wowpow
March 13th, 2007, 11:16
BBC News
Travellers keen to use a new long-haul budget carrier linking Europe to Asia will have to wait - following problems at Airbus.
The firm announced that it would start a service between Malaysia and the UK in July, with return tickets costing between $80 and $450 (┬г41-┬г231).
But Air Asia X has put the new service on hold - probably until next year, possibly until August 2008.
The reason? A problem described by a spokesman as a "minor technical issue" - no planes.
The airline is hoping to lease wide bodied, high capacity jets for its planned long-haul routes.
"We are looking at the cost structure, the right aircraft," the airline's chief executive Raja Azmi Mohamad told The Edge, a Malaysian business publication.
Unrealistic
But getting the right planes at the right price appears to be proving more problematic that the company thought.
The expectations of being able to start services in July seemed unrealistic given the lack of availability of aircraft
Brendan Sobie, deputy editor, Airline Business Magazine
The carrier has been eyeing Boeing's 777 and the A330 model by Airbus.
Mr Azmi lays part of the blame at the door of Airbus.
He believes that delays in the production of the new super jumbo, the A380, has forced airlines to hold onto their 777s and A330s rather than sell them on or lease them out.
But Brendan Sobie, deputy editor of Airline Business Magazine thinks that the problems Airbus has had with the A380 are only a part of the story.
He believes it is also due to a lack of planning on the part of Air Asia X.
"[The delay] is really not surprising at all," said Mr Sobie. "People were asking questions during the January launch."
Full story http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6443181.stm
Travellers keen to use a new long-haul budget carrier linking Europe to Asia will have to wait - following problems at Airbus.
The firm announced that it would start a service between Malaysia and the UK in July, with return tickets costing between $80 and $450 (┬г41-┬г231).
But Air Asia X has put the new service on hold - probably until next year, possibly until August 2008.
The reason? A problem described by a spokesman as a "minor technical issue" - no planes.
The airline is hoping to lease wide bodied, high capacity jets for its planned long-haul routes.
"We are looking at the cost structure, the right aircraft," the airline's chief executive Raja Azmi Mohamad told The Edge, a Malaysian business publication.
Unrealistic
But getting the right planes at the right price appears to be proving more problematic that the company thought.
The expectations of being able to start services in July seemed unrealistic given the lack of availability of aircraft
Brendan Sobie, deputy editor, Airline Business Magazine
The carrier has been eyeing Boeing's 777 and the A330 model by Airbus.
Mr Azmi lays part of the blame at the door of Airbus.
He believes that delays in the production of the new super jumbo, the A380, has forced airlines to hold onto their 777s and A330s rather than sell them on or lease them out.
But Brendan Sobie, deputy editor of Airline Business Magazine thinks that the problems Airbus has had with the A380 are only a part of the story.
He believes it is also due to a lack of planning on the part of Air Asia X.
"[The delay] is really not surprising at all," said Mr Sobie. "People were asking questions during the January launch."
Full story http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6443181.stm