AirAsia X says 'Aloha!'

AirAsia X Bhd, the leading long-haul low-fare airline, aims to spread its wings to Hawaii and an 'exclusive' destination in Europe by December, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said. He said AirAsia X was in the midst of working out an arrangement with a feeder airline in Europe on the 'exclusive' route. "The key thing for us is to find a destination where we can also link with a good feeder airline," he told reporters at the launch of Wisma Tune here today. AirAsia X hopes to benefit from the feeder airline that would bring in travellers from destinations not served by large carriers to hub airports for onward journeys on national and international airlines. The airline previously operated Airbus A340s to London and Paris, but cancelled them in 2012. As for the Hawaii route, AirAsia Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes was reported as saying in February that AirAsia X had started the application process to fly to Hawaii. On financial performance, AirAsia X recorded a higher pre-tax loss of RM605.18 million last year compared with a pre-tax loss of RM212.06 million in 2013 due to higher operating expenses of RM3.32 billion for 2014, up 33.9 per cent year-on-year. Moving forward, Kamarudin said the AirAsia X's prospects looked promising based on initial indications such as higher bookings and yields. "AirAsia X is no different from AirAsia because when we started AirAsia, we did not have the money and we faced competitions from stronger and financially stable airlines in the region. "AirAsia X is facing some problems now, but its shareholders are in a much better position and the competitors are not as strong as they used to be, so there is no reason why we cannot turn the company into profitability," he added. For more business news, tune in to Awani Biz starting 16 April at Astro channel 501.