On a day when it is hard to compete with Qantas for eyeballs, Air Asia X is reported by Australian Business Traveller using tweets from none other than Tony Fernandes that it will start Sydney flights to Kuala Lumpur on 1 April.
Goodbye London, adieu Paris, and … hullo Sydney. This adds to the earlier excitement, or not, about Air Asia X exiting Europe.
But if Qantas/Jetstar can now get over the thrill of making Miranda Kerr, lingerie model, a Qantas Ambassador, this is another reminder of how well the low cost alliance with Air Asia is working.
It is working really well at making Jetstar look flat footed.
6 Comments
Approval for Air Asia X to fly KUL SYD was given a couple of days ago, so only the commencement date is ‘new’ news. Air Asia X have signalled their desire to fly to Sydney for a couple of years, and but for Malaysian Airlines would already be doing so.
Their concept of Melbourne/Gold Coast/Perth to London/Paris was always a bit strange. I went from Melboure last year (to Stansted) with a promo lie flat seat option. Transiting in the low cost terminal was terrible and with no through baggage check or onward flight security if the inbound plane into KUL was late, really wasn’t worth the saving. I think, as you indicated in your earlier post, Air Asia X is primarily suited to point to point flights of 4 hours or more … and they do that very well.
Ben – How is JQ looking flat footed? Are you saying the JQ should be flying to KUL? Wasn’t it AAX that has shut down 4 destinations sighting pathetic excuses – LGW and ORY didn’t work because they were using A340′s that perform below par (You can carry on about 77W’s later on) and india … Well it’s a tough market they couldn’t make work … Full stop. Looks like bad network planning decisions and incapability to sell/distribute it’s product … you can blame ETS or visa restrictions all you want but with the former it’s a couple of bucks and the latter, well they always existed so why didn’t they consider them when they started flying?
So how is JQ being flat footed … They are making money, expanding gradually (And profitability) and continue to reinforce SIN and soon to be Japan (Although I admit it is not clear what is going on in Vietnam).
Rumor has it our friend Tony is attempting to sell some of his order book as he has no place to put them …
78Lately,
Qantas/Jetstar has proclaimed Tony Fernandes and Air Asia as part of their world’s first low cost airline alliance.
Since then Air Asia has picked off every move by Jetstar, doing where they talk. Qantas proposes a low cost but premium narrow body carrier based in Malaysia. Air Asia announces one. Qantas proposes a low cost franchise in Japan in association with Air Asia, and Air Asia set about doing one with All Nippon, the non bankrupt rival to Qantas Japan best buddy, Japan Air Lines.
Qantas patronises Malaysia Airlines as oneworld sponsor and partner, unilaterally I might add which is a total no-no in Asia business affairs, and Fernandes cements his 25% stake and starts apportioning its network to his network.
Qantas in Asia is not only flatfooted, it is totally betrayed by a management that thinks that an underwear model is the right new face to present to the world for promotional purposes.
Seriously. There is a problem. Flatfooted is too kind a term.
Now that Air Asia have got their Sydney rights, to a very expensive airport, the question is why do they use the Gold Coast low cost airport and the KL low cost terminal. They dont use the LCT in Singapore so why not pay the extra $2.00 per pax for the comfort of Brisbane and KLIA. Both have a very good train service into town and onto the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast airport has no air bridges so in wet weather its a sprint down the stairs and across the tarmac.
Ben – You seriously need to get some balance sometimes … The underwear model seems to have gotten under your skin for some reason … I actually like the idea … At least she is more pleasing to look at than the Irishman and indeed Travolta!
As for AA – Lets look at the facts rather than emotion but before I do to clarify … My definition of “picking-off” is not imitating (Which AA does a lot of) but actually leading in strategy …
First, the alliance between AA and JQ … Well, it takes two to tango and in this case both dancers are sitting on sidelines for this one. To be honest there are too many big egos on both sides and I for one couldn’t see how it was going to work … It’s not just JQ’s fault nothing has come of it.
For the premium carrier, well all the commentary about that has centred on SIN not KUL – not AA announces a similar venture after QF not before it. And indeed nothing has come of it so far … That’s not to say I agree with the strategy but AA seems to be simply doing a “me-too.”
JQ has never proposed setting up with AA in Japan. It has been working with the restructured (And soon to be re-listed) JL by itself. Now before you complain about JQ searching for a 4th partner in their venture, well what you don’t see is the management fees it probably extracts to run the venture on behalf of its equity partners. Now look at Air Asia’s Japan initiative – Well, first ANA set up Peach based in Osaka, AA came second and is going to set up in NRT – Neither carrier can fly to each others respective bases (Tokyo and Osaka) whereas JQ, guess what, can fly anywhere … Name me one carrier in the world that has 2 LCC’s brand launched underneath it … A recipe for disaster in my mind. JQ should do nicely out of this!
As for MH deal in oneworld – Lets see what comes of it but if they do get integrated it brings some nice balance in Southern Asia and compliments QF’s SIN activities. QF couldn’t have stopped Tony buying into MH and you know as well as I do there are lots of other reason for his purchase other than trying to out-do QF.
Lets look at some other AA failures – Their Philippines operation is still not up and running despite being announced 2 years ago. Tony was all too happy to say a few years ago he thought JQ’s work in Vietnam was a failure yet it was AA that pulled the plug first – Vietnam is not an easy place to do business but there is huge potential and you have to slug it out which for better or for worse JQ is.
So, Ben, some balance please … You seem to think AA can do no wrong but if you scratch the surface you analysis is clearly wrong. I thought you would have suggested that AAX’s LGW route could have been saved if they just had stuck it out to the Olympics like you argument for QF not giving up LHR over BKK and HKG
gapot,
Unless I have overlooked some more recent developments the truly dreadful LCC barn at KLIA is being replaced by the already partly built brand new low cost terminal, with lots of glossy shops and stuff, since the low fare punter is the biggest airport retailing spender, and doesn’t just disappear into a lounge.
There is a proposal to extend the rail line to the new terminal, and in what I read as a recognition of TF’s incredible pull in Malaysia, there will also be a new runway close to the new terminal, but 1500 metres away for the other nearest runway, primarily to cater for the low cost carrier movements without the added cost of excessive taxying distances.
The Malaysia press seems vague, however, as to exactly when these enhancements will be completed.
One local observer told me that now that Air Asia can thrown its weight around (it is the carrier delivering growth, and government revenue, not MH) it is dividing up the globe with Malaysia Airlines when it comes to route withdrawals, transfers and new initiatives.
Which if we want to be brutal, could see all of MH’s capacity transferred in this country to Air Asia, which is more mess-with-my-head stuff for Qantas to contemplate as it tries to organise a partnership with a carrier that is being dismantled in front of it by the same person who intends to thrash Jetstar at every possible opportunity.
Culturally I do not think there is the any chance of Qantas being given any joy whatsoever in terms of getting a slice of Malaysia’s home grown pie.