Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
#16
Re: Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
Interesting: the Air Asia website today annouces that they are going to start flying from SYD
#18
Re: Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
They've been trying to get into Sydney for years but MAS has blocked them. I was reading on one of the Malaysian sites that they reckon axing London and Paris was the price they had to pay to get Sydney. It will be interesting to see if they try Europe again when they get the A350, seeing as the A340-300 is a heap of crap.
#19
Re: Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
BA are thinking of axeing all of their Aussie routes too. I don't know if this is public knowledge yet; the only reason I know is that my sister and her husband both work for them.
Such long-haul routes are generally loss-makers because they tie up a crew for two + days; medium haul (to say, West Africa) is the most profitable. It doesn't even matter if the flights are rammed (and they often are), with variables such as fuel costs reducing margins to nothing, it isn't seen as worthwhile.
Such long-haul routes are generally loss-makers because they tie up a crew for two + days; medium haul (to say, West Africa) is the most profitable. It doesn't even matter if the flights are rammed (and they often are), with variables such as fuel costs reducing margins to nothing, it isn't seen as worthwhile.
#20
Re: Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
BA are thinking of axeing all of their Aussie routes too. I don't know if this is public knowledge yet; the only reason I know is that my sister and her husband both work for them.
Such long-haul routes are generally loss-makers because they tie up a crew for two + days; medium haul (to say, West Africa) is the most profitable. It doesn't even matter if the flights are rammed (and they often are), with variables such as fuel costs reducing margins to nothing, it isn't seen as worthwhile.
Such long-haul routes are generally loss-makers because they tie up a crew for two + days; medium haul (to say, West Africa) is the most profitable. It doesn't even matter if the flights are rammed (and they often are), with variables such as fuel costs reducing margins to nothing, it isn't seen as worthwhile.
I've also heard rumours from the Qantas side that they'll stop flying to the UK altogether - the 2 rumours added together would make sense although I've no idea what QF would be doing with all it's A380s if there were no MEL/SYD-LHR flights?
#21
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Epsom
Posts: 1,705
Re: Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
Air NZ have rumours as well that they will stop LHR, seems that the profitable thing to do is let airline partners take the routes and share them.
i.e BA does LHR to SIN/BKK/HKG, then QANTAS picks them up to Australia.
i.e BA does LHR to SIN/BKK/HKG, then QANTAS picks them up to Australia.
#22
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 123
Re: Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
The BA/Quantas route cuts have already been given to the trade. As with most carriers they are going from a simple code share to fully intergrated schedules. They all need to save waste to compete with government backed eastern carriers or at least just make a profit. I'm on QF30 in March and it's less than half booked this late in the day.
#23
...giving optimism a go?!
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Brisbane (leafy, hilly western suburbs)
Posts: 2,202
Re: Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
Wife was on QF30 mid december and in Business class there were only 2 passengers (and 2 cabin crew) in around 50 seats from HKG to LHR.
With numbers like that in during xmas school holidays its no surprise that Qantas are dropping that flight from the schedule.
With numbers like that in during xmas school holidays its no surprise that Qantas are dropping that flight from the schedule.
#24
Hillarys, Perth
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Hillarys, Perth.
Posts: 1,094
Re: Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
They'll only have one SIN - SYD flight left by March anyway!
I've also heard rumours from the Qantas side that they'll stop flying to the UK altogether - the 2 rumours added together would make sense although I've no idea what QF would be doing with all it's A380s if there were no MEL/SYD-LHR flights?
I've also heard rumours from the Qantas side that they'll stop flying to the UK altogether - the 2 rumours added together would make sense although I've no idea what QF would be doing with all it's A380s if there were no MEL/SYD-LHR flights?
#25
Re: Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
If these airlines (QF, ANZ, BA etc) can't make money out of London, then where are they going to make money? US? Competition is increasing. There is lots of competition to, from and in Asia, and because of shorter distances, budget carriers do well and fares are good.
#26
Re: Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
Perth to Amsterdam for $1079 return on China Southern:
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/61836
My neighbour recently flew with them out of Perth and said that they were not bad.
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/61836
My neighbour recently flew with them out of Perth and said that they were not bad.
#27
Hillarys, Perth
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Hillarys, Perth.
Posts: 1,094
Re: Rumour: Air Asia to axe London route
Latest update via Facebook
AirAsia Australia
Update for affected passengers to discontinued AAX India and European routes.
We thank you all for your patience while we work hard to accommodate all of our effected guests. Here is an update on all options available to our affected guests.
• Option 1 : Full Refund – Should you want a full refund on your discontinued flights (including point to point or Fly Thru flights) you can call 1300 760 330 to start this process now. (So for example, full refunds will be granted on bookings of OOL-KUL and KUL to LGW return) Refunds will be processed within 15 and 30 days.
• Option 2 : Full Credit Shell. You can call 1300 760 330 to start this process now.
• Option 3 : Re-route to another AAX route at no additional charge. You can call 1300 760 330 to start this process now.
