Bookings for Air Asia X

[Hisham Albakri 0]

It's been previously reported in the media that AirAsia X will start accepting bookings/selling seats online for their flights to the UK by end February 2007. We're now in the 1st week of March but still nothing yet from the airline. Anyone got any updates

[Rozhan 0]

I'm still on the look out for the official announcement of aircraft types to be leased / purchased. It was supposed to be some weeks ago if I recall correctly, based on newspaper reports.

[Seng Lim 0]

MATTA Fair is coming on next Friday (16 - 18 Mar), they might make the booking available by that period (provided they are able get everything finalised). Anyway with cheap fares there shouldn't have any problems to fill up the seats.

[Brennan Raj 0]

Any idea when they are going to start their flights?

 

Book and then dont know when you are flying how le..

[Seng Lim 0]

Based on their earlier annoucement:

Booking starts Feb 2007 & first flight on July.

We already know Feb already long gone and it has been quiet till today. Thus all we could do is just wait and see.

[Seth K 3]

I also waiting for the online booking available, because I'm gonna book flght with them for this thiscoming winter break...put it on will ya!!

Perhaps they are waiting for available aircrafts?

Edited March 5, 2007 by Seth K

[Seng Lim 0]

AK is having the 30 million passangers Grand Sales ($0.30 & $30 OW) at the moment till 18 Mar. Most probably they will start the AirAsia X sales after 18 Mar once their grand sales is over.

[Seng Lim 0]

Latest Update: AirAsia X service launch will be delay up to a year due to aircraft shortage.

 

March 8 (Bloomberg) -- Fly Asian Xpress, a Malaysian airline that's starting a new long-haul budget carrier, plans to order 15 twin-aisle aircraft from Airbus SAS or Boeing Co., valued at as much as $2.9 billion at list prices.

AirAsia X, the new airline, will pick Boeing's 777-200 or Airbus's A330-300 aircraft, Fly Asian Xpress shareholder Tony Fernandes said today. A shortage of planes will force the carrier to postpone services for as long as a year, he said.

``We can't find the planes,'' Fernandes, who owns 10 percent of Fly Asian Xpress, said in an interview in Singapore. ``AirAsia X will definitely start at the latest in August 2008. If they can find planes before, then they will start. Otherwise they wn't.''

AirAsia X is adding to competition for long-haul services, betting that cost-conscious travelers are prepared to forgo the comforts offered by full-service airlines such as Malaysian Airline System Bhd. and Singapore Airlines Ltd. The delay may set back Malaysia's plan to attract more visitors and become a hub for budget carriers.

``The growth in tourism will be pushed back,'' said Raymond Yap, an analyst at CIMB Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur. When AirAsia X does begin flying ``it will be big,'' he said. ``It will be something that the full-service carriers will have to pay attention to.''

Flights were initially scheduled to start in July after Fly Asian Xpress won government approval in January to begin services. AirAsia X had planned to lease two or three planes this year and purchase more for delivery in 2008.

 

Aircraft Shortage

 

AirAsia X is starting at a time when a pickup in travel demand and delays in the delivery of the A380 superjumbo by Airbus are causing a shortage of long-haul aircraft.

Asia-Pacific passenger traffic is estimated to grow at a 5.7 percent annual rate between 2006 and 2010, outpacing the global average, according to estimates by the International Air Transport Association, which represents 250 carriers worldwide.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based Emirates this month agreed to lease five Boeing 777-300ER planes from GE Commercial Aviation Service to help fill a shortfall in capacity caused by two-year delays in the delivery of the A380 aircraft.

There are fewer than 20 new A330-200s and only a ``handful'' of A330-300s and 777-200ERs that are being delivered to leasing companies between now and 2008, said Sean Lee, a spokesman at Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise, Asia's biggest plane lessor. Of those, almost all have been placed with airlines, he added.

 

AirAsia X Routes

 

AirAsia X is close to an agreement for the 15 planes and has already picked the model, Fernandes said today, declining to say which aircraft was chosen.

