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AirAsia X To Launch Long-Haul Service From Thailand
23rd Mar 2013
Asia's largest budget carrier, AirAsia X, is set to launch a long-haul service out of its Thai hub to regional destinations in Asia, signaling the start of its rivalry with the Thai flag carrier which currently serves the market.
The AAX official has been seeking approval from Thai aviation authority of its application to operate regular service from Bangkok to two of the region's most lucrative markets, Japan and South Korea.
The budget airline is planning to use two wide-body aircraft, Airbus A330-300, on the said routes which will hopefully commence on October this year. The aircraft will be configured to seat 377, 12 of which will be on a business class.
The planned launch was recently confirmed by Thai AirAsia's CEO, Tassapon Bijleveld, but added that the plan is at an exploratory phase yet.
He admitted that, for quite some time already, they have been entertaining idea to launch long-haul service out of Bangkok to regional destinations.
If its gets a go signal from Thai authority, AirAsia X would certainly challenge Thai Airways, currently the only Thai airline serving the said market. For the record, THAI has been using all its might to thwart any attempt of the Malaysia-based low-cost giant to enter the local market to no avail.
AirAsia X has been itching to open routes from Bangkok to regional destinations since it entered the Thai market in 2007. That would enable the long-haul budget airline to compete directly with the flag carrier of Thailand.
The low-cost leader offers 20-30% cheaper tickets than full-service airlines. The business model adopted by the no-frills airline has been proven to be very effective, especially among budget travelers who want nothing more than a safe and economical way to get to their destination.
AirAsia X's foray into Thailand would strengthen the group's position in the country, expanding its network to cover long-haul destinations whose flight time extends up to 11 hours from Bangkok. As a comparison, the short-haul services offered by its local subsidiaries such as Thai AirAsia, Malaysia AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia, have a maximum range of 4 hours from the Thai capital using a fleet of narrow-body aircraft.
AAX is envisioned to become the world leader in long-haul budget travel market thru its long-term plan of creating hubs around the world with its local subsidiaries as partners.
AirAsia launched its first long-haul service in November 2007 from Kuala Lumpur to Gold Coast in Australia. It has carried over 8 million passengers since then.
According to a top AAX executive, they will continue to bank on their core markets in the region such as China, Japan, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan to sustain its operations in the years to come.
AirAsia X has a current fleet of nine A330-300 and two A340-300 aircraft and currently flies to 12 destinations in Asia and the Middle East.
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