AirAsia eyes Middle East hub
AirAsia is considering setting up a low-cost carrier to serve the Gulf region, almost two years after its long-haul division AirAsia X axed its Kuala Lumpur to Abu Dhabi service.
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said in Doha last week that an opportunity had opened up for a budget airline in the region, where low-cost carriers flydubai, Air Arabia and RAK Airways have emerged in recent years.
“As a low-cost carrier, we are (into) creating new markets. If you want to compete, you have to create a product that’s very different and extremely low priced, so that a guy can go to Dubai for a cup of coffee and come back with his airfare being about the same as his taxi fare.”
He said AirAsia had already opened discussions with unnamed potential partners to set up such a budget airline.
AirAsia X, which left Abu Dhabi in 2010 after three months, has since scrapped routes to London, Paris and India.
“We want to have a hub in the Middle East in our 10-year strategy, since Asia is more or less covered. Two or three parties have made known their interest. It’s interesting, but the talks are very preliminary,” Fernandes told The National newspaper.
Fernandes and his co-founder of the Tune Group, Kamarudin Meranun, are also moving their cut-price hotel brand, Tune Hotels, into the Middle East with Qatari partner Mohammed Al Saad.
Ian Jarrett
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