AirAsia X Opens The Market For New Passenger Segment

LONDON - AirAsia X's route to London opens the market for new passenger segments, said British High Commissioner to Malaysia Boyd McCleary.

"AirAsia is opening a brand new passenger segment, you see people from Asean who have never travelled before are now doing so," he said.

The United Kingdom welcomes any type of traveller.

"We are happy to take any (type of) Asian traveller. This is an open country and it offers variety," he said when asked if the United Kingdom was concerned about budget travellers flocking to the country after the celebration of AirAsia X's first flight to Stansted Airport, London Wednesday.

AirAsia X is an affiliate of AirAsia Bhd.

AirAsia's chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, who was euphoric about the inaugural flight, said it was a major step for AirAsia in realising its European aspirations.

It also strengthens Kuala Lumpur as the regional aviation hub, he said.

"Since Sir Freddie Laker's Skytrain, no airline has ever managed to carry passengers this far at such a low fares. With this global platform, we are making the world much smaller and cheaper for everyone to connect to each other," he said.

Sir Frederick Alfred Laker, was a British airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966.

Laker was one of the first airline owners to adopt the "no-frills" airline business model that has since proven to be very successful worldwide with companies such as easyJet, JetBlue, Ryanair, Southwest Airlines, AirAsia and Virgin Blue.

AirAsia X's chief executive officer, Azran Osman Rani said it hopes to carry 120,000 passengers on the Kuala Lumpur-London route by the end of this year.

AirAsia X' hopes to carry one million passenger and make RM1 billion in revenue in the current year from its entire routes.