from Gatwick,” concluded Azran.

 

Gatwick Airport Chief Executive, Stewart Wingate said, “We are seeing more and more Britons choosing to travel long-haul, and in particular to explore countries in South East Asia. Malaysia is ranked as one of the world’s top ten leisure destinations and its capital city, Kuala Lumpur, is one of the most visited cities in the world. We are absolutely delighted to have AirAsia X on board to connect Gatwick to this popular region and give the 450,000 Britons who travel to Malaysia each year the opportunity to fly with an airline that offers a high quality service at prices people can afford.

 

“We look forward to working with AirAsia X to help them meet their growth potential and also ensure our airport continues to serve destinations UK passengers want to travel to, be it for leisure or business.”

 

Source: http://www.gatwickairport.com/business/media-centre/press-releases/airasiax-announces-gatwick-airport-as-new-base-for-its-kuala-lumpar-london-route/

[jackch747 0]

Why don't they fly 7-time weekly? It seems to be a profitable route for AAX.

[flee 5]

Why don't they fly 7-time weekly? It seems to be a profitable route for AAX.

Not enough aircraft - now it is 6 times to London and 4 times to Paris each week. That is the maximum that 2 A340-300s can manage. I think that once the new A330-200's are delivered next year, the frequency to London might go to daily. Before they started Paris flights, there were as many as 9 flights a week to Stansted.

[jackch747 0]

Not enough aircraft - now it is 6 times to London and 4 times to Paris each week. That is the maximum that 2 A340-300s can manage. I think that once the new A330-200's are delivered next year, the frequency to London might go to daily. Before they started Paris flights, there were as many as 9 flights a week to Stansted.

 

Thought so. They can lease few aircraft from MAS

[flee 5]

A318, A319, 320 and A321 have the same crew rating. Apart from pax number, fleet planning and support should be straight forward especially if A321 is assigned to DAC and KTM only.

Although it is technically capable, it may not be the optimal business proposition. Having aircraft dedicated to specific routes where the business outcome is uncertain might be too risky. What if these routes have to be axed? They will then be left with planes that do not have routes to ply...

 

My source in D7 said this when I asked if the A321 rumours are true:

Yes we considered A321s but concluded its not viable.

[Mushrif A 3]

In addition to this. Jeddah is to be launched after Hari Raya followed by Osaka either to begin by years end or early next year. These are all insider rumours.

 

 

JED after raya? That may not be a great time to launch given that it will soon be Hajj, and unless D7 gets to fly the pilgrims, there may be little traffic during that period. Umrah travellers will disappear and then closer to the peak of the Hajj season, even normal non-Hajj travellers (i.e. non-Saudi residents) cannot enter Saudi through JED even if they have visas. MH usually downgrades aircraft/ frequencies of its scheduled KUL-JED services during this time due to a decline in normal non-Hajj traffic and zero Umrah traffic.

Edited July 13, 2011 by Mushrif A

[flee 5]

At the launch of the Stansted route in early 2009, AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes stated Stansted was selected due to its “great low-cost connectivity across Europe”. The airport won out over Manchester, which is another LCC stronghold in the UK.

 

Key to ensuring the success of a long-haul low-cost carrier, according to Mr Fernandes and his AirAsia X counterpart Azran Osman-Rani, is ensuring there are adequate connection opportunities for onward travel at both ends, in Kuala Lumpur and London. This would ensure AirAsia X avoids problems that had brought down other long-haul LCCs in the past, most notably Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, which learned the hard way how a lack of feed and distribution can hurt loads and profitability.

 

Kuala Lumpur-based and Southeast Asia’s largest carrier, AirAsia has always ensured onward connections at Kuala Lumpur. The London end, however, has been trickier. True to the LCC mantra, AirAsia X passengers take care of their own onward services as no formal links have been established. CEO Osman-Rani has previously told CAPA that the “self-connect model at overseas ports will be the mainstay”, with the airline to focus on developing connections primarily at Kuala Lumpur. Mr Osman-Rani also stated that “there are airports that have started discussions on how to facilitate connections ... the more innovative ones that are open to new ideas and models that are more suitable for low-cost operations than trying to impose the traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.”

 

A long and analytical CAPA article - read it before it is locked up: http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2011/07/14/airasia-x-confirms-gatwick-move--another-loss-for-stansted/page1

[Pieter C. 5]

Airasia is The Best Low Cost Airline & STN Is The Best Low Cost Airport...........why they move??

 

See reply #7 #11 and #13...

 

Why don't they fly 7-time weekly? It seems to be a profitable route for AAX.

 

Could be slot issues: it's extremely hard to receive slots for both LGW and LHR; actually, I'm very surprised, D7 WAS able to receive slots (for some days) for Gatwick anyhow...

