AirAsiaX to withdraw Asia - Europe routes

Budget airline AirAsia X is to withdraw its pioneering low-cost flights between Asia and Europe, it announced January 12.

The airline, the long-haul arm of Malaysia's largest budget carrier AirAsia, confirmed in an email to journalists that it would withdraw services to three long-haul destinations over the coming months as part of a new focus on core markets.

The airline's services between Kuala Lumpur and London, which currently fly six times a week, will end with the last flights on March 31.

A second European service to Paris, which flies four times a week, will come to an end March 30.

AirAsia chief Azran Osman-Rani blamed Europe's new Emissions Trading Scheme and Air Passenger Duty (APD) taxes in UK for the decision, adding that high fuel prices and weakened demand have increased cost pressures.

The airline's services between Kuala Lumpur and India will also be affected, with four times weekly services to Mumbai ending at the end of this month and daily services to Delhi being slashed to four times a week from March 22.

The airline said that it would focus its efforts on different markets, opening new routes to Australasia, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.