Tag Archives: Air Asia

SouthEast Asian low cost carrier AirAsia taken added the 100th Airbus A320 narrowbody aircraft to its fleet. The aircraft, registration 9M-AQH has been painted with a special dragon livery in celebration of the current Chinese Year of the Dragon, which is also that of AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes, and coincidentally myself. A team of 20 painters used 600 litres of …

Vinay Bhaskara and Devesh Agarwal When Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia X announced last week that it would be ending service to Mumbai, Delhi, London, and Paris earlier this month, industry analysts seized on the occurrence as a repudiation of the long haul, low-cost business model. AirAsia X, an offshoot of Southeast Asian behemoth AirAsia, operated 377 seat Airbus A330-300s to …

Another edition of the Asian air scene podcast featuring Addison Schonland, Vinay Bhaskara and Devesh Agarwal. We covered the share swap between AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines and what benefits would it offer and what would it take away. In the India scene we covered the suspension of the application of national carrier Air India and the reported fait accompli presented …

On 30th October I took an AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bangalore. Was rather disappointed that the ground crews at the airline actively discouraged spotting, especially keeping in mind how PR savvy the airline is. Rather dejected I was walking to board my flight when I saw the AirAsia Airbus A320 9M-AFY in the Formula 1 Team Lotus livery. …

Effective November 14, 2010, Singapore based low cost carrier Tiger Airways is withdrawing its four a week Airbus A320 service between Bangalore and Singapore. The move is rather surprising since the winter season between November and February is the busiest travel period in the year. While no official reasons have been given, there are two possibilities.Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary …

On the eve of the Singapore F1 grand prix, Tony Fernandes promoted Malaysian low cost carrier AirAsia unveiled a re-painted Airbus A320-216 from its fleet in the livery of Formula 1 Team Lotus of which Dr. Fernandes is also the principal. Click on the image for a high-resolution view. The aircraft registration 9M-AFY has been flying since early August, and …

About two months ago, I flew AirAsia, rather Thai AirAsia for the first time. I could help but compare their services with those of Indian low fare carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet. There is a marked difference between AirAsia and the Indians. In some cases the Indians can learn, and some where AirAsia can learn. In the air, the crew friendliness …

After six months of discussions, it is finally official. Media baron and political heavyweight, Kalanithi Maran will acquire a majority stake in low fare carrier SpiceJet.Mr. Maran in his individual capacity and via his aviation company KAL Airways jointly owned with wife Kaveri, will initially acquire the 37.73% stake of the Kansagara family promoted Royal Holding Services Ltd., Wilbur Ross …

Last week Malaysia based low cost carrier AirAsia commenced its second phase of India expansion becoming the only carrier with flights between Chennai the capital of Tamil Nadu state in India, and the northern technology manufacturing centre of Penang in Malaysia. Apart from the scores of ethnic Tamil origin population on both sides, major electronics players like Dell, Flextronics, Foxcon, …

AirAsia Berhad announced net profits of RM549 million ($162 million) for the full year 2009 despite what is described as the worst year in aviation history. While globally passenger demand fell by 3.5%, AirAsia grew its passenger numbers by 21% to 14.25 million for the Malaysian operation. The combined Malaysian, Thailand andIndonesian operations forming the AirAsia Group increased passenger numbers …

AirAsia X has appointed Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) as its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services provider for Malaysian carrier’s fleet of eight Airbus aircraft which comprises Airbus A330s and A340s for three years beginning March 2010 at LTP’s facility in Manila. LTP is a subsidiary of Hamburg-based Lufthansa Technik AG, the largest MRO provider in the world and AirAsia …

Malaysia based AirAsia is trying to create aviation history with the launch of six new routes between India and Malaysia in rapid succession. In one more “conquering of Indian skies by storm”, the new services to key metro cities include Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi from Kuala Lumpur and from Penang to Chennai. The Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad …

The next few months will see a spate of foreign carriers commencing operations from Bangalore. As already reported, Qatar Airways with its “best economy class in the world” will commence operations on February 23 using an Airbus A320 for the first five months. Subsequently, depending on the success of the Emirate’s negotiations on increase in the bi-laterals, the airline will …

Malaysian low-cost carrier Air Asia has confirmed dates to launch scheduled passengers services from Kuala Lumpur to three more cities in India. One November 12th, Asia Asia will begin services to Kochi (Cochin) the commercial capital of Kerala, four days later on November 16th to Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) the political capital of Kerala and three days after that to the West …

John Leahy is a happy man; may not be as happy as in 2007, but surely the orders received for the Airbus A320 and A350 families at this year’s Paris air show, must give him a cautious sense of optimism. Airbus SAS is expected to walk away from Le Bourget with about orders for 110 new planes or commitments worth …

Air Asia has come up with a rather novel way of attracting candidates who would like to be pilot. Despite the goofiness displayed in the video, candidates are expected to be “mentally fit”. From the terms and conditions, it appears that the positions are only open to young candidates who are Malaysians or Malay in origin, since knowledge of Bahasa …

Budget carrier AirAsia is offering 100,000 free seats to/from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport, and Phuket in Thailand, to lure back foreign visitors after a siege of Bangkok’s airports by anti-government protesters. Seats in the “Mai Phen Rai Thailand” promotion are available for three days between Wednesday 17 December and Friday 19 December, and cover services from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, …

AirAsia, a low-cost carrier from Malayasia, has announced that it will commence its daily direct flight to Tiruchirappalli, India from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia beginning 1st December 2008. Employing a brand new fleet of Airbus A320, Tiruchirappalli will be the first route to be launched by AirAsia in India. To celebrate the launch of this new service, AirAsia is offering an …