AirAsia to take on Norwegian Air
July 17, 2014
UPDATED: AirAsia, one of the world’s largest low-cost carriers and fastest growing airlines, announced on Wednesday it planned to operate long-haul flights from Bangkok to Scandinavia. It was a direct challenge to Norwegian Air, which on Thursday reported an operating loss instead of the expected profit in its quarterly report.
Budget airline battle
To date, Fernandes’ intercontinental subsidiary AirAsia X has only flown between Asia and Australia. Now, his sights are set on challenging the established airlines operating Asia to Europe routes, a year after Norwegian Air became the first budget airline to operate a low-cost service between Scandinavia and Asia.
“We will definitely fly between Bangkok and Scandinavia, without doubt,” Fernandes said. “The market is big enough for both us and Norwegian. I have a separate company called Thai AirAsia X, and that will definitely fly to both Sweden and Norway. I hope it happens soon , if I can convince the rest of the management team.”
Fernandes told DN he was “100 percent sure” his airline would appeal to Scandinavian travelers, because customers would have the advantage of transferring directly onto their next AirAsia flight from its Southeast Asian hub.
“I love the area and all Scandinavians want to go to Bangkok,” he said.
“It is more fun to fly with us, because we have cute flight attendants on board and more fun. When you fly with us to Bangkok, you can easily fly on. That is our advantage compared to the other airlines in Europe. With us you can fly on to Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and almost anywhere you want.”
AirAsia also planned to resume its London route within the next five years, which it first operated from Kuala Lumpur in 2009 but shut down in 2012. “That was because we had a plane with four engines, and they used too much fuel,” Fernandes said. “The plane was too big and the oil prices went through the roof. Fifty dollars a barrel was good, but 130 dollars a barrel was impossible to tackle. London is something very special for me, and I long to fly there. The is a lot of emotion in that, but it is also a global hub.”
http://www.newsinenglish.no/2014/07/17/airasia-to-take-on-norwegian-air/
Thai AirAsia X วางแผนเปิดบินไปยังแถบ Scandinavia โดยเฉพาะ Sweden และ Norway จากคำให้สัมภาษณ์ Tony Fernandes
July 17, 2014
UPDATED: AirAsia, one of the world’s largest low-cost carriers and fastest growing airlines, announced on Wednesday it planned to operate long-haul flights from Bangkok to Scandinavia. It was a direct challenge to Norwegian Air, which on Thursday reported an operating loss instead of the expected profit in its quarterly report.
Budget airline battle
To date, Fernandes’ intercontinental subsidiary AirAsia X has only flown between Asia and Australia. Now, his sights are set on challenging the established airlines operating Asia to Europe routes, a year after Norwegian Air became the first budget airline to operate a low-cost service between Scandinavia and Asia.
“We will definitely fly between Bangkok and Scandinavia, without doubt,” Fernandes said. “The market is big enough for both us and Norwegian. I have a separate company called Thai AirAsia X, and that will definitely fly to both Sweden and Norway. I hope it happens soon , if I can convince the rest of the management team.”
Fernandes told DN he was “100 percent sure” his airline would appeal to Scandinavian travelers, because customers would have the advantage of transferring directly onto their next AirAsia flight from its Southeast Asian hub. “I love the area and all Scandinavians want to go to Bangkok,” he said. “It is more fun to fly with us, because we have cute flight attendants on board and more fun. When you fly with us to Bangkok, you can easily fly on. That is our advantage compared to the other airlines in Europe. With us you can fly on to Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and almost anywhere you want.”
AirAsia also planned to resume its London route within the next five years, which it first operated from Kuala Lumpur in 2009 but shut down in 2012. “That was because we had a plane with four engines, and they used too much fuel,” Fernandes said. “The plane was too big and the oil prices went through the roof. Fifty dollars a barrel was good, but 130 dollars a barrel was impossible to tackle. London is something very special for me, and I long to fly there. The is a lot of emotion in that, but it is also a global hub.”
http://www.newsinenglish.no/2014/07/17/airasia-to-take-on-norwegian-air/