The year was 2011, and the flamboyant CEO of the AirAsia group was still at work, Tony Fernandeswas inaugurating a new Airbus A330 service on Paris Orly from Kuala Lumpur. The French capital was the second European city after London to benefit from a flight by the group's long-haul subsidiary, AirAsia X.
Less than a year later, AirAsia X suspended its flights to Europe. The reason given at the time: soaring oil prices and airport taxes that were too high. However, AirAsia's CEO has never completely given up on the dream of flying his passengers from one continent to another.
A hub in the Gulf
In a recent interview with the British daily Financial TimesTony Fernandes announced that he wanted to return to Europe. But through a hub based in the Gulf. AirAsia CEO speaks of the possibility of a hub in Saudi Arabia or Ras-al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. Flights to Europe and Asia would thus be connected via this hub.
" From this area, Europe is just a short flight away "he told Financial Times. " We are planning attractive long-haul faresallowing passengers to travel around the world with a strategy of multiple stopovers ". This strategy justifies the recent memorandum of understanding with Airbus bearing on the acquisition of 50 A321XLR aircraftwith a option for 20 additional devices.
Aircraft with a flight time of 9 hours would also make it possible to limit the cost of operating routes between Europe and Asia with this stopover in the Gulf. Tony Fernandes plans to open routes to secondary towns in Europe. He mentions destinations such as Cologne, Dublin and Glasgow. These would connect to the hub in the Gulf to reach Kuala Lumpur.
From the Malaysian capital, its main hub, AirAsia linking more than a hundred destinations. According to Tony Fernandes, this new adventure is due to kick off by the end of the year...
