Thanks to Air Asia, now everyone can fly. The low-cost airline giant now plans to expand its route to America!
Based on AirAsia Group Chief Executive Tan Sri Tony Fernandes social media post, he shared on his Instagram that he had many plans for the US region.
“What a great city New York is. Flying there soon. Got some ideas for the USA. Empire State in the background. AirAsia is going to San Francisco, Los Angeles and who knows, maybe New York,” wrote Fernandes.
Fernandes took a picture with Empire State as background.
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Fernandes was recently in the United States for a work visit. According to Nikkei Asian Review, AirAsia Group aims to fly to Los Angeles and San Francisco on the west coast of the US by 2020 from its base in Southeast Asia via Japan.
Seeing Japan as a connecting hub between Asia and the west, Fernandes underlined his strategy to take passengers to North America and Europe as the company’s next step of development. Nagoya is under consideration as the Japanese stopover hub, since the group’s subsidiary is based there.
“Japan serves as a fantastic hub for us, as it only takes 12 hours to Los Angeles or San Francisco, as well as 10 hours to Europe,” said Fernandes.
AirAsia’s ambitions will heighten competition in the region as Japanese full-service carriers have long dominated long-haul flights to the west. The group will also be using some of the newly ordered Airbus A330neo widebody jets for the long-haul flights and is expecting delivery of 100 of those from the end of 2019.
“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.”
Who’s excited about the new routes?
Credit: Nikkei Asian Review
