All flights to these destinations will no longer operate from the end of March.
Press release from
Air Asia website:
AirAsia X Re-aligns Network To Focus On Core Markets
Developments in Global Economy, Soaring Taxes and Higher Jet Fuel Prices leads long haul low-cost carrier to increase focus on core markets
Kuala Lumpur, 12 January 2012
AirAsia X, the long haul, low fare affiliate of AirAsia, today announced a realignment of its network with a focus on its core markets.
The move will see AirAsia X withdrawing services to India (Mumbai and Delhi) and Europe (Paris, London) from its Kuala Lumpur hub as follows:• Mumbai- Four weekly services will be suspended with the last flight on 31 January, 2012
• New Delhi- Daily services will be suspended with the last flight on 22 March, 2012. Flights in March will be reduced to four weekly services.
• London- Six weekly services will be suspended with the last flight on 31 March, 2012
• Paris- Four weekly services will be suspended with the last flight on 30 March, 2012
AirAsia X will offer guests who hold bookings after these dates an alternative travel option at no additional cost to mitigate the inconvenience caused as a result of these route withdrawals.
All affected guests will receive an e-mail stating options that are available to them, including a full refund, a reroute to another AirAsia X destination (e.g, in Australia and North Asia), or a move to an alternative carrier where available.
Reply to this oh cr8p! not good at all. I guess qantas pulled back heaps of their flights only a month or so ago so its safe to say the recession isnt over and is hitting the airlines now. I thought airasia was the biggest most profitable airline though and winning heaps of awards so i'm a bit surprised by this but i guess if you grow too big... thanks for the heads up
Reply to this So are there any discount airlines flying between Asia and Europe? Not Jetstar, not Tiger Airways...
Reply to this I don't believe any budget airlines fly between the two after Air Asia pulls out. Budget airlines don't usually do the long haul flights - Air Asia still do to Australia and Middle East (Tehran) but that is it.
I was caught when Air Asia pulled its Abu Dhabi route. I would have been able to get to Abu Dhabi, but I would have been stranded as the services were halted prior to my return flight. I called Air Asia to request a full refund and explained that I would have been stranded, and they duly gave me a refund.
My advice to anyone who services have been cancelled is to contact Air Asia immediately, don't wait to receive an email to explain the situation. I found out on the cancellation of the service to Abu Dhabi through a news website or travel forum, and never received an email from the airline to inform me of the cancelled service. It takes a couple of months to obtain the refund, so best to apply as soon as you can.
Reply to this So are there any discount airlines flying between Asia and Europe?
Yeah, you certainly can fly budget between Asia and Europe. I often do it and often need it to be very budget because I take my daughter with me, and sometimes my boyfriend comes too. Asia is our current most heavily travelled to continent, because it is easier to afford travel for 3 there, than anyplace else.
In fact, I have never flown Air Asia. Airlines from the middle east seem to come up with the lowest prices in the last 6 years. You do have to stop over someplace in the middle east for a few hours on the way though. Air China were very inexpensive last time we flew to Bangkok. The layovers of Air China are horrendous though. Ours was 10 hours in Beijing.
We live in Munich, Germany by the way. For most of our flights I use http://www.billigfluege.de/ . It is a search engine that searches a number of airlines to find the best prices. It used to be possible to search in English, but since they last changed how the site looks the english option seems to be missing. But, if you can search in German the flights are often less expensive. We sometimes get them for around 20 Euros less when we search in German, for the same flight.
Reply to this Hi, i think virgin is considered a low cost airline... you have to pay for food and entertainment so is that the definition? They go from Australia to Asia to Europe. There is also a few like HOng Kong Express that you purchase stuff on and they have the cheaper prices that fly to europe. I think its is Malaysian airlines that has a lowcost version sort of like Jetstar to Qantas although i cant remember the name of it. Does Tiger not go to Europe?
Reply to this It's not good news at all...even if you don't fly AirAsiaX, they were driving the price down.
But lets face it, once the economic crisis is over, we are going to see again oil at over 150usd a barril (justaround 100usd now)...and this is not good for long-haul flights.
Tam, Virgin Australia do charge for food following the model of Jetstar, but on their route out of London, aka virgin, they are a full service airline with a proper service.
The cheapest options, if you look for quality, will remain those that have easy and cheap access to the pump, I name Emirates, Ethiad, Qatar...or you can go the lower quality road...no need to name those...
