A350 to unlock Asian routes predicts Gatwick
London Gatwick predicts the arrival of the A350 aircraft into the market will help it secure a raft of previously unserved routes to Asia over the coming three to five years, including the potential to revive AirAsia’s abandoned service to Kuala Lumpur, Routes News can reveal.
Matt Wood, head of airline relations at Gatwick, said the lower fuel consumption and reduced costs of operating the new Airbus aircraft could make a number of long-haul routes “viable” for the first time, including the return of AirAsia X’s Kuala Lumpur–London route.
The Malaysian low-cost carrier operated began a direct route to Stansted in 2009 before moving it Gatwick in 2011 and then abandoning it completely in April 2012, a decision it belamed on high fuel costs and taxation.
“AirAsia X would be willing to come back into the market with the A350, previously it was using the A340 which was the worst aircraft you could fly for that market, the A350 is what’s going to open up the market,” said Wood.
“Over the next three to five years you can expect an expansion of [Gatwick’s] point-to-point market, with lower costs making markets viable for the first time.”
Next generation aircraft
Meanwhile, Gatwick is also set to be the launch airport for the first B787 flights out of the UK, with Thomson services to Florida, while Wood confirms the airport is in discussions with Middle Eastern carrier Emirates to secure its first scheduled A380 service.
“We are in discussions with Emirates and some of our Asian carrier colleagues, who I don’t want to name at the moment, about the A380 and we are hoping we will operating them,” he says.
Gatwick is also targeting other new Asian destinations, including the Philippines, which currently has no direct links to Britain making it “another strong case for UK Plc” as well as Japan, and China.
Wood said Gatwick’s recent success in attracting Vietnam Airlines, Korean and most recently securing the UK’s only direct link Indonesia with Garuda, revealed an airport does not need to be a hub like to Heathrow to be able to secure long-haul routes.
“The really important thing to understand about passengers flying between Indonesia and London is that London is the end point of their journey, people do not come here to transfer, it’s the biggest point-to-point market in the world.”
http://www.routes-news.com/news/1-news/1365-a350-to-unlock-asian-routes-predicts-gatwick
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发表于 2013-5-1 14:05:27
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