AirAsia X unveils Kuala Lumpur-Bahrain-London route, establishing Middle Eastern hub
Tail of AirAsia X plane as seen at the Garuda Maintenance Facility AeroAsia in Tangerang, Indonesia, September 20, 2017. Picture taken September 20, 2017. REUTERS/Beawiharta
HONG KONG/PARIS Feb 11 : Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia X on Wednesday unveiled plans to resume flights from Kuala Lumpur to London via a new hub in Bahrain, using the extended range of narrow-body jets to stitch fresh routes alongside established carriers.
The service, due to start in June, would make Bahrain AirAsia X's first hub outside Asia, placing it within reach of busy markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
It also marks a return to the British capital more than a decade after the airline suspended non-stop flights from Kuala Lumpur and retired its Airbus A340 jets.
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Co-founder Tony Fernandes said Bahrain could become a regional gateway for underserved secondary cities across Asia, Africa and Europe.
"While ... of course London is a very emotional destination for many people in Southeast Asia, the real aim is to have a bunch of A321s flying maybe 15 times a day to Bahrain," he told Reuters in an interview.
"From Bahrain, you connect to Africa and Europe with a big emphasis on creating connectivity that doesn't exist."
The move follows Asia's largest low-cost carrier completing its acquisition of the short-haul aviation business from parent Capital A, bringing the group's seven airlines under one umbrella.
Fernandes, also CEO of Capital A, stressed the importance of the Airbus A321XLR, an extra-long-range narrow-body aircraft he said would let the airline replicate its Asian low-cost model on intercontinental routes.
"That aircraft enables me to start thinking we can do what we did in Asia to Europe and Africa," he said, citing potential secondary routes such as Penang to Cologne or Prague.
AirAsia plans to redeploy its larger A330s to longer routes while building up the Bahrain hub, with possible African destinations including the Maghreb region, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania and Kenya. A Bangkok-to-Europe route is also under consideration.
Fernandes played down direct competition with Gulf carriers such as Emirates and Qatar Airways, positioning AirAsia X as a budget option aimed at a different market.
"I'm all about stimulating a new market," he said. "We've got into our little playground (of) 3 billion people, most of them have not been to Europe."
Analysts say taking on Gulf carriers on overlapping routes may be difficult.
Fernandes pointed to AirAsia's services to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as examples of drawing Southeast Asian travellers to new destinations. "When I look at my social media, you see all these Malaysians and Thais who are seeing snow for the first time."
AirAsia X's Kuala Lumpur-Istanbul route, launched in November, has been a test case for the Bahrain strategy, and Fernandes said the airline aimed to lift frequency from daily to twice daily soon.
