Business
Axing routes a purely business decision, says AirAsia boss
Jan 14, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 — AirAsia boss Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said today the move by AirAsia X to suspend four of its loss-making international routes is a purely business decision and must be viewed positively.
He said claims that the move was to accommodate and establish a business strategy with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) were untrue and “irritating”.
AirAsia’s sister company recently decided to drop the Kuala Lumpur-Mumbai, New Delhi, Paris and London routes.
“Azran Osman Rani (AirAsia X’s CEO) made a business decision. We were the first to introduce a low-cost long-haul airline model and now the Singaporeans are following suit,” Fernandes, who is co-founder and chief executive officer of AirAsia, was quoted by Bernama as saying.
“In this case, he (Azran) discovered that the best profitability is to have between four to eight hour (routes), with one type of engine and aircraft, which is the Airbus 330.
“So, this has nothing to do with MAS or AirAsia. On the flip side, Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari is hearing that the routes suspension is to accommodate AirAsia,” Fernandes was quoted as saying.
He also that it was good that MAS and AirAsia could collaborate in certain areas, but wrong to say this would destroy competition.
On another note, he said AirAsia had made a positive start to the year, with January sales expected to be a record compared to the corresponding month in previous years.
“I think we will have a record January. I was looking at the tremendous sales coming from the North Asian region and was very delighted with the level of demand.
“We will continue to grow every year. Last year, we recorded 32 million passengers, an increase from 2010.
“Thus, I am bullish on the growth of AirAsia this year and in fact for the next 10 years,” Bernama quoted Fernandes as saying.
He also said the future for AirAsia looked very good.
“It’s up to us to keep our costs down, make airports play a part as it is critical to the growth of an airline, and keep fares down.
“We cannot grow if we increase our fares. In fact it is against my philosophy.”