AirAsia Gets New Lightweight Seats

7th Apr 2016

AirAsia’ Airbus A320 fleet (including both current and any new aircraft it adds) will soon get brand new, slimline economy seats, thanks to the partnership the Malaysian budget carrier made with Mirus Aircraft Seating Ltd this Thursday.

This is set to be the launch of Mirus’ new Hawk slimline economy seat. The Hawk is made from a fully composite frame and includes less moving parts than the current seats in AirAsia’s Airbus A320s. It is also about 40 per cent lighter than regular aircraft seats.

CEO of Mirus Phil Hall explained a little bit more about Hawk, saying it provides a mix of comfort, elegance, affordability and class-leading weight proposition. Its simple, but robust design, he said, promises low cost of continued ownership.

AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes said the following about the agreement:

Innovation is the lifeblood of AirAsia and these new lightweight seats will ensure that we remain at the cutting edge of cabin experience while still maintaining cost leadership and delivering the same great flying experience for our guests.

CIMB: AirAsia will have to Pay RM130M per Year on Higher DCA Charges

Meanwhile, AirAsia will likely have to pay RM130 million or more per year on a full-year basis thanks to the higher ANFC (air navigation facility charges), said CIMB Estimate Research.

CIMB added said this could amount to between 10 and 12 per cent of AirAsia’s group core net profit forecasts for FY 2017-18.

However, the true impact on AirAsia would likely be less than this, depending on whether the airline industry is able to reduce, postpone, or lobby for the additional charges to be scrapped.

According to reports, Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation will raise a number of fees charged to airlines, the biggest one of which is ANFC, which is based on the distance flowing within the domestic airspace. That fee could soon be raised as much as 10-fold, to RM2 per nautical mile (for Airbus A320) starting with 15^th April. The previous ANFC rate was 20 sen.

The change will affect domestic flights wholly, while international flights will only be affected for the portion within Malaysia.