LONDON – They are back! AirAsiaX has today announced its intentions to restart international operations.
The carrier has started the sales of tickets to customers, with a sale ongoing until June 26, with a provisional date of July 1 set as the inaugurated operations.
Below, you can see a table of the planned operations for the carrier:
Ismail: We Are Back…
Commenting on the return was AirAsiaX CEO Benyamin Ismail, who went into more detail about where else the international timetable will expand to:
“Now that international borders are reopening across the world, we are able to resume operations to our most popular destinations including Australia, Japan, Hawaii, India, and South Korea first.
“Today’s announcement of the resumption of four routes to Japan and Hawaii and to launch flights to London, Istanbul, and Dubai is just the beginning. We have many more destinations in the pipeline which we will announce soon, to meet strong pent-up demand.
“The return to London and first time flights direct to Dubai and Istanbul will be a gamechanger for great value long haul travel and these will be on sale soon for travel later this year.
“As our services grow, we will continue to bring our fleet of aircraft out of hibernation and, we can look forward to gradually bringing our valued pilots and cabin crew who were on furlough back.
“I am confident all of our resumed or new services will prove to be very popular and that we will return to pre-Covid capacity on some of our core routes within the next 12 months.
“Our strategic new model, combining cargo and passengers enables AirAsia X to fly profitably where other airlines may not be able to, which makes operations to longer-haul routes like Dubai, Istanbul, and London, commercially viable and more affordable for our guests at the same time.”
Also commenting on the news was Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, the Founder of AirAsiaX:
“This is an incredibly exciting day as AAX returns to the skies refreshed and rejuvenated.
“The resumption of four popular medium-haul routes and announcement of three new long haul services today is a significant milestone following the most challenging time in aviation history.
“We are thrilled to return to London and to launch flights for the first time to Dubai and Istanbul.
“Istanbul is my favorite destination and I can’t wait to share the many highlights with everyone. We are sure all of these destinations will prove popular and look forward to seeing everyone back on board AAX again soon.”
Overall…
It remains clear that this is significant news for Asian aviation, especially with the low-cost aspect intending to put pressure on other international carriers.
With the route network the carrier aims to serve over the course of this year, the mantra must be something along the lines of hitting the segment hard at its beginning.
Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see what the Summer 2022 season holds for the carrier and whether they can deal with the ever-expanding demand that there is for air travel at present.
