Long haul and low cost is the kind of combination cheapskates like us have been craving when it comes to airfares, and Air Asia X has been hinting at cheap London to Asia flights for ages now.

And while they're still not admitting that those kind of flights are going to happen, they've planned a press conference in London for November 25. Boss Tony Fernandes will be there, and he's promising "massive news for London."

The punters are predicting £350 ($525) London to Kuala Lumpur fares to start in early 2009. We're thinking cheap legs like these will be the new way to travel round-the-world. Just imagine: All the joys of low cost travel like no legroom, no food and no entertainment, but for 10 or 12 hours at a time. Sounds fantastic!

Related Stories:
· Air Asia X Set For London Launch? [Alternative Airlines]
· All We Want For Christmas is Long, Cheap Flights [Jaunted]
· Air Asia X coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Christophe Ramos] ]]> amandak 2008-11-20T09:30:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/4/53631/37328

Air Asia offshoot Air Asia X is not the only airline worried about how heavy planes use more fuel--that's getting more expensive by the second. But they're certainly one of the few airlines who are even vaguely mentioning that heavier passengers might be cheating airlines out of money.

Reports are saying that Air Asia X is considering weighing passengers so they can calculate how much more weight the plane could carry, then filling it up with cargo that pays its way. Since Australians recently became the statistically fattest in the world, the airline has also suggested that charging larger passengers on Australasian routes could "help Aussies lose weight."

Maybe a deal between airlines and Weight Watchers will be the next step?

Related Stories:
· Air Asia X May Charge Passengers by Weight [news.com.au]
· Aussie Airlines Ponder Weight-Loss Plans [Jaunted]
· Air Asia X Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Steffe]]]> amandak 2008-08-04T09:00:04-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/31/95135/7028

Since we mentioned that Malaysia Airlines has great customer service, we've let them drift off our radar a bit in favor of upstart Malaysian LCC Air Asia, with its promises to spirit us across the whole world for nearly nothing.

And that's a pity, because if we'd