AirAsia X named 'best new airline'

SINGAPORE: After only one year of operation, the pioneer of low-cost long-haul travel AirAsia X has been lauded with one of the aviation industry’s most prestigious awards.

AirAsia X CFO Andrew Littledale last night accepted the 2008 Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Best New Airline of the Year Award at the CAPA Aviation Awards for Excellence held at Singapore’s Raffles City Convention Centre. The ceremony was held in conjunction with the Aviation Outlook Asia Summit.

Commencing operations last November, AirAsia X’s rise follows the success of its parent company AirAsia which won the Best Airline award in 2007.

The CAPA award recognises AirAsia X’s significant contribution to the aviation industry in the region by way of its competitive airfares, growing network and market leading product and services.

"The success of AirAsia X rides on the back of affiliate AirAsia’s leading regional network in Southeast Asia and China, where passengers have access to more than 105 routes and the highest daily flight frequencies to most Asian cities," AirAsia X said.

Its rapidly expanding international route network now includes five destinations including Kuala Lumpur, Hangzhou (Shanghai) China, the Gold Coast, Perth and Melbourne. Flights between Kuala Lumpur and Perth commence November 2 and Melbourne on November 12.

AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani said he was thrilled to see AirAsia X honoured with the award particularly since the airline had only been operating for 12 months.

“This is a significant and welcome achievement for AirAsia X,” he said. “To be named Best New Airline demonstrates AirAsia X is setting the benchmark for premier standards and service.

“The aviation sector is highly competitive and to be at the forefront of the industry in this increasingly challenging economic environment takes business acumen, foresight and innovative business strategies.”

Osman-Rani hailed AirAsia X’s inaugural year of operation an excellent start to the airline’s forward plans and said last night’s award would strengthen AirAsia X’s brand in the market.

“We are thrilled with the progress of AirAsia X in Australia and Malaysia,” he said. “We announced our 100,000th passenger onboard in March 2008 and since then the airline has experienced a surge in bookings, taking the number of people travelling with us to more than 200,000, which is a major accomplishment.”

The airline showed it is at the forefront of the aviation industry by being the first airline in the Asia-Pacific region to sign up with ecommerce company PayPal for purchases of airfares and gift vouchers.

In late 2007 AirAsia X ordered an additional 25 A330 aircraft from Airbus to meet further growth. The first of these has now been delivered.

AirAsia X offers four direct flights between its hub Kuala Lumpur and the Gold Coast and five flights per week to Hangzhou. The airline will initially be servicing Perth with six return flights per week and Melbourne with four direct flights.

AirAsia X is 48% controlled by Aero Ventures, which is a company owned by Tony Fernandes and his associates. The Virgin Group owns a 16% share of the airline alongside Japanese leasing firm Orix Corporation and Bahrain-based Manara Consortium, which have each bought a 10% stake in AirAsia X. Parent company AirAsia also has a 16% stake in the company.