AirAsia bullish on India market

Low-cost, long-haul carrier AirAsia X Bhd, which has started operating its Kuala Lumpur-Jaipur route, is hoping toincrease its services in and out of India, a market in which it sees potential.

“We would love to put a lot more flights if regulators allow us to. Right now we are having trouble getting slots into India, with a lot of Malaysian carriers going into India as opposed to Indian carriers coming into Malaysia. That is the challenge,” said AirAsia Bhd executive chairman and AirAsia X group CEO Datuk Kamarudin Meranun.

On top of that, he said, AirAsia X is looking to increase the frequency of the Kuala Lumpur-Jaipur route to daily from the current four times a week.

With a potential annual seat capacity of over 156,800 seats, it is eyeing a load factor of 75-80% for the route this year.

Kamarudin was speaking at the inaugural flight celebration ceremony. The Kuala Lumpur-Jaipur route is the second direct flight service connecting India and Malaysia offered by AirAsia X after the launch of the Kuala Lumpur-New Delhi direct service in February 2016.

The Jaipur-Kuala Lumpur service brings the total weekly flights connecting India to Malaysia under AirAsia group to 110 times with a total capacity of 22,755 seats.

AirAsia X Malaysia has carried over 184,000 passengers in and out of India since the introduction of the Kuala Lumpur-New Delhi route.

AirAsia group, which comprises AirAsia X and short-haul arm AirAsia, currently serves a total of 19 cities.

Recently, AirAsia Bhd group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes was quoted as saying that the group is looking to buy Boeing 787s to expand the fleet of its long-haul unit.

On this, Kamarudin said it is “still under discussion”.

“At this stage I think it’s premature to talk about it. We are evaluating from a technical aspect and pricing and all those. To confirm it is premature.”