Not sure if this is relevant.
AAX are apparently releasing tickets for the KL-SYD route next Tuesday, for flights starting 1 April. And there is talk of them axing some of their Indian, European and NZ routes.
Source: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/1/12/bus…
Seems unlikely that the London-KL route will be cut especially after all the promotion Tony Fernandes has done in England (e.g. Buying QPR). Would be good if they got into the Aus-US via KL market.
Those three routes are purportedly their least profitable routes.
If they decide to shut those down, they could possibly be giving their share of the market to MAS after they merged last year… Whatever it is, they better have a good contingency plan in place - I'm booked for KL-LON/ORY-KL in Aug/Sept!
Its official to the point where they have not stated their expansion plans
Their expansion plan is KL-SYD?
In all likelihood, their expansion plan will probably be focused on their more profitable routes, ie: Australasia, China, Korea, Japan etc.
woot!!
But too bad, for Paris + London and India (Mumbai + New Delhi) as mentioned in their facebook post.
Its time for SYDNEY TO ENJOY THE PLEASURES OF AIRASIA!!!!!
The pleasures of having your flight route cancelled?
This was the text of their email:
……………………
Dear Guest,
Please be informed that effective from 1st April 2012, AirAsia will be suspending our flights to/from London.
We will be sending individual notifications to all guests affected by this move, in stages, based on your respective flight dates, via email and SMS.
The email notices will also outline the various service recovery options offered which are:
i. cancel your reservation and opt for Full Refund/Credit Shell; or
ii. re-route to any other AirAsia X destination, without any additional cost; or
iii. transfer to an alternative airline subject to availability, without any additional cost.
In order to avoid undue congestion and delays in replying to your queries, we request that you contact us in relation to any queries you may have, only after you have received your individual notice.
For further explanation on the reasons for our flight suspensions, please refer to our Press Release at http://www.airasia.com/my/en/corporate/pressrelease.page
Sincerely
AirAsia X
……………………
I can't tell if it is saying that they will offer all three options, or just a limited subset "based on availability"
Despite living in Sydney and them beginning services to Sydney, we will definitely not return to Air Asia if they do not take the third approach and replace our flights.
Never had these problems on Jetstar.
They're likely to stick you with MAS since they're pretty much one and the same. If that's the case, I'd prefer to look on the bright side - MAS flights for AirAsia prices :) Otherwise, good luck to the both of us.
Yes, I've had a friend report that he's been moved to MAS business class, after booking premium seats on this route with AirAsia. It's an excellent trade for a little inconvenience, if you ask me.
Thankfully, AirAsia customer service is top notch, in my experience. A few years ago, I had my flight retimed - Tony Fernandes himself arranged an alternative flight.
Chin up and all the best - I'd love to know what the outcome is for both of you.
That sounds promising :) When was your friend scheduled to fly? My tickets are for Aug/Sept so I'm not sure when they'll contact us about re-bookings. I'm guessing not too soon…
I'm not sure, but I assume it's soonish, considering how quickly they got on top of it.
Apparently customer service are informing callers that not everyone will be offered transfer to an alternative airline.
I am going to join the call queue and clarify….
I called yesterday and their customer service reps are absolutely no help. They sounded like robots reading off a script (which I'm sure they were). The lady I spoke to advised me to sit tight and wait for the email.
If you get any new info, let us know.
Cheers
This might not be a shock for those who are about to have their flights cancelled, but insurance is always the first thing I do when booking an international flight.
As for the news for Sydney, that's brilliant for me as it's the closest airport to CBR.
Only good if your travel insurance covers it. Suspension of route due to airline changing their business plan, is not covered in most insurance PDS brochures.
Many travel insurance policies do not cover airline cancellations due to financial difficulties. This could be argued as a financial difficulty.
So good. I've been waiting for this for years now. Hopefully this isn't yet another false alarm!