AirAsia eyes budget-conscious Aussie travellers

For example, trips from Kuala Lumpur to Penang can go for as low as $10 or Bangkok to Phuket for $55 for a basic economy seat without all the comforts.

However, like most low-cost carriers, ticket prices only include a basic economy seat. If you want to add baggage allowance, a meal, standard seat selection and in-flight entertainment, you’ll have to pay an extra. These fees change depending on departure and arrival destinations and ticket prices can change depending on demand.

But Mr Ismail said giving passengers this choice on how they fly is an important part of how budget airlines are able to keep prices low.

“If you are really concerned about the cost and value for money, you don’t have to buy food, for example. That is the good thing about low-cost carriers, you pay for what you use,” he told.

“Whereas full-service airlines charge everything onto one ticket, but 60 per cent of those things you might not need. That’s really why we are able to transfer savings to our customers too.”

He said AirAsia is also able to make travel more affordable for Australians by focusing on volume and efficiency.

“We run a very cost-efficient operation which allows us to charge lower fares,” Mr Ismail said.

“We have more seats on our planes. We are a very high density aircraft, so the cost per seat is much lower. But how we operate staff is also quite efficient.

“When we look at the number of staff per aircraft — the number of total airline staff divided by the number of aircraft — we are at about 90 staff per aircraft.

“Low-cost carriers like Ryanair or EasyJet run their airlines at about 72 to 80 staff per aircraft. Full service carriers are sitting about 160 to 180.”

And he assures that efficiency doesn’t equal poor service.

“It just means if you arrive at a terminal to board, in a low-cost airline you might only have one staff member there welcoming you rather than five,” Mr Ismail said.