AirAsia mulling US west coast routes from Japan
AirAsia Group has reaffirmed plans to fly to the US West Coast.
The airline launched its first flights to the US last year linking Honolulu from its Kuala Lumpur hub via Osaka, Japan.
It hopes to use Japan as the launch pad to the continental United States with Los Angeles and San Francisco services.
"Japan serves as a fantastic hub for us, as it only takes 12 hours to L.A. or San Francisco," AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes told the Nikkei Asian Review.
It will use Airbus A330neo widebody jets it has on order for the long-haul flights.
"We can provide opportunities to customers who care about affordability, and also to Asian customers who want to discover regions other than Tokyo or Osaka," Fernandes said.
Nagoya is being tapped as the Japanese transit hub as its Japan unit is based there.
Fernandes says the route to Honolulu is made up of mostly Japanese customers and there is plenty of room for further growth in Japan due relatively few options for low cost air travel.
The market is still dominated by full-service carriers ANA and JAL, although both are pressing ahead with new or revamped low cost brands.
AirAsia starts taking delivery of a large order of fuel efficient A330neo jets from the end of 2019 and may then resume flights to Europe.
It halted flights to London and Paris back in 2012 when fuel prices surged.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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