Air Asia X to end its Abu Dhabi service

Monday, 1 February 2010 7:37 AM

UAE FLIGHTS: Air Asia X will end its service from Abu Dhabi airport on February 21, 2010.

Budget airline AirAsia X has announced on Sunday it is stopping its Abu Dhabi service for “commercial reasons”, it has been reported.

According to the National, the long-haul arm of the low-cost carrier Air Asia has started to inform customers its last flight from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur will leave on February 21.

An “underwhelming” demand for tickets, uneconomical aircraft and the effects of the global financial crisis on the aviation industry are reasons for the move, the airline’s CEO Azran Osman-Rani said.

“We are not going to be flying, period, to Abu Dhabi until we figure out what’s the right strategy, the right hub, the right aircraft and we’ll probably come back again,” Azran told the paper.

The route was served by a four-engine Airbus A340, with 256 economy class seats and 30 premium seats, but plans include changing this to a smaller, twin-engine A330, the paper reported.

More than 30 weeks of flights until October will be cancelled, but customers will get a refund, Azan said.

Abu Dhabi Airports Company confirmed the airline’s decision.

A spokesman told the paper: “AirAsia X has confirmed to Abu Dhabi Airports Company [ADAC] that, from late February 2010, the airline will temporarily suspend its current, five-times-per-week, service to Abu Dhabi.

“ADAC looks forward to the airline recommencing its service to Abu Dhabi International Airport in the near future.”

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Posted by: Jed Thursday, 11 March 2010 10:24 PM[UAE] - UAE

8 people in our house booked the tickets for KL for october 20 flight. I thought the news was just a hoax until i read this article .I just want to know how & which contact number to call to get our refund..

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Posted by: Adel Tuesday, 9 March 2010 10:36 AM[UAE] - Kuwait

Wish to see Airasia in Kuwait soon.

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Posted by: Maree Thursday, 4 March 2010 3:54 PM[UAE] - bahrain

Our family of 5 have booked and paid for our tickets to Malysia from abu dhabi for this august. We paid on Januay 27th. Still haven't heard from air asia to tell us they have stopped flying. We only found out when my husband mentioned the great deals to a business colleague in Dubai last week and he said he tried to book them but couldn't get a booking. I have been busy booking accomodation in Langkawi for the past couple of weeks.. Thanks Air Asia what a great advertisement you are for Malaysia - not..

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Posted by: PaulK Monday, 1 March 2010 2:40 PM[UAE] - Malaysia

Most recently, my wife and I were stranded in Abu Dhabi when AirAsiaX announced they were canceling service to/from Abu Dhabi in January this year. They didn?t notify us, their stranded passengers, until Feb 10th. Neither did they offer any accommodation nor answer our emails asking for help. We had to get back to Malaysia on our own. They won?t reimburse our added expense either.

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Posted by: ernani Sunday, 21 February 2010 9:01 PM[UAE] - UAE

We already booked our flights from Abu Dhabi to KL this June, no one from Air Asia office contacted us till now to inform us about the cancellation of their flights, what will happen now? we paid this trip since September 2009, alternative tickets from any other airlines should be issued instead of refunding the money since we already loose the chance of buying good deals from other airlines plus the fact that they will refund our money after 60 days which is too much. Is there anyone out there knows where to elevate this problem?Please assist us. It is an airline fault they should deal this fairly to customers who already have a confirmed booking.

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