AirAsiaX suspends Asia-Europe longhaul ops

I didn't know the Asia-EU intercon mkt is becoming this bad that even the mightly AirAsia group has to pull the plug:
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/airasia-x-suspends-european-and-indian-services-366820/

Looks like doom & gloom continues in the longhaul mkt for 2012....

I don't see this market becoming bad when EK can almost fill a 773 every day out of GLA with pax going all over Asia and Australia.

The market is certainly not bad. EK just launched Dublin on Monday with a 332 and there is already a scheduled upgrade to 343 and talk of a 777 in the near future.

There are now 17 DUB-Middle East flights a week. Sadly these are due to the high number of Irish people now forced to seek work abroad. Equally these flights are fed by the foreign nationals who work in Ireland.

I think Air Asia's problem was that it didn't have a sufficient breadth of route-network to feed these routes. Having flown through Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai in the last year, what you realise down there is the importance of the transfer passenger, which is why these carriers can continue to grow in Europe.

The market is not bad, but high fuel costs make it impossible for an LCC to profit on LH and ULH routes.

Not only LCCs suffers now, jet fuel at $124 / barrel. A
All airlines suffers, and so do the customers!

Today XAX announced the end of services to DEL,BOM,LGW, & ORY as a result of high fuel prices, exorbitant taxes, and weak travel demand. XAX also announced that it will fly to SYD after they won government approval to begin new service. I think they used to fly to HYD & TRV too. Am I wrong? Flight to SYD start 1APR. So, where will the 16 new A333s be used to now? Or, will they defer and/or cancel the order?

EI-DUB:
<<Sadly these are due to the high number of Irish people now forced to seek work abroad..>>
As a matter of fact, I hv just had a final job interview with a senior Irish executive yesterday. He has been based in this region for a couple of yrs ever since his Irish IT company relocated the global HQ fm Dublin to S.China.

<<Air Asia's problem was that it didn't have a sufficient breadth of route-network to feed these routes.>>
Actually, AirAsia group does hv a very extensive route network in E.Asia+AU/NZ these days. The problem is not network size but rather has been connection/transfer effectiveness @ its KUL hub. Being a LCC, it doesn't really offer thru check-in/baggages for connecting pax....meaning the hassles of clearing Malaysian immigration upon arrival @ KUL, claim your luggage+clear custom, re-checkin for your onward connection and then clear security before departing on your connecting flight. Recently, I hv noticed on AirAsia's website that it has started to offer thru checkin+bags for a few connecting routes but really, it needs to cover its entire network to make the feed works.

Skid Kid:
<<So, where will the 16 new A333s be used to now?>>
I assume U refer to the 16units to be delivered over the nex few yrs. Aside fm deployment on KUL-SYD U hv mentioned, here are my speculations based on what AirAsiaX has been planning for a while:
1. Continued expansion in China+MidEast/Africa in terms of frequency+new destinations+upgauge(i.e. 320->333). AirAsia group has been growing fast re China+MidEast. Some cities such as PEK,PVG,CAN,SZX,DXB,AUH,DOH,etc. can easily support multiple 333 rotations per day.
2. Possibly basing some 333s @ emerging AirAsia hubs OUTSIDE KUL @ BKK(Thai AirAsia's hub) and NRT(AirAsia Japan's hub). Both are large mkts in their own rights.
3. Re-start the drive to grow India as soon as the visa issue is resolved. The only thing holding back AirAsia's growth re India has been the relatively restrictive tourist visa. The near-term trend is that it'll only become less retrictive going forward.

BTW, none of AirAsiaX's 333, delivered+on order, was ever intended for deployment on Asia-EU intercon routes. It lacks effective econ payload/range for such nonstop missions particularly for the kinda dense config AirAsiaX has been using for its 333(9abreast in Y).

FLX you hit the nail on the head, I know they have quite an impressive network- I nearly ended up using it until the trip fell through unfotunately- but the dots never joined up like more established carriers.

Any recent news regarding flying to OAK?

Skid Kid:
No much news lately re OAK by AirAsiaX but U're right, it's extremely likely to be its 1st N.American destination based on what its Sr mgmt team has been saying over the yrs. Still no hints re likely launch date though.

My gut feeling is that launch won't happen until its 1st 359 is delivered. Based on current expectations of industry experts re progress of the 350 program, this won't happen until 2016 @ the earliest(AirAsiaX is NOT among the 1st batch of 350 launch operators). Also, I strongly believe AirAsiaX won't serve OAK fm KUL but rather via AirAsia Japan's upcoming new hub @ NRT. KUL-OAK is simply too damn far(13,652km) even for the new gen 359(15,000km range @ full pax std layout, no cargo) when configured in non-std but typical hi-density LCC-style seat layout. AirAsia group has already dropped plenty of hints in the media last yr re its intention to build NRT as its main Trans-Pcf gateway. Technically speaking, AirAsiaX's 343s already hv the performance to do NRT-OAK yr-round today but I think their fuel burn will murder this route's econ viability @ its infancy particularly for a LCC. Therefore, AirAsiaX has to wait for the 359 to start any Trans-Pcf ops.