Starting from next year, biggest low budget carrier in Asia, AirAsia Bhd will begin operating two more routes into Indonesia, with Johor Bahru to Jakarta (from 10th January, 2017) and Kuala Lumpur to Solo (from 17th January, 2017) flights.
The Johor Bahru-Jakarta service will take off on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 19:30 p.m. and will arrive in the Indonesian capital at 20:20 p.m. The return flight from Jakarta takes off at 20:50 p.m. and arrives back at Senai International Airport, Johor Bahru at 23:40 p.m.
Flights from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Solo will fly out also on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 00:05 a.m. and will arrive in Indonesia at 2:35 a.m. The return flight is scheduled for 3:00 a.m. and should arrive back in Malaysia at 6:25 a.m.
AirAsia will use Airbus A320s on the new routes.
In a statement about the new routes, AirAsia Berhad Head of Commercial Spencer Lee said:
Over the past year, we have worked hard to strengthen our connectivity from other hubs in Malaysia. We are delighted to announce another international route connecting not only Johoreans, but the southern community directly to Jakarta; as well as providing more links for Indonesians to come to different points in Malaysia.
Tony Fernandes Wants to Make AirAsia “the Emirates of Asia”
In the meantime, AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes gave an interesting interview for Web in Travel. It’s a lengthy one, but here are some interesting questions and Tony’s answers:
WiT:
Tell me about the one-ness of AirAsia.
Fernandes:
A lot of airlines are identified by their nationality – Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines. I want AirAsia to be the first true pan-Asian brand. Samsung is not pan-Asian. We want to be the Emirates of Asia. I mean one day, you could have a Chinese, Indonesian or Thai as head of AirAsia. Can you imagine a Thai being head of Singapore Airlines?
WiT:
They do say you’ve reach brand nirvana when people don’t really know or care where your brand comes from.
Fernandes:
This is what I always tell my communications people. We are not from Malaysia, we are an ASEAN brand and in time, we will be an Asian brand. Many years ago, I wanted to change the name to TuneAir and I was told it’d be a mistake. I am glad I listened. Your name can constrain you sometimes.
WiT:
It’s about managing egos, isn’t it? You have a big ego too.
Fernandes:
We can’t be successful without egos; the key is to manage it. Do I surround myself with people who always say yes to me? No. Humility is really critical. It’s not been difficult for me to set aside my ego. Yes I am opinionated but I believe in consensus. But if I believe in something, I will force it through. That’s what leaders do, that’s my prerogative.
WiT:
What do airports need to do better?
Fernandes:
We have to understand different types of customers, we need to separate short-haul and long-haul, low cost and full cost airlines. Airports have improved their retail experiences but immigration and security are in the super dark ages and visas are prehistoric.
You can read the whole interview at Web in Travel.
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