AirAsia X Part 4: long haul LCC's Europe strategy focuses on nonstops, with A330-900neos from 2018
AirAsia X is evaluating several options for returning to Europe routes, which the long haul low cost airline group last served in 2012. Europe is an important strategic market for AirAsia that will eventually be served with several long haul operations, as well as potential partnerships with European LCCs.
Near-term options include one-stop services from Kuala Lumpur to Western Europe and nonstop flights (with Thai AirAsia X, TAAX) from Bangkok to Eastern Europe. The Bangkok option is more likely since the group prefers to offer a nonstop product.
In the medium term nonstop services from Kuala Lumpur are already included in the business plan, using a new fleet of A330-900neos that will be delivered from 2018. AirAsia X also has A350s on order but plans to reassess its need for these aircraft once it starts taking A330neos - determining at that point whether the A330neo is sufficient to cover all Kuala Lumpur-Europe routes without payload limitations.
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