Air Asia to the Gold Coast

[futaris]

From the Airasia.com website:



No details as of yet. And another thread about it on Flyertalk.

 

[stryker]

From the Airasia.com website:

View attachment 115

No details as of yet. And another thread about it on Flyertalk.

This would be nice.

I believe they are the least rapacious of the LCC's.

 

[mileagemax]

[FONT=&quot]Had to look up that word!

Anyway, I think Air Asia is really low cost when compared to Jetstar or VirginBlue. They normally are always late, really late, their planes can be quite old and dirty, they don't normally use airport gates and use old buses instead to get you to and from the aircraft. In many cases, they cut costs so much that them seem very unprofessional and amateur at times. I think another level below Australian LCC's.

Having said all that, their prices are normally very low too, and if I am traveling for leisure, when I don't need to be on time, I will often take them.


[/FONT]

 

[moa999]

[FONT=&quot]Had to look up that word!
Anyway, I think Air Asia is really low cost when compared to Jetstar or VirginBlue.
[/FONT]

Agree on the lateness and planes. I believe when they started they bought 2nd hand unlike most LCCs.
Interestingly on some limited comparisons I have done
SIN-BKK which is flown by AirAsia, Tiger and Jetstar
(and therefore probably the most competitive LCC route in the world - with a max of 4 flights a day vs the majors who have hourly flights)

average pricing was Tiger < Jetstar << AirAsia

 

[stryker]

A couple of points.

It's not a hard word really.

Whatever you might say about Air Asia, I don't think "dirty" would be an honest description ("late" might be).

And, IMHO, they are the most cost-effective carrier in Asia, I did some price comparisons earlier today (because I wanted to travel), and found that TR and JQ might have had "cheaper" fares, but their on-costs (taxes, etc) were astronomical, making Air Asia the lowest cost carrier I could find.

As an example, I recently booked BKK-HKT-BKK for later this month on Air Asia, and the total cost came to 1710 THB (approx $67) including "taxes". And I do expect to get to my destinations on the days specified in the booking (but I'm not necessarily expecting every flight to be on-time).

 

[futaris]

Re: Air Asia ready for China, Australia

Business Times

PEOPLE bitten by the cheap travel bug can now spread their wings further with the arrival of AirAsia X’s first Airbus A330. The country’s first long-haul budget carrier will fly to China and Australia.

The plane, which is on a six-year lease, touched down at the low-cost carrier terminal here on Sunday at 12.25pm from Honolulu, Hawaii, AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman Rani said the inaugural flight, called “Semangat Sir Freddie” (after Sir Freddie Laker, founder of the first low-cost airline in the United Kingdom), would probably be in the middle of next month.

Azran said the landing rights for both destinations had been obtained, but AirAsiawas stillwaiting for the final air operating certificate from the Department of Civil Aviation.

Its first destination will depend on which country gets the final paperwork done first.

“The inaugural flight will be right after Hari Raya. Whoever sends us the paperwork first, we will fly there,” said Azran.

The flight schedule has yet to be released, but Azran said the plane would alternate between China and Australia.

“With this plane, we will have at least five flights a week to China and four to Australia.” In a first for AirAsia, there will be a “premium” economy class, similar to business class on a regular airline.

“The seats are more comfortable, but that’s all you get—just the seat.

No business class lounge or other extras.

A lot of people who travel are after just that, a more comfortable seat. ” A premium economy seat is a little more than double the price of a normal seat on the A330. It will be about the same as the economy fare on a full service airline.

AirAsia will also offer another first — fixed-back shell seats in economy class. Passengers will not have to recline their seats into the lap of the person behind them. Instead, the seat will slide forward. Such seats are normally found in business class.

Azran said fares would be what Malaysians had come to expect and enjoy from AirAsia to places like Indonesia and Thailand.

AirAsia X will land at airports that do not have direct connections with Kuala Lumpur. Thus, it will head to cities like Tianjin and Chengdu in China and Avalon (near Melbourne), Gold Coast (near Brisbane) and Newcastle (near Sydney).

