Long Haul Low Cost Bonanza continues - Air Asia X comes (back) to London?
After almost fifteen years, Malaysian-based low-cost carrier Air Asia X has announced its intention to launch flights from Kuala Lumpur to London. Here’s a look at what went wrong before, what has been announced and what to expect.
Source: Air Asia
A brief history of Air Asia X
Air Asia is effectively the Ryanair of South East Asia offering competitive fares within the region and on domestic routes such as Thailand or the Philippines. I flew them in 2019 from Bangkok to Hanoi and while I probably should have paid for extra legroom on-board. Air Asia X first launched in 2007 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Asia and was designed to serve mid and long-haul routes exclusively. At first the airline primarily served destinations in Australia before expanding towards East Asia including Japan and Korea. While not as bare bones as the regional Air Asia, the pricing structure is the same with a basic fare in addition to
Source: Air Asia
In 2009, the airline expanded to its longest route - Kuala Lumpur to London Stansted, then subsequently Gatwick, which takes almost 13.5 hours. Their illustrious founder and CEO, Tony Fernandes, launched the airline amid the financial crisis with headline grabbing promotional prices such as GBP 99 one-way (Source: Independent) which was far less than other direct options from their competitor Malaysia Airlines. The party didn’t last long and by 2012, the airline announced the end of flights to both the UK and India (Source: BBC News). This exit was blamed at the time on high taxes at European airports, but the economics of the service was not helped by their use of an uneconomical Airbus A340 aircraft which utilise four engines and a lot of aviation fuel.
Since the start of the pandemic, Air Asia X has been dormant due to ongoing travel restrictions and lack of demand within Asia Pacific region.
Source: Air Asia
What’s been announced?
In a press event in Kuala Lumpur (KUL), Air Asia X announced they were restarting flights to several destinations including:
KUL - New Delhi
KUL - Sydney
KUL - Seoul
KUL - Tokyo Haneda
KUL - Sapporo Chitose
KUL - Osaka Kansai
Osaka Kansai - Honolulu/Hawaii
More interesting is their long-haul announcements with the addition of Dubai, Istanbul, and London to the route network. While there are no certainties around starting dates, beyond stating end of 2022, the splash on their announcement specifically for London makes this seem a credible development for the airline.
What to expect?
Although nowhere on the press release, @SeanM1997 on Twitter (who is often very reliable) states that the London Gatwick service will not be non-stop instead opting for the stop in Dubai. One would expect that Air Asia X will offer this as a direct service which would enable Kuala Lumpur-London passengers to stay on-board while Dubai-bound passengers disembark. This would be a smart move on Air Asia’s part as Dubai is an extremely popular destination for UK tourists and could cost effectively serve both Dubai and London. If continuing onto Kuala Lumpur, expect there to be plentiful connections onto Air Asia’s regional route network serving a great alternative to other network carriers into capitals and secondary cities that may not be served otherwise.
On-board, I suspect the experience to be similar to that of Scoot - the low-cost carrier owned by Singapore Airlines which I reviewed in December 2022. Air Asia X operates Economy with a simplistic service - no in-flight entertainment while food and drinks cost extra. Some of the Air Asia X fleet features Premium Flatbed seats for an extra charge. This is a step up on Scoot’s Plus offering, as you could lay flat, but they are not completely flat at 180 degrees.
My thoughts
Firstly, all and any competition is most welcome. While I love Business and First Class, going to new destinations is my primary driver and Air Asia X is a great method to explore the world further at a lower cost. I hope that this venture is successful but low-cost, long-haul to the UK has not been a cash cow so far, examples include:
Norwegian couldn’t make Bangkok to London and Oslo work.
Scoot has not yet confirmed the return of Gatwick for the winter season.
Even with more efficient planes, such as the A330neo, the realpolitik is not on the side of Air Asia. In addition to the issue of airport prices, which are still high, high aviation fuel prices were noted in 2012 as another factor in ending London flights. Fuel prices are higher now than in 2012 which questions how the economics of this may work
I do think that Air Asia X might be different to the failings of those in previous eras. The stop at Dubai seems like a smart move to fill planes up further and to drive more traffic, even amid intense competition from Emirates to Dubai and beyond. Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur may not be as popular as Bangkok or Singapore, it is a good location for a regional hub with an excellent airport which can be used to Air Asia X’s advantage. I hope to try this service out when it is up and running sometime soon…good luck!