[BC Tam 2]

..... actually, I'm very surprised, D7 WAS able to receive slots (for some days) for Gatwick anyhow...

Ditto here

Any idea if the times D7 plan to operate in/out of LGW are the 'off peak' periods of the day ?

[flee 5]

it's extremely hard to receive slots for both LGW and LHR; actually, I'm very surprised, D7 WAS able to receive slots (for some days) for Gatwick anyhow...

It is a well known fact that many airports in Europe are courting D7 - in the UK, MAN is trying hard and in Germany it is MUC. They know that wherever D7 goes, they do bring an economic bounty with them as pax who do not have to pay so much on air fares tend to have a "feel good" factor and splurge on other things like duty frees.

 

That is why MAHB was so gung ho with the new KLIA2, with loads of retail space. The LCCT has shown them that LCC pax need not be poor and have little purchasing power! That also explains why they vehemently objected to KLIA East @Labu.

 

LGW realised the advantages of having D7 link Asia and Australia/NZ to Europe. So, the slots were made available.

[Waiping 12]

Reminds me of the feeling - fly cheap, get slaughtered when you land.

 

During the start of LCCT public transport was a serious problem. Only now we get to see better connectivity between the MTB and LCCT, as well as to other places even Ipoh.

Edited July 15, 2011 by Waiping

[BC Tam 2]

They know that wherever D7 goes, they do bring an economic bounty with them as pax who do not have to pay so much on air fares tend to have a "feel good" factor and splurge on other things like duty frees.

And therein lies (what I believe to be) the essence of the Air Asia group's success so far

The perception that one fork out less compared to what the competitors would have made one pay instead

And that certain "feel good" factor will be one major obstacle preventing one from investigating further too

And with that, Air Asia (be it X, or Thai or Indonesia etc) will be first on the list the next journey comes up, thus reinforcing the perception

[flee 5]

AirAsia X arrives at its new London ‘home’ - Gatwick

 

 

Gatwick welcomes its first AirAsia X flight from the capital city of Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur

 

Gatwick supports AirAsia X in its drive to increase traffic between the UK and Malaysia

 

Passengers benefit from a wide choice of onward connections to popular destinations including Thailand and Indonesia

 

Today, Gatwick welcomed the arrival of guests from the capital city of Malaysia for the first time as AirAsia X touched down on its new London home, having switched from Stansted Airport.

 

AirAsia X will be flying five times a week to Kuala Lumpur, moving to six flights a week by mid-December.

 

Long-haul routes to South-East Asia have been underserved by Gatwick but, as of today, that pent up demand from passengers can finally be met. Gatwick’s passengers can not only fly direct to Kuala Lumpur – one of the most visited cities in the world – but can also tap into AirAsia’s extensive route network throughout South East Asia to popular destinations as Thailand and Indonesia.

 

Guy Stephenson, Gatwick Airport’s Commercial Director said: “South-East Asia is an important destination for UK business and leisure travellers and so we are excited that AirAsia X has chosen to operate the popular London-KL route from Gatwick and enable us to meet growing passenger demand for travel to this region.

 

“Gatwick offers an attractive proposition to airlines and their customers. We are within an hours drive for around 15 million people and we have fast and excellent rail connections to central London. The combination of these factors mean that AirAsia X are in a better position to increase traffic between the UK and Malaysia now that they have moved their London ‘home’ from Stansted to Gatwick. ”

 

AirAsia Head of Commercial, Darren Wright said: “Our aim has always been to open up travel for all. The popularity of the London-KL route is further testament to the pent-up demand for long-haul travel, provided the fares are low and the quality is high. That is the combination that we at AirAsia X are offering our guests.

 

“Gatwick Airport was chosen as it demonstrated the passion to work with us in realising our objectives to grow passenger traffic between our hubs in London and Asia Pacific. With our new home base in Gatwick, guests will be able to further benefit from the airport’s regional access and market connectivity potential with faster and cheaper rail connectivity to the city as compared to Stansted. AirAsia X sees strong potential for the airport as we believe our entry will address the fact that direct services to Asia have been significantly underserved from Gatwick,” concluded Darren.

 

The Gatwick-Kuala Lumpur route will be serviced by AirAsia X’s Airbus A340-300, which has 327 seats including 18 Premium Fly Flat bed seats. AirAsia X’s Premium Fly Flat beds are standard business class specifications of 20” width, 60” pitch and stretches out to 77” in full recline position. The seats feature universal power sockets, adjustable headrests and built-in personal utilities such as tray table, drink holder, reading light and privacy screen. Premium seat guests will get to enjoy the following premium complimentary product and services: Pick A Seat, Priority Check-in, Priority Boarding, Priority Baggage, Baggage Allowance, Combo Meal, Pillow and Blanket.

 

Media Release