Air Asia drops BOM/DEL/ORY & LGW

[Anthony T]

Air Asia has announced it will ending service to :
Mumbai - Last flight 31/1/2012
New Delhi - Last Flight 22/3/2012
Paris (Orly) - Last Flight 30/3/2012
London (Gatwick) - Last Flight 31/3/2012

[David C]

Anthony.... Where did you source this news ?

Dave C

[Jayden Laing]

This was written on their facebook page:

Dear fans, please be informed that due to soaring taxes and higher jet fuel prices, AirAsia X is re-aligning its network to focus on core markets and will be withdrawing services to India (Mumbai and New Delhi) and Europe (Paris and London) from our Kuala Lumpur hub as follows:

• Mumbai- Four weekly services will be suspended with the last fl...ight on 31 January, 2012
• New Delhi- Daily services will be suspended with the last flight on 22 March, 2012. Flights in March will be reduced to four weekly services.
• London- Six weekly services will be suspended with the last flight on 31 March, 2012
• Paris- Four weekly services will be suspended with the last flight on 30 March, 2012

[David C]

I'm not saying these route changes may not happen , but I would advise a more "official " form of notification rather than a FB posting before any news can be treated with any voracity . I note that there is nothing on the Air Asia website at this stage regarding this .

Dave C

[David C]

Further to my last post , I have found that there are no LGW flights loaded into there booking System from April 2012 .. Very interesting !..Seems like that FB posting may be correct after all ..

Dave C

[matthew mcdonald]

David, all of the above information about the cancellations was posed on Airline Routes.

Air Asia X Cancels India & Europe Service

by JL


Update at 0900GMT 12JAN12

Citing higher airport charges and visa restrictions in India, as well as EU ETS (Emission Trading Scheme / Carbon Tax) and rising airport passenger duty in the UK, Air Asia X announced it is cancelling 4 routes to India, UK and France. (Note AirAsia will continue to offer service to India)


Thanks

[David C]

Matthew ..thanks for confirming the info .. It's just that I am deeply suspicious of any thing like this posted on FB .. Thanks again ..

Dave C

[Ryan N]

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/airasia-suspends-flights-to-london-paris-in-costcutting-effort-20120113-1pych.html

[Michael Cleary]

Well, SMH quotes AFP as the source.

But nothing at either the AFP or Air Asia web sites. And Airline Routes quotes no source.

Beware believing everything that Farcebook says.

Wait for Air Asia to say something official - just because nothing is loaded for April might also be mixed up with the Northern Summer changes.

Then again, the Carbon Tax that the EU is imposing may have an affect.

[Andrew M]

It's official! Simple, it's on their Facebook page as an official post... What more do you want

AirAsia
Important Announcement: AirAsia X Re-Aligns Network

Dear fans, please be informed that due to soaring taxes and higher jet fuel prices, AirAsia X is re-aligning its network to focus on core markets and will be withdrawing services to India (Mumbai and New Delhi) and Europe (Paris and London) from our Kuala Lumpur hub as follows:

• Mumbai- Four weekly services will be suspended with the last flight on 31 January, 2012
• New Delhi- Daily services will be suspended with the last flight on 22 March, 2012. Flights in March will be reduced to four weekly services.
• London- Six weekly services will be suspended with the last flight on 31 March, 2012
• Paris- Four weekly services will be suspended with the last flight on 30 March, 2012

All Guests who hold bookings after these dates will be offered an alternative travel option at no additional cost to mitigate the inconvenience caused as a result of these route withdrawals. An e-mail stating options that are available will be send, including a full refund, a reroute to another AirAsia X destination (e.g, in Australia and North Asia), or a move to an alternative carrier where available.

AirAsia X will concentrate capacity in our core markets of Australasia, China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. Announcements of our future expansions plans will be made soon.

[Michael Cleary]

It has now made it to airasia.com. .

[Brian Wilkes]

Might see there A340's in and out of OZ a bit more?

[Anthony T]

Maybe the A340's will go on the Kuala Lumpar-Johannesburg route that Malaysian are quitting?

[Jarden S]

On wiki they Air Asia X start YSSY flights 1st april getting in early before Scoot does.
MH will drop 1 daily frequency to free up the landing slots to Air Asia the remainding MH YSSY service may be up gauged to an A380.

[David C]

If and when Scoot start their European and Indian sub continent flights , I bet AirAsiaX will rue the day they dropped out of that market ..

Dave C

[Radi K]

Does this have anything to do with essentially MH and AK being one these days?

[Joe Frampton]

I flew with AAX to London in 2010, we paid to upgrade to bulkheads, and along with meals and blankets was still around $800 pp on sale, which was the primary reason for our choice of carrier at the time. The extra seat per row (9 across on the airbus instead of 8 on other carriers), was interesting, and we saw many an Aussie 'wedging' themselves into the width of the seat. But overall we were happy with our experience. I was still surprised by this pull-out announcement, although not shocked, after Royal Brunei had pulled out of Brisbane, etc. I work in the international travel industry, and as much as the current European crisis is having a dramatic impact on passenger flow from the European side, the fact is that Aussies aren't just after the "cheapest" anymore, especially on ultra-longhaul like Europe. They do want a little more comfort, and meals, and movies, and the ability to fly directly into the sort of destinations like Emirates offers (I booked Glasgow, Munich, Venice & St Petersburg last week). I also get far more requests for 4 star minimum hotels, than "what's the cheapest hotel?" Many customers are actually prepared to pay a bit more at the amount, especially with the fine state of our dollar. Also, the last time I looked at long haul fares on AAX, they weren't much cheaper than other carriers, especially when you added up all the (frustrating) bits & pieces, which begs the question of how interested I'd be in flying with them if they weren't the cheapest... heck, they SHOULD be the cheapest if I'm gonna get wedged in 9 across and pay for a Nasi Lemak. Fine for a cheapie trip to Asia, but maybe not so good for London. So I wish them all the best, and Scoot too.