AirAsia X to CHC

[Will H]

Christchurch International Airport has reached an agreement with AirAsia X to have the Malaysian low-cost carrier start services from its Kuala Lumpur hub to the South Island's gateway airport.

Earlier this year AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani said the carrier would consider adding a New Zealand destination as an add-on fight to its service to Australia's Gold Coast, where it flies to daily.

Osman-Rani said on Twitter that there were "no details yet" of the route. Christchurch says details "will be released in the coming weeks."

Christchurch did however disclose that the agreement with AirAsia X will see up to 70,000 more visitors per annum. AirAsia X's A330s have 377 seats, suggesting the route will be operated 3-4 times weekly.

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/wi...z-flights.html

The question now is if D7 is going direct from KUL or from an Oz city, and if the latter if it's OOL.

[Brock Little]

Great news!!!
D7 has always been talking about going to CHC from KUL via an Australian city. It'd be great if it is OOL!

[Jarden S]

That would make a big impact on SQ and EK loads out of CHC. Also would Air NZ pull out of the CHC-OOL route will be interesting to see what happens...

[Jarden S]

A team representing Christchurch and New Zealand finalised a deal this evening with the world’s fastest growing low cost carrier, Air Asia X, to bring long-haul flights direct from Kuala Lumpur to Christchurch.

The team included Christchurch International Airport (CIAL) CEO Jim Boult, CIAL General Manager Marketing and Business Development, Gareth Owen, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker and Mayoress Joanna Nicholls-Parker, CEO of Tourism New Zealand, Kevin Bowler, and the New Zealand High Commissioner for Malaysia, David Kersey. They met with the owner of Air Asia X, Tony Fernandes, and his executive team to sign a deal that will bring a new airline to Christchurch with exceptionally low fares. Details of the deal will be released in the coming weeks.

“CIAL has been developing this opportunity over the past two years and is ecstatic that this service has now been approved,” said CIAL Chief Executive Jim Boult. “It’s the fruition of an amazing group effort and the impact of the fabulous experiences available in the South Island. The fact that we had such a strong team, including the Mayor and Mayoress of Christchurch and the head of Tourism New Zealand, showed Air Asia X how committed we are to this partnership.”

“This is fantastic news for Christchurch, in terms of travel and tourism,” said Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker. “We are looking at up to 70,000 more visitors a year, bringing in an estimated $70 - 80 million more to the region and creating hundreds of new jobs. Having this new airline truly positions Christchurch as New Zealand’s tourism hub.”

Azran Osman-Rani, Chief Executive of Air Asia X, said the choice of Christchurch as its first New Zealand port reflected its great destinational appeal. “Christchurch Airport put up a great business case for why we should come south,” he said. “We were impressed with the potential and the quality of tourism experiences available in the South Island.”

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler who also attended the meeting is delighted at the news.” It’s fantastic news for New Zealand, and particularly the South Island. We are seeing fantastic demand from all parts of Asia and this decision from Air Asia X couldn’t come at a better time.”

Based in Malaysia, Air Asia X has been named as the world’s best long-haul low-cost carrier. With their parent company, Air Asia, they have a network of 130 routes covering 75 destinations.

Gareth Owen, CIAL General Manager Marketing and Business Development, said that at the beginning of the year three Air Asia X executives came to New Zealand to investigate the market here. “We took them on a whirlwind tour of the South Island that included classic experiences like white-water rafting, bungy jumping, climbing glaciers at Mt Cook, and riding on the Shotover Jet,” he said. “We were overwhelmed with support from regional tourism offices, tourism operators, local government and the whole CIAL team, ensuring every aspect of the visit went smoothly.”

David Mackenzie, Chairman of the Board of CIAL, believes the arrival of Air Asia X will be another leap forward for South Island tourism. “There is no doubt in my mind that the South Island of New Zealand is becoming a special destination in its own right. I think we will see more airlines such as Air Asia X bringing people in direct through the Christchurch International Airport gateway.”

Since being launched in 2007, Air Asia X has undergone rapid expansion, adding new routes each year.

