Air Asia have advised that effective late April they will cease their Bali - Darwin - Bali service. Passnegers booked and paid fatres after the close off have been offered earlier flights or refunds.
Silk Air are to commence shortly, offering return airfares $600.
I am starting to wonder about Air Asia X, first they pull out of all of their European Longhaul, then just this week in Christchurch it has been reported that they are about to pull the plug on their daily KL to CHC service despite only having just increased it from 3x weekly to daily. In an interview on local telly here the Air Asia rep said that they were reviewing whether there is a market at ALL for longhaul lowcost travel
Maybe people are just getting sick and tired of the cheap and nasty carriers.
With all due respect, and as a fairly regular user of Air Asia/Air Asia X, their onboard safety and service standards would put many a "legacy" airline to shame.
Your point is well taken and safety is the most important thing in the final meltdown. If they are doing it right, go you good thing.
In the "used to fly before the LCCs arrived" demographic there is an aversion to the genre. They don't want to pick up their bags at intermediate points. They want their 3 or 4 sav blancs and not to have to pay for their food etc on the flight.
If you are happy with the service provided and the product overall, then that is excellent.
The problem is that the LCCs are more likely to go "stuff it - no money" and haul off a route with little warning, refunding monies and leaving the poor punter to find a replacement carrier at a vastly increased price.
That is why us Travel Agent leaches on the butt of the industry tend to shy away from them. They can cause a great deal of work for a minimal or zero return.
LCCs are just fine when the aeroplane rolls on time and the bag arrives. After something goes pear shaped that is where you are dealing with a gorilla in Manila and then the fun begins. They don't even have a concept of the date line at Jetstar on 3 occasions. Over them.
But - that's our Brave New World. Just gotta get on with things.
A lot of INTL airlines have come and gone in the past, DRW is a hard market to survive in. They had GA, SQ, MH and BI all left now Air Asia. JQ only stays in the DRW market due to the assistance it gets from its big brother QF.
I heard rumours of Air Asia X going to switch CHC with AKL. Time will tell of course.
Of course you're correct. There's horses for courses and while many shy away from no-frills, there's probably a silent majority that are happy to take a bit of an operational risk and go with the LCCs. Most would book online, so you would probably never see them.
However, I have no time for people who do "take the risk", but run into issues. You can't have your cake and eat it too .. although many expect to be able to to.
LCCs dropping routes like hot potatoes? Yes, indeed .. I have just become a victim of such a move by Air Asia, on a very long haul leg. However, at least in this case, they are moving passengers (6 months worth) onto other carriers ... at no extra charge. So, I really have nothing to complain about.
Air Asia X has pulled out of its long-haul services to Christchurch. The Malaysian-based airline has been reviewing its Christchurch to Kuala Lumpur route, less than a year after it was launched. It's been operating four services a week. The last flight will be at the end of May.
_220x147.JPG)
