Read More: http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20120114015715/Article/
Considering that flights to London end in late March, Branson's skirt challenge is unlikely to happen. "At the direction oil is heading, long haul is very tough but we could probably see them revisiting the routes in the future," OSK Research analyst Ahmad Maghfur Usman told Business Times yesterday. Another analyst who declined to be named concurred, saying that the routes could be revisited when AirAsia X takes delivery of its 10 Airbus A350 XWBs between 2016 and 2018. At the signing ceremony of the aircraft order, AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani had said the aircraft would allow it to operate with unprecedented unit costs for long-haul flights to Europe and North America. The A340, which is what AirAsia X is currently using for the London and Paris routes, is known to be a fuel guzzler, contributing to the losses it experienced on these routes. On Thursday, AirAsia X announced it would stop servicing London, Paris, Mumbai and New Delhi by April 2012. "The announcement definitely underscores the difficulty behind the low-cost long-haul model, but AirAsia X flying these routes again are within the realm of possibility," said Standard and Poor's senior aviation analyst Shukor Yusof. Analysts are in agreement that the suspension of its lossmaking routes will make the initial public offering (IPO) for AirAsia X a more attractive one to investors. "AirAsia X is likely to be able to achieve an IPO in 2013," Maghfur said. The 2013 deadline is considered more doable as it would give AirAsia X an opportunity to clean up the red ink in its books. "Of course that is barring any pressing need for cash or to exit the company by its shareholders,"one analyst said.
Considering that flights to London end in late March, Branson's skirt challenge is unlikely to happen. "At the direction oil is heading, long haul is very tough but we could probably see them revisiting the routes in the future," OSK Research analyst Ahmad Maghfur Usman told Business Times yesterday. Another analyst who declined to be named concurred, saying that the routes could be revisited when AirAsia X takes delivery of its 10 Airbus A350 XWBs between 2016 and 2018. At the signing ceremony of the aircraft order, AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani had said the aircraft would allow it to operate with unprecedented unit costs for long-haul flights to Europe and North America. The A340, which is what AirAsia X is currently using for the London and Paris routes, is known to be a fuel guzzler, contributing to the losses it experienced on these routes. On Thursday, AirAsia X announced it would stop servicing London, Paris, Mumbai and New Delhi by April 2012. "The announcement definitely underscores the difficulty behind the low-cost long-haul model, but AirAsia X flying these routes again are within the realm of possibility," said Standard and Poor's senior aviation analyst Shukor Yusof. Analysts are in agreement that the suspension of its lossmaking routes will make the initial public offering (IPO) for AirAsia X a more attractive one to investors. "AirAsia X is likely to be able to achieve an IPO in 2013," Maghfur said. The 2013 deadline is considered more doable as it would give AirAsia X an opportunity to clean up the red ink in its books. "Of course that is barring any pressing need for cash or to exit the company by its shareholders,"one analyst said.
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