Reply to this I've just received an email that Air Asia will launch flights to Sydney from April - so this is where those aircraft once bound for Europe will be used.
Reply to this I am flying out to KL with AirAsiaX on the 30th March and my return flight has been cancelled due to this development. So far they have been very good with keeping me up to date with what is going on. They offered three options:
1. Full refund
2. Re-route
3. Transfer to another airline
option 3 is the default option and they have bulk booked a lot of seats on other airlines (who knows which ones). Apparently I will receive details 2 months prior to my flight (30th Jan). If I dont hear before then I will be calling them.
PA is right tho - with Oil prices hovering at $110 for brent with pressure on the upside - the only way is up. My firm is investing heavily in the Kurdistan rejion as there is a large flat basin which has been so far unexplored. All we can hope for is an increase in supply otherwise (like copper, tin and soya beans this year) the price will just get forced up. The death of the low cost/long haul airline ill be upon us.
Reply to this In response to: Msg #150645
If Air Asia have booked a lot of seats on other airlines, than that is a positive development as this did not occur when they cancelled the Abu Dhabi service - the only options were a full refund or re-route.
Reply to this Wow, I'm impressed by the transfer to another airline...at least they are trying to avoid a public relation mess...which is something to mention.
It could also be a clear indication that they are not done with the long-haul process...going out clean is the best way to coming back clean.
Scott, keep us updated, hope you will only benefit from the issue.
Oil is going up...for sure...only a hard landing from the Chinese economy could mean oil going down solid...but in today economics, nobody wish them this.
Reply to this In response to: Msg #150684
PA, I think AirAsia may have learnt from the fallout over the suspension of service Abu Dhabi. I didn't think their communication or handling of the situation was that good last time. I believe they are interested in long haul, as they have just opened up the Sydney route. It will be interesting to see what they do with their Tehran flights or if they decided to add more destinations from the Middle East.
Reply to this Still waiting to hear from AirAsia but they have been in constant contact. I have taken a look at their balance sheet for the last financial year and they definitely have enough in the bank to support their promises. If they want to become market leaders in Asia they will not want this tarnishing their reputation.
PA good point on China but not many people expecting a hard landing anymore. Im quite confident that they have done enough to bring their house prices down and to control inflation. Their monetary policy will begin to ease this year and the markets are already responding to that.
I cant see a way I will get a flight to Asia from England for circa £500 anymore. Some changes would need to be made to the fuel tax or political reform will be needed ASAP in the middle east. Cant see that happening...
Reply to this Sometimes Malaysia Airlines have very cheap flights, check on their website as these fares are usually not available anywhere else. Agree with PA that the Middle Eastern Airlines can be great value - for the cheapest that still have superior quality try Qatar and Etihad. Emirates is usually more expensive than these two.
Reply to this That is sad, I LOVE Air Asia! Flew them multiple times incl. London to KL.
Other options left would include loads of stopovers for those interested and with lots of time on their hands; Air Arabia flies from Europe via Morocco, Istanbul, UAE to India, Sri Lanka. From there it's back on Air Asia into SE Asia and beyond....
Reply to this In response to: Msg #150986
Good suggestion, I'd forgotten about Air Arabia. Should also mention that Fly Dubai travel to Sri Lanka, but they don't have any destinations in western Europe at the moment.
Reply to this I'm flying to KL from London on 10th April with Air Asia X - or I was of course before they cancelled the route!
Luckily for us with flights already booked AAX have learnt a lot from their Abu Dhabi fiasco and appear to be 'upgrading' everyone who wants it to Malaysian Airlines (who are the 'parent' company of Air Asia and are conveniently reopening their service between London and KL). I got an email confirming they had an alternative outbound flight for me a couple of days ago so hopefully Scott and anyone else with AAX bookings will hear the same soon. I'm not complaining about a full service Malaysian Airlines flight for the price of an AAX seat! Still waiting to hear about the return flight but they say they're working through flights in date order and will contact people 2 months before flights so have no reason to worry too much yet!!
While this will hopefully reassure those with flights already booked it looks like it's an end to the really cheap fares between UK-Asia and on to Oz and NZ for the future 😞
Reply to this This is impressive from Air Asia, and a great deal for you - full service flight for a budget price!
Reply to this Well my affected flight is on the 13th April so I will hopefully be hearing very soon! That is really good news about the Malaysian Airlines flight. Enjoy the luxury and have a great time in Asia!
Reply to this 