• Option 4 : Transfer to another alternative carrier. Our customer care team will be working through these moves chronologically starting with guests flying the Mumbai – KL route in February then working through all our guests. Please wait to be emailed by our team to facilitate your move. We expect to contact guests at least two months before their scheduled departure date, but as we work through the dates we expect to accommodate guests with more time before their departure. If you have booked point to point to one of our discontinued routes, you will fly us as normal to KL, then with another carrier from KL to India/ Europe. If your booking is a Fly Thru, we will work hard to change your whole booking to another carrier. We will accommodate every guests looking for a move to another carrier.
See our full press release here: http://www.airasia.com/au/en/corpora...ssrelease.page
We would like to thank everyone for their support and patience while we work through this situation.
AirAsia Australia
Update for affected passengers to discontinued AAX India and European routes.
We thank you all for your patience while we work hard to accommodate all of our effected guests. Here is an update on all options available to our affected guests.
• Option 1 : Full Refund – Should you want a full refund on your discontinued flights (including point to point or Fly Thru flights) you can call 1300 760 330 to start this process now. (So for example, full refunds will be granted on bookings of OOL-KUL and KUL to LGW return) Refunds will be processed within 15 and 30 days.
• Option 2 : Full Credit Shell. You can call 1300 760 330 to start this process now.
• Option 3 : Re-route to another AAX route at no additional charge. You can call 1300 760 330 to start this process now.
• Option 4 : Transfer to another alternative carrier. Our customer care team will be working through these moves chronologically starting with guests flying the Mumbai – KL route in February then working through all our guests. Please wait to be emailed by our team to facilitate your move. We expect to contact guests at least two months before their scheduled departure date, but as we work through the dates we expect to accommodate guests with more time before their departure. If you have booked point to point to one of our discontinued routes, you will fly us as normal to KL, then with another carrier from KL to India/ Europe. If your booking is a Fly Thru, we will work hard to change your whole booking to another carrier. We will accommodate every guests looking for a move to another carrier.
See our full press release here: http://www.airasia.com/au/en/corpora...ssrelease.page
We would like to thank everyone for their support and patience while we work through this situation.
Dear Guests,
This is an update regarding the option to transfer to alternative airlines due to the recent AirAsia X suspensions affecting the London (Gatwick), Paris (Orly), Delhi and Bombay routes
AirAsia X Customer Care and Pre-flight teams are currently facilitating the transfer of guests, that are requesting the option to transfer to an alternative airline, in batches, depending on the original booking date(s).
Priority is given to bookings with an earlier travel period.
Current processing batch: Original booking for travel period 1st April to 30th April (All affected passengers have been sent an offer for an alternative flight)
Next batch: Original booking for travel period 1st May to 31st May ( Notifications on alternative flights will be sent by 1st March)
We would also like to take this opportunity to briefly explain how the option to transfer to alternative airlines works:
1. As soon as the announcement of flight suspension was made, we have block-booked seats to cater for all of our guests impacted by this suspension.
2. The block booking was done in a single booking under AirAsia X, and not individual guest bookings.
3. We will be sending out individual emails and making calls to all affected guests in the specific batch, offering a specific flight on the alternative airlines at least 2 months before your departure date.
4. We will then gather and compile all the replies from guests on the offer, then forward the list to a special reservation team set up by the alternative airlines.
5. The special reservation team will then create the individual bookings on the alternative airlines, breaking up the single block booking to individual guest bookings. Once done, confirmed itinerary/e-tickets on alternative airlines will be sent to guests by AirAsia X Preflight team 1 month before the original scheduled departure date.
6. If you have accepted the alternative flight offered made, please consider it a confirmed booking, as there are already seats reserved accordingly,
7. We have made best efforts to make bookings with alternative airlines based on the nearest dates/timings of your existing bookings with AirAsia X, and there will be limited scope to change the flight options we offer you.
At the moment, the special reservation team is rushing to sort out all the e-tickets for Mumbai and Delhi Feb and March travel dates, and some early April Europe dates. Everything needs to be done in batches according to flight date and we cannot skip between different dates as it would be more time consuming.
Other than certain dates in April (Easter period) where we are facing capacity constraints on our European routes due to peak travel periods, we are confident that we will be able to procure alternative flights for all affected guests, based on your original travel dates. We have tried to contact all those travelling from 13-16 April to offer flights either on the same day or next available day, and there are still a number of passengers that are uncontactable.
Please be informed that we will also be refunding any baggage fees beyond 20kg pre-booked allowance, as well as sports equipment fee and travel insurance premiums. We seek your patience and understanding while our teams work on transferring you and all other affected guests soonest possible. We are not refunding pre-purchase meals and seat assignments.
For your information, we have so far dealt with 2 weeks of suspended flights into / out of Mumbai, and all our guests were successfully accommodated onto alternative flights, even with e-tickets from these carriers being issued only days before travel date.
Sincerely,
AirAsia X Sdn Bhd