An A330-300 aircraft can seat as many as 335 passengers, reach a maximum distance of 5,500 nautical miles (10,186 kilometers) and cost $180 million each, based on catalog prices. Boeing's 777-200, which costs $195 million, can carry as many as 400 people and fly as far as 5,210 nautical miles.

AirAsia X had planned to fly to Birmingham or Manchester in the U.K., Tianjin and Hangzhou in China, India, the Middle East, Australia and the U.S. It may also fly the same long-haul routes as Malaysian Airline, the national carrier, Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy said in January.

A return flight on AirAsia X to the U.K. from Kuala Lumpur may cost as low as 9.99 ringgit ($2.85), according to the carrier. Oasis Hong Kong Airlines Ltd., which became the first low-cost Asian carrier to fly to London last year, is selling one-way tickets to London from 75 pounds ($144) for travel this month, excluding taxes and surcharges, its Web site said.

 

AirAsia Bhd.

 

AirAsia Bhd., Southeast Asia's largest budget carrier, which is headed by Fernandes, in January made a preliminary agreement to buy 20 percent of Fly Asian Xpress, which operates rural services in Malaysia.

Even with the stake, Fernandes reiterated today that AirAsia is ``firmly'' focused on short-haul services. The carrier, which has placed orders for 150 Airbus A320 single- aisle aircraft since March 2005, wants to tap demand from the region. It has 34 Boeing 737-300 aircraft and 17 A320s in its fleet, according to its Web site.

AirAsia will hedge 100 percent of its fuel needs this year, up from 80 percent this quarter, Fernandes said today.

 

Source: http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=c...id=aeMWaObxsFB8

[BC Tam 2]

March 8 (Bloomberg) --

..... An A330-300 aircraft can seat as many as 335 passengers, reach a maximum distance of 5,500 nautical miles (10,186 kilometers) and cost $180 million each, based on catalog prices. Boeing's 777-200, which costs $195 million, can carry as many as 400 people and fly as far as 5,210 nautical miles .....

Strange, always thought the B722 has better range than the A333.

Could be they're comparing with max payloads, or comparing with the original B777-200A (as opposed to B777-200ER)

[Mushrif A 3]

Strange, always thought the B722 has better range than the A333.

Could be they're comparing with max payloads, or comparing with the original B777-200A (as opposed to B777-200ER)

 

Never read too deep into articles written by non-aviation specialist journalists.

 

[tsentsan 0]

Strange, always thought the B722 has better range than the A333.

Could be they're comparing with max payloads, or comparing with the original B777-200A (as opposed to B777-200ER)

 

 

The 772A range at MTOW is 5200nm, while the ER can do 7730nm at MTOW. So technically, they're correct cos they didnt specify that it's an ER. The generic 777-200 reference usually refers to the A model, which I'm sure if AX asked earlier, they could have gotten that Varig one.

[Y. J. Foo 0]

The 772A range at MTOW is 5200nm, while the ER can do 7730nm at MTOW. So technically, they're correct cos they didnt specify that it's an ER. The generic 777-200 reference usually refers to the A model, which I'm sure if AX asked earlier, they could have gotten that Varig one.

 

But the GE-powered 772A are very exclusive (a small minority compared to PW and RR powered versions) and that's probably they don't really feel they want them.

 

Or did they have any PW version of those 772A? :help:

[Seng Lim 0]

Another update:

 

KUALA LUMPUR : AirAsia X, the long-haul budget airline set up by low-cost aviation pioneer Tony Fernandes, has delayed its takeoff, possibly until next year, a report said Monday.

 

At its launch in January the carrier promised budget flights to Britain beginning in July.

 

But The Edge Malaysia, a business and investment weekly, quoted a top company executive as saying a delay has resulted from higher leasing costs.

 

"We are looking at the cost structure, the right aircraft ... we want to start on the right path. It is an important element as AirAsia X is going on a low-cost model," chief executive officer Raja Mohamad Azmi said in the report.

 

Amzi is CEO of Fly Asian Express (FAX), which Fernandes also founded and which currently operates rural air services on Borneo island. It will run the long-haul operations.