Azran said AirAsia X would get more planes in the first half of next year, including the Airbus A340, which can fly non-stop to Britain.

 

[stryker]

I recently booked BKK-HKT-BKK for later this month on Air Asia, and the total cost came to 1710 THB (approx $67) including "taxes". And I do expect to get to my destinations on the days specified in the booking (but I'm not necessarily expecting every flight to be on-time).

Just to provide an update, I did fly FD (Thai Air Asia) BKK-HKT-BKK as planned, and, believe it or not, both flights were on time.

The weather was not great though (it's the rainy season for HKT), but we did manage to take off and land without incident (cf OG).

 

[littl_flier]

I was seriously considering Air Asia for an upcoming trip on BKK-HKT-BKK but noticed there was a 15kg luggage limit. After an extensive trip to Europe (and I can't do carryon ), I decided to give them the flick. BKK seems to have cheap, reasonable luggage storage so I could give them ago. Was going to book 1 2 Go (so cheap), but I'll leave that one alone for a little while to. :shock:

The Premium economy on Air Asia sounds good but I don't know whether I could justify double economy fares for just a slightly bigger seat on a LCC. At least with WT+ you get a few extra perks and JQ earns J status credits.

 

[futaris]

AirAsia X to fly to Australia in October with first A330

"The plane will alternate between China and Australia. We plan to have at least five flights to China a week and four a week to Australia's Gold Coast," he said.
The airline is now waiting for Malaysian regulators to certify the plane after landing rights to China and Australia were approved.

Shouldn't be long till fares are released...

 

[futaris]

http://www.airasiax.com/ has a route map up now:

 

[moa999]

Do Newcastle and Avalon have Customs/ Immigration facilities??

Actually thinking Newcastle might because Freedom used to fly there, but that will seemingly end soon

 

[futaris]

Norfolk Air are flying to Newcastle.

Not sure about Avalon.

 

[futaris]

Australia Here we come ad on Welcome to airasia.com...Now Everyone Can Fly...

Next 30 days?

 

[N860CR]

I was at KUL on Tuesday and the Air Asia A330 was there near the LCCT. Apparantly it arrive on Sunday and is all ready to go once the flights are approved.

 

[toowongman]

Do Newcastle and Avalon have Customs/ Immigration facilities??

Actually thinking Newcastle might because Freedom used to fly there, but that will seemingly end soon

Ms Toowongman reports construction at AVV (to the left of the departure lounge once you're through the xray)... most likely for the international requirements.

 

[futaris]

Go Go Gold Coast (Brisbane)

Booking Period: 29 Sep 2007 - 30 Sep 2007
Travel Period: 2 Nov 2007 - 14 Nov 2007

Gold Coast from RM50.00 / AUD99.00

Terms and Conditions

• seats are limited and may not be available on all flights
• valid for new purchases only
• all fares are quoted for single journey (one-way) only
• fares do not include taxes and fees
• all taxes and fees must be paid at the time of purchase
• foreign fares and fees are subjected to currency exchange rates
• offer is subject to availability, AirAsia Terms and Conditions
• no refunds are permitted after payment has been made
• guests travelling need to provide all necessary travel documents (eg valid passport, visa where applicable etc) at the time of departure
• AirAsia reserves the right to deny guests from boarding without proper documentation
• full payment shall be made upon booking
• changes to flights and dates are permitted subject to change fees
• changes to name are not permitted
• only available for online booking at Welcome to airasia.com...Now Everyone Can Fly...

 

[futaris]

Should be about AU$500 for a return ticket. Taxes on Jetstar for SYD-KUL are $164.12 and for KUL-SYD $140.27.

 

[benhadi]

tried to make a booking but no flights available on any dates. have they even released the seats for sale yet?

 

[benhadi]

sorry my bad, didn't notice the booking period to be 29-30 sept. it's only the 28th!

 

[DJ737]

Hi there

OOL-KUL fares now available for booking $1 plus $99 tax each way.

Cheers
DJ737