Air Asia eyeing Adelaide, Melbourne (#Updated, avalon gets a

[Howie]

Air Asia eyeing Adelaide, Melbourne
Thursday May 17 17:56 AEST

Asia's biggest low cost airline - Air Asia - is eyeing Adelaide and Melbourne as new destinations for its new medium to long haul carrier.

Air Asia X will announce its entry point into Australia in July.

An offshoot of the highly successful, no frills, high frequency Air Asia brand - it will begin flights between Australia and Malaysia in September, Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes said on Thursday.

"My two favourite routes are Adelaide and (Avalon) Melbourne," Fernandes said.

"Maybe we will go to both.

"I would love to repay their faith in us, especially South Australia."

The new carrier will fly from Malaysia to Australia, Japan, Korea, China, Europe and the Middle East.

"Our philosophy is to get the fare as low as possible," he said at his airline base in Setang Airport.

"We are not appealing to the corporate market, we are appealing to the market that has never flown."

The company, due to announce its new chief executive next week, has ordered 15 new Airbus A330 aircraft which are due to be on line from September next year.

"There's no turning back," he said.

"We have launched that (Air Asia X), we have got staff, we have got one plane, 15 planes (on order), we are actively looking for routes."

Fernandes expected return flights between Australia and Malaysia would cost around 800-900 Malaysian Ringgit (A$285-320) return, with two flights daily.

He said his preferred first flight for the new carrier would be to Australia.

"If we get the pricing right there is no reason why we can't do two (flights) a day from KL (Kuala Lumpur)."

Australia's low cost carriers were "kidding themselves" with their fares saying they were "not really low cost," he said.

Since its launch in 2001, Air Asia has flown more than 20 million passengers around the region for prices as low as US 99 cents.

"We want to be the lowest cost product," he said.

"I don't see the fares being particularly low (in Australia).

"I would imaging that to Australia we will be doing an airfare of 800-900 ringgit return."

He explains that the Air Asia X medium to long haul flights would be a "different experience," with only limited seating allocations and passengers likely to pay for food and baggage requirements.

Fernandes said the South Australian government had approached the company about its plans to fly to Australia, which he expected would open the country up to 600 million South-East Asians for travel.

"Over 600 million South-East Asian people will be flying ... to KL then catch X to Australia," he said.

"They will fly from Cambodia, they will fly from Vietnam."

He ruled out Sydney Airport as a potential destination.

"I think Kingsford Smith is an expensive airport... I'd look at Newcastle before I go to Sydney."

Battling the effects of the tsunami, skyrocketing fuel prices and terrorism, Fernandes has turned the company into a 4.5 billion ringgit ($A1.6 billion) success, after buying a debt-laden Air Asia five years ago for just 36 Australian cents.

The former music industry businessman bought the airline three days before the September 11 terrorist attack in the US.

"It was a great introduction because from that day there has been nothing but strife," Fernandes said.

Sounds great! Low fares to asia for the win! Bring it on.

[rhino]

Wow! I can see the day when it will be cheaper to fly to Darwin via KL than direct from Adelaide.

Excuse me while I start planning my next overseas holiday...

[Ho Really]

Want to know more about Air Asia go to:

SKYTRAX Passenger Forum Air Asia

Air Asia

Cheers

[rev]

Am I reading correctly? He bought an airline, for 36 cents?

[Howie]

I'd imagine there would've been a fair chunk of debt that went with that 36cents

[Edgar]

*rubs eye*

Is this the Air Asia from Malaysia?

Correct me if I am wrong, because I saw:

"..Fernandes expected return flights between Australia and Malaysia would cost around 800-900 Malaysian Ringgit (A$285-320) return, with two flights daily. .."

Am I dreaming? Cause that is farking cheap. Guess I can fly home more often soon

And when they say flying to Australia, do they mean they will be departing from KLIA and land in AIA?

[Edgar]

where's the article from?

[Howie]

That was from ABC news... they also had an article in the Advertiser about it, more with an SA bias.