 

Last month Azmi told AFP the carrier had evaluated the Airbus 330-300 and Boeing 777 for use on its new long-haul routes, "and an announcement will be made in March."

 

But he told The Edge, they have not yet decided on the type of aircraft and the firm does not want to get caught leasing planes at current high prices in a market with tight supply.

 

Azmi was quoted as saying delays in delivery of the Airbus super jumbo, the A380, to other carriers has led many airlines to acquire the A330 and caused excess demand.

 

He said AirAsia X hopes to now start operations by year's end or at the latest, by August 2008.

 

When it announced plans for Air Asia X in January, the airline said seats on flights to Britain would be available on the Internet from February with fares as low as 9.99 ringgit (2.97 dollars)

 

Fernandes launched AirAsia as a regional budget carrier in December 2001 with two aircraft. It now has 50 planes flying to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

 

He is not the first to try budget long-haul travel but analysts say the model remains to be proven despite its success on short-haul flights.

 

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp.../263462/1/.html

[Seth K 3]

Bad new bad news, I was hoping to ride them this end year <_>

[BC Tam 2]

..... Last month Azmi told AFP the carrier had evaluated the Airbus 330-300 and Boeing 777 for use on its new long-haul routes, "and an announcement will be made in March." .....

 

.....Azmi was quoted as saying delays in delivery of the Airbus super jumbo, the A380, to other carriers has led many airlines to acquire the A330 and caused excess demand .....

 

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp.../263462/1/.html

Me thinks someone has definately let the cat out of the bag already !!

[Seng Lim 0]

Malaysia's long-haul budget carrier says it may delay launch

 

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia X, Malaysia's new long-haul budget airline, may delay its commercial launch by a year to the third quarter of 2008 because it can't lease wide-bodied aircraft at the right price, a top executive said Tuesday.

The carrier was originally scheduled to start flying to destinations in Britain and China from July with a handful of leased aircraft.

But the cost of leasing such aircraft is too high and the airline may wait until it can operate its own planes, said Chief Executive Raja Mohamad Azmi Raja Razali.

AirAsia X is set to buy up to 15 aircraft this month - five fewer than earlier planned - but those aircraft will only be delivered from the third quarter of 2008, he said.

"We are looking at the cost structure ... we want the right aircraft and we won't start until the right mix of aircraft is finalized as this is critical (in offering cheaper fares to passengers),'' he told Dow Jones Newswires.

"We don't want to compromise on cost.''

AirAsia X, launched in January, is owned by Fly Asian Express, or FAX, a small airline serving rural routes in Malaysia.

FAX is 10 percent owned by tycoon Tony Fernandes, who controls the region's biggest low-cost carrier, AirAsia.

AirAsia has an option to buy up to 30 percent of AirAsia X.

Raja Azmi said leasing costs have skyrocketed partly because delays in the delivery of the Airbus A380 super jumbo has forced airlines to seek leased aircraft.

He declined to say if the carrier is considering buying Boeing Co. aircraft instead of Airbus, which is the main supplier to AirAsia.

Based on catalog prices, long-haul aircraft could cost AirAsia X as much as 3 billion ringgit (US$857 million, euro714 million), he said.

"We hope to sign a deal for 15 new aircraft by the end of this month, for delivery, most likely in the third quarter,'' he said.

He reiterated the company will finance the purchase through borrowings and shareholders' funds.

AirAsia X has said it expects to carry half a million passengers in its first year of operation, which will ultimately cover China, India, Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East.

Officials said average ticket prices will be about half the price of full service airlines.

Under a 30-year franchise, AirAsia X will use the AirAsia brand, its Web site for bookings and other services. But AirAsia X, which will cover destinations more than four hours flying time from Kuala Lumpur, will maintain its own fleet and staff.

 

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?f...mp;sec=business

[Seng Lim 0]

What out for agreement signing ceremony on 17 April as they are planning to fly as early as Oct 2007 (this year)!

 

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=con...id=aG6UD_doWlR4