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AirAsia is a Low-cost Airline based in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia . It operates scheduled domestic and international flights and is Asia 's leading low fare, no frills airline. It is also the first airline in the region to implement fully ticketless travel and unassigned seats. AirAsia has been expanding rapidly and is very popular among the travelling public thanks to its frequent low fare deals. Its main base is the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL). HISTORY aircraft.]] The airline was established in 1993 and started operations on 18 November 1996 . It was originally founded by a Government -owned conglomerate DRB-Hicom . On December 2 2001 the heavily indebted airline was purchased by former Time Warner executive Tony Fernandes 's company Tune Air Sdn Bhd for the token sum of one Ringgit . Fernandes proceeded to engineer a remarkable turnaround, turning a profit in 2002 and launching new routes from its hub in Kuala Lumpur International Airport at breakneck speed, undercutting former monopoly operator Malaysia Airlines with promotional fares as low as RM 1 (US $0.27). In 2003, AirAsia opened a second hub at Senai Airport in Johor Bahru near Singapore and launched its first international flights to Bangkok . AirAsia has since started a Thai subsidiary, added Singapore itself to the destination list, and commenced flights to Indonesia . Flights to Macau started in June 2004, while flights to Mainland China ( Xiamen ) and the Philippines ( Manila ) started in April 2005. Flights to Vietnam and Cambodia followed later in 2005 and to Brunei and Myanmar in 2006, the latter by Thai AirAsia . A new budget terminal, the first of its kind in Asia was opened in Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 23 March 2006 . Built at a cost of RM108 million (US $29.2 million) and spanning some 35,000 square Metres (116,000 square feet), the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) is the new home for AirAsia Bhd. LCCT will initially handle 10 million passengers a year. AirAsia Group is expected to carry 18 million passengers in 2007. AirAsia operates with the world’s lowest unit cost of US$0.023/ASK and a passenger break-even load factor of 52%. It has hedged 100% of its fuel requirements for the next three years, achieves an aircraft turnaround time of 25 minutes, has a crew productivity level that is triple that of Malaysia Airlines and achieves an average aircraft utilisation rate of 13 hours a day.1 AirAsia is currently the main customer of the Airbus A320. The airline company will be operating fully on Airbus A320 by June 2007 replacing the current Boeing 737. The company has placed an order of 150 units of the same plane to service its routes and at least 50 of these A320 will be operational by 2013. The first unit of the plane arrived on 8 December 2005. On 27 March 2006 , the Government of Malaysia announced that AirAsia will take over 96 non-trunk routes, in addition to 19 domestic trunk routes. This was part of Malaysia Airlines route rationalization programme which saw a large number of its domestic sectors being transferred to AirAsia from 1 August 2006 . On December 27 , 2006 , AirAsia's Ceo Tony Fernandes unveiled a five-year plan to enhance further its presence in Asia.2 In the plan, AirAsia will strengthen and enhance its route network by connecting all the existing cities in the region and expanding further into Indochina, Indonesia, Southern China (Kun Ming, Xiamen, Shenzen) and India. The airline will focus on developing its hubs in Bangkok and Jakarta through its sister companies, Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia. Hence, with increase frequency and addition of new routes, AirAsia expects passenger volume to hit 18 million by end-2007. On the pipeline, after launching web-check ins, AirAsia will later introduce PDA check-ins. By July 2007, AirAsia’s Kuala Lumpur hub will be fully operated with A320s. Thai AirAsia will receive its first Airbus A320 in October 2007 and Indonesia AirAsia by January 2008. On April 5 , 2007 , AirAsia announced a three-year partnership with the British Formula One team AT&T Williams . The airline brand is displayed on the helmets of Nico Rosberg and Alexander Wurz , and on the bargeboards and nose of the cars. {Link without Title} SUBSIDIARIES Thai