AIRASIA X OPENS THE MARKET FOR NEW PASSENGER SEGMENT

From M. Saraswathi

LONDON, March 12 (Bernama) - AirAsia X's route to London opens the market
for new passenger segments, said British High Commissioner to Malaysia Boyd
McCleary.

"AirAsia is opening a brand new passenger segment, you see people from Asean
who have never travelled before are now doing so," he said.

The United Kingdom welcomes any type of traveller.

"We are happy to take any (type of) Asian traveller. This is an open country
and it offers variety," he said when asked if the United Kingdom was concerned
about budget travellers flocking to the country after the celebration of AirAsia
X's first flight to Stansted Airport, London Wednesday.

AirAsia X is an affiliate of Malaysia-based AirAsia Bhd.

AirAsia's chief executive officer, Tony Fernandes, who was euphoric about
the inaugural flight, said it was a major step for AirAsia in realising its
European aspirations.

It also strengthens Kuala Lumpur as the regional aviation hub, he said.

"Since Sir Freddie Laker's Skytrain, no airline has ever managed to carry
passengers this far at such a low fares. With this global platform, we are
making the world much smaller and cheaper for everyone to connect to each
other," he said.

Sir Frederick Alfred Laker, was a British airline entrepreneur, best known
for founding Laker Airways in 1966.

Laker was one of the first airline owners to adopt the "no-frills" airline
business model that has since proven to be very successful worldwide with
companies such as easyJet, JetBlue, Ryanair, Southwest Airlines, AirAsia and
Virgin Blue.

AirAsia X's chief executive officer, Azran Osman Rani said it hopes to carry
120,000 passengers on the Kuala Lumpur-London route by the end of this year.

AirAsia X' hopes to carry one million passenger and make RM1
billion(US$272.49 million) in revenue in the current year from its entire
routes.
-- BERNAMA