AirAsia X moves to Gatwick, but APD pushes Brits to Paris
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AirAsia X has announced it is to move its London to Kuala Lumpur route from Stansted to Gatwick later this year. The low-cost airline said the relocation is part of its strategy to offer more connections to passengers into central London and on a wider network, particularly to the Middle East and the east coast of North America. “The primary reason for the move is popular demand as our customers want better access to central London. Our feeder network is critical and point-to-point travel isn’t enough” said Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X at the launch today. “In this brutal economic climate we have to make ruthless decisions and so we have moved to Gatwick”. He said the airline’s first route launch in London back in 2009 had stimulated demand in the south east Asian market, resulting in a 30% increase in passenger traffic between the capital and Kuala Lumpur. However he revealed that the airline had not grown as much as previously thought, largely due to high fuel prices and APD. “We could have been double daily by now but fuel price has been a real challenge for us and the tax regime has affected growth. We also cannot offer the original
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