I'm hoping they'll do direct flights to Kuching airport

[canopy]

hi guys, this is my first post. I am from malaysia. will be migrating to adelaide soon under state sponsorship.

rev,
yes, he brought that company under RM1.00 ringgit (0.34 cent aud) many year ago. this is because the previous owner is losing money.

edgar,
yeap, airasia is famous for low cost budget airline. I have use air asia to go bangkok, bali, phuket, and hanoi. Because of cheap air fair, i have the opportunity to travel.

cross my finger for them to setup base in adelaide, cause in future i can enjoy cheap airfare to kuala lumpur to visit my parents and friends. Pray hard to god......

[rev]

I'd imagine there would've been a fair chunk of debt that went with that 36cents

I read that part to say defunct in the article. Must have been destracted.

[Edgar]

I dont read the ad or any other papers daily, so is there any news in regards to this plan? The article says they will announce their entry point in July and is already mid-July and I am still waiting for their announcement. Any news yet?

[canopy]

New low-cost airline may offer $11 London fare
By Karen Michelmore in Jakarta
July 24, 2007 03:35pm

NEW long-distance budget airline Air Asia X says it will announce its first Australian destination within days.

The carrier – an offshoot of Asia's biggest low cost airline Air Asia - hopes to fly to Australia for its inaugural flight from its Kuala Lumpur base in September.

It expects to offer Australians standard fares 30 to 50 per cent cheaper than its competitors, to the Malaysian capital, and then a host of far flung places, including the UK, Middle East, India and China.

Promotional fares would include $US10 ($11.30) flights to London on selected flights, but regular fares would still be significantly cheaper than full service carriers, he said.

"It would not be unreasonable to expect fares at 30 to 50 per cent lower than the average fares on full service carriers," he said.

Air Asia X's new chief executive Azran Osman-Rani is in Australia this week holding final talks with airports around the country.

"This week is going to be key in terms of making some decisions and we may be in a position to announce our first destination in the next few days," Osman-Rani said.

Air Asia X is eyeing Avalon, in Victoria, Adelaide, the Gold Coast and Newcastle for its first Australian destination, he said, adding the airline could expand to service "two or three" other destinations soon after its launch.

However, Newcastle was "unlikely" to be the airline's first Australian entry-point due to ongoing issues with the Government.

"(Newcastle is) the key base for the Royal Australian Air Force, and it just means a lot more arrangements need to be put in place ... but we definitely remain interested and will (continue) discussions with the airport," Mr Osman-Rani said.

He added: "I think one of the key factors is going to be the state of readiness of the airport, because some of these airports are going to need to be upgraded to accept international flights."

Air Asia X has leased one plane and is looking for a second, while it awaits its order of 15 new Airbus 330s, due to come on line late next year.

Mr Osman-Rani said Australia would "very, very likely" be the airline's first destination, although discussions are also underway with two cities in China and one in India.

"Obviously Australia is appealing for us just from an operational simplicity, because it is an English-speaking market, it is also a market that is very used to low-cost travel and very internet savy," he said.

"Interestingly enough, Australians today are one of the top six nationalities that already use the Air Asia website.

"There is already a reasonable degree of familiarity with the brand, that makes the launch a lot easier here than say China."

Mr Osman-Rani, who has been in the top job for just a few weeks, said the airline was trying to attract passengers who had never flown before with its low prices.

The low fares were possible because of the airline's lower-cost model, its more frequent use of its planes and greater numbers of seats on the aircraft, he said.

"If you have got 100 more seats on a plane and that plane travels 40 per cent more frequently, that creates a much bigger revenue base on the same aircraft cost," Mr Osman-Rani said.

[Howie]

God i hope it's Adelaide *fingers crossed*

[urban]

If Adelaide was the first then people from Sydney & Melbourne might fly to Adelaide to hook up with the cheap flight. This would make a nice change from us having to do the reverse.

[talrok]

Good point Urban .. Adelaide great airport but I'm sure the shops and eateries do not do as good a trade as in say Melb or Sydney as these aiports are used greatly for transitioning passengers to other destination .. once you land at Adelaide airport you go straight home or to your hotel .. would be fantastic if more passengers were brought to the airport and required say a 2 hr stopover before again departing ... then watch Hungry Jacks/MacDonald's etc. hit the scene .. ahh, not that that's such a good thing I guess .. subway??