Tuesday, September 14, 2010

AirAsia X still in talks to start Paris route


09 September 2010

'It is still premature (to set a date), it is definitely not this year,' AirAsia X's chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani said. -- PHOTO: AP

KUALA LUMPUR - LONG-HAUL budget airline AirAsia X said on Thursday it has no plans to begin flights to Paris this year, according to a top official, after French reports it had been given a slot at Orly Airport.

French media had reported that the carrier, which will operate the route after its affiliate AirAsia won landing rights in October last year, has been given a slot at the southern Paris airport starting from next month.

'We are not looking at flying to Paris on October 31,' AirAsia X's chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani told AFP.

'It is still premature (to set a date), it is definitely not this year,' he said, adding that the carrier was still in talks with the French authorities on 'operational matters'.

French newspaper La Tribune, without specifying its source, reported that AirAsia has been given a slot to operate the Kuala Lumpur-Paris route twice a week from October 31.

The paper said the airline however intends to start these flights in 2011 and was targeting to fly four times a week. -- AFP

StraitsTimes

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