AirAsia See Also: Thai AirAsia Thai AirAsia (. Flight operations commenced on 13 January 2004 from its base in Don Mueang International Airport . Since 25 September 2006, the airline is based at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport . Indonesia AirAsia See Also: Indonesia AirAsia AirAsia acquired the then defunct Awair in 2004 with a 49% stake in the airline. Awair commenced services on behalf of AirAsia in December 2004; full rebranding to Indonesia AirAsia was completed on 1 December 2005. The airline is based in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport . Vina AirAsia See Also: Vina AirAsia Vina AirAsia is the product of the joint venture company, in which AirAsia Bhd holds a 30% stake (the maximum holding allowable for a single foreign entity) and remaining 70% to Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin). This will see both parties securing a licence to establish a low-cost airline by July 2008 in Hanoi, Vietnam. 4 ASSOCIATE COMPANIES FlyAsianXpress (FAX) See Also: FlyAsianXpress AirAsia subcontracts the operations of Rural Air Service within Sabah and Sarawak previously operated by Malaysia Airlines to a new airline, FlyAsianXpress (FAX). Established on 1 August 2006, the airline is a privately owned by the management team of AirAsia. AirAsia X See Also: AirAsia X AirAsia X , renamed from '''AirAsia Long Haul''', is a service operated by FlyAsianXpress as a franchise of AirAsia.5 It will offer long-haul services from Kuala Lumpur to Europe using Airbus A330 and with fares starting from RM9.99 (excluding tax and airport charges).6 It is expected to begin operations in November 2007. Tune Hotels See Also: Tune Hotels The first AirAsia "no-frills" hotel, Tune Hotels is ready for occupancy in Kuala Lumpur , and later in Penang , Kota Kinabalu , Johor Bahru , and Kuching . [http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2007&dt=0108&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Korporat&pg=ko_01.htm] Tune Money Tune Money is Asia's first "no-frills" online financial service owned by Tune Air Sdn. Bhd. It's founder is Tony Fernandes, the founder AirAsia. Unknown future The future of these companies have been put on hold and not known of when it will start operating. Bangladesh AirAsia AirAsia has signed a memorandum of understanding with East West Airlines, a sister concern of Bangladesh’s Orion group, to run the first-ever airlines joint venture and budget airlines in Bangladesh.7 Air South Asia Air South Asia , formerly HolidayAir, is an upcoming LCC based in Sri Lanka . The airline is presently 100% owned by Sri Lankan interests, but it plans to use AirAsia's expertise, booking engine and pilot training facilities, with an option for AirAsia to acquire a stake at a later stage.8 DESTINATIONS See Also: AirAsia destinations AirAsia operates about 200 flights a day, to 48 destinations in 10 countries. AirAsia is introducing six more routes in 2007. This includes to Ho Chi Minh City, Vientiane and Myanmar.9 AirAsia has also been granted the rights to fly to Shenzhen and Xiamen from Malaysia; flights will be operated from Kota Kinabalu10 and Kuala Lumpur. The CEO is also not ruling out Kuching - Perth service in the future following Malaysia Airlines withdrawal from the route11 AirAsia is setting up another hub at Penang International Airport , Penang , Malaysia by this year. Meanwhile, Thai AirAsia will add flights to Shenzhen and Kunming in China, and Jakarta and Bali in Indonesia in 2007, all from its hub, Bangkok.12. For Indonesia AirAsia , Jakarta-Johor Bahru and Jakarta-Kuching will be introduced.13 GROUND ARRANGEMENTS AirAsia offers convenient ground and ferry transfer from the following destination in partnership with local operators.
FLEET contact terminal]] AirAsia has ordered 150 Airbus A320 with the option of 50 more,15 the first of which arrived in December 2005. The new A320 enables AirAsia to further add capacity to existing popular routes and introduce new routes. The first 60 A320 schedule to be delivered from Dec 2005 - June 2009 The remainder 90 A320 will be delivered from March 2009 to Dec 2013 AirAsia's Kuala Lumpur hub will be fully operated with A320s by July 2007. INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION See Also: AirAsia Awards & Recognition EXTERNAL LINKS REFERENCES |
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