NZ market too good for AirAsia to ignore
Just two months before winding up its only route to New Zealand, budget airline AirAsia is already considering its next move here.
AirAsia X chief executive Benyamin Ismail has told the CAPA Centre for Aviation that despite opening and closing two routes to New Zealand since 2011, the airline was not giving up on New Zealand as a destination.
‘‘Auckland is the right market for us but it is something we will visit in the next few months or year,’’ Ismail said.
AirAsia X, the medium and long-haul operation of the AirAsia brand, began scheduled services to New Zealand in April 2011 with four-times weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to Christchurch, but that was stopped in May 2012.
In March 2016 the low-cost carrier returned to New Zealand with daily flights from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland via the Gold Coast. However, that service ends on February 11 as the airline streamlines its network.
But there was no denying the ‘‘huge’’ New Zealand market was attractive to airlines, Ismail told CAPA.
While AirAsia’s Gold Coast to Auckland service had good aircraft loads, high fuel prices had meant that the yields were ‘‘fairly low’’. Competition on the route was also fierce, he said.
When AirAsia launched the route there were up to 21 flights per week between Auckland and the Gold Coast with Air New Zealand, Jetstar and Virgin Australia all servicing the route.
‘‘Especially with the current fuel environment I felt it’s not the best to just keep sustaining that. It will be a market that I will revisit again in due time. So let’s wait for the fuel to come down first.’’
House of Travel commercial director Brent Thomas said New Zealand was a particularly attractive destination to the growing number of people in southeast Asia with discretionary income.
Southeast Asia was also a fastgrowing destination for outbound travel from New Zealand.
But AirAsia was not doing itself any favours by opening and closing New Zealand routes in quick succession.