The Air Asia X aircraft include some of the latest models from Airbus, including the A330-300 and A340 –300. Air Asia X has 10 Airbus aircraft with an order of 25.

“The additional Air Asia X flights also give Christchurch and South Island residents more travel opportunities to different parts of the world. We can expect many people to travel down from Auckland and Wellington to take advantage of these flights,” said Jim Boult. “It’s a win-win scenario. The team at Christchurch Airport is committed to this partnership with Air Asia X, and we look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration.”

www.christchurchairport.co.nz

[Brock Little]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/indu...-jobs-for-city

Direct flights between Christchurch and Kuala Lumpur on a new Asian airline are expected to create hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of dollars for Canterbury.

The deal with new Malaysian airline AirAsia X was yesterday confirmed by Christchurch International Airport after a meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

That meeting was revealed as the reason for Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker's trip to Asia on Thursday.

AirAsia X will start the first low budget service to New Zealand about March, with four return services a week between Kuala Lumpur and Christchurch.

A group of tourism, city and airport officials gave a crucial presentation in the Malaysian capital yesterday to confirm the new services, which should upgrade to daily flights if passengers fill the planes.

Parker said from Kuala Lumpur last night that the services would bring $70 million to $80m of annual economic benefit to the city according to an independent study, and stimulate 600-700 jobs in the region.

"I think we've achieved an absolute coup for our city ... we beat out Auckland, we actually beat out Sydney and it's going to revolutionise for a lot of Kiwis flying into the international marketplace because it's going to introduce incredibly low fares."

CIAL chief executive Jim Boult said he and other airport executives had been in talks with the Malaysian airline for two years.

Yesterday they signed a deal with AirAsia X which claims to be "the world's fastest growing low-cost carrier". Daily services could start in two years, he said.

Boult was joined by CIAL executive Gareth Owen, Parker, Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler, TNZ representative Tim Hunter, and the NZ High Commissioner to Malaysia, David Kersey.

They had put their case to AirAsia X's chief executive, Azran Osman-Rani, and Tony Fernandes – a Malaysian entrepreneur known for turning AirAsia, a failing government-linked commercial airline, into a highly successful budget airline.

Boult said jobs would be created at the airport, with the new airline, as well as in the city. He could not comment on fares.

"The exact date of launch is yet to be decided but it will be around March next year and details of bookings and fare structures etc will come out in the next couple of weeks."

Parker said the airline would stimulate up to 70,000 more visitors a year. Christchurch had won the services because of a compelling business case and because of the relationship the city had with the owner of the airline.

"Mr Fernandes – he is kind of the Richard Branson of this part of the world, but he still likes to know there is a commitment. What he really liked about our presentation to him today is he felt there was a genuine commitment from a number of organisations ...

Ad Feedback "We're the major shareholders in the airport and he really wanted to eyeball us and make sure it was all genuine. He got that and he is right on board."

AirAsia X flies Airbus A330-300, A340-300 and A350-900 aircraft.

The airline flies to the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth, carrying 29,000 passengers a month on Australian routes

They fly A350-900 aircraft? Wow, I didn't know any had been delivered!

In all seriousness, it will be a direct route and thus will not be routing through OOL according to this article and the previous one.

[Will H]

I presume Stuff.co.nz has confused 600 general NZ jobs with 600 airport jobs, the latter of which would see AirAsia X have a personal attendant for each passenger, cargo container, and galley cart.

On second thought, that could be nice.

[Stefan Perkas]

Evening all,

Update at 0800GMT 12MAR12

AirAsia X today (12MAR12) announced the cancellation of Kuala Lumpur – Christchurch service, which the 4 weekly A330-300 flight will be discontinued from 01JUN12. The airline launched this route on 01APR11.

Schedule from 01APR12 to 31MAY12 as follows:

D7280 KUL0840 – 2255CHC 330 57
D7282 KUL2340 – 1355+1CHC 330 13

D7281 CHC0010 – 0725KUL 330 16
D7283 CHC1510 – 2225KUL 330 24

http://airlineroute.net/2012/03/12/d7-chc-jun12cxld/