最近在一些英文飛行論壇、新聞平台狂傳的一則訊息，
亞航X即將開通吉隆坡-伊斯坦堡-巴塞隆納航線，回歸歐洲市場
預計在10月開航，不過該消息還沒獲得亞航官方的證實。
大家原本預計會開航的是之前頗熱門的吉隆坡-倫敦和吉隆坡-巴黎航線，
沒想到是西班牙脫穎而出，有點大跌大家的眼鏡，
去年說會開航的夏威夷航線則是到現在還沒任何動靜
（可能要等美國開放馬來西亞人免簽？），
倒是突然開了一條模里西斯航線，亞航的策略有時真的很讓人猜不透呢？
如果亞航決定與台灣業者合作，一起搞個 Taiwan AirAsia，
不知道能不能救起台灣廉航的市場呢？
不過現在Japan AirAsia計劃一直在拖延，加上台灣對東南亞的興致缺缺，
這個機會應該不大。
資料來源：
https://goo.gl/QwwSxf
Air Asia X plans Europe return this October
If all goes according to plan, Malaysia’s Air Asia X will return to Europe
on October 30 after an absence of four years.
But don’t get too excited. Instead of returning to London or Paris or any
other major city in Northern Europe, the low-cost carrier (LCC) intends to
opt for Istanbul and Barcelona.
Airlineroute reports that Air Asia X has filed to operate a daily service
linking Kuala Lumpur with Barcelona via Istanbul.
The daily flight would be operated by a modern A330-300 and the planned
flight schedules are:
D7001 departs Kuala Lumpur 1000, arrives Istanbul 1500
D7001 departs Istanbul 1630, arrives Barcelona 1920
D7002 departs Barcelona 2050, arrives Istanbul 0120
D7002 departs Istanbul 0250, arrives Kuala Lumpur 1930
As noted above, Air Asia X last flew to Europe in 2012 with services to both
London (initially Stansted but later Gatwick) and Paris (Orly).
But both routes, although popular, proved unprofitable because the airline
was unable to raise fares to the level it would have liked. And so Air Asia X
withdrew from both cities four years ago.
Intense competition prevented Air Asia X from hiking prices. As Business
Traveller reported at the time, there were many occasions where no-frills Air
Asia X (by the time all the extras were included) was actually more expensive
than the Gulf carriers.
Moreeover the Gulf carriers serve cities the length and breadth of Europe
whereas Air Asia X was confined to two destinations.
At the time Air Asia X blamed the UK government’s APD tax as the reason for
quitting the market. But that did not explain why Air Asia X also axed Paris
seeing as France imposes no APD.
However one thing is for sure. Air Asia X was disadvantaged by having to
operate thirsty A340-300s (which were acquired from Air Canada) at a time of
high fuel costs.
Today fuel prices are far cheaper and the A330s are more economical having
two rather than four engines.
But there’s no escaping the fact that both Istanbul and Barcelona appear to
be odd choices.
According to industry figures 96,000 passengers flew between Kuala Lumpur and
Istanbul or vice versa in 2015. However there has been a significant decline
in visitor numbers over the past few months. And only 17,000 passengers flew
between the Malaysian capital and Barcelona.
On the other hand, in the case of Istanbul, Air Asia X will simply be taking
over from Malaysia Airlines (which axed the route recently) so only Barcelona
will be totally new to Malaysian aviation.
Air Asia X will hope to attract passengers who will be continuing beyond
Kuala Lumpur and who would be using its flights to other points both in Asia
and Australia.
It is unclear at the time of writing whether or not Air Asia X will secure
fifth-freedom (traffic carried between two countries by an airline of a
third) rights between Istanbul and Barcelona.
From Istanbul Air Asia X will compete directly with Turkish Airlines. There
are no direct flights linking Barcelona with Kuala Lumpur but here the main
competition (on service and price) will come from Emirates and Qatar Airways.
Note that no reservations are possible at the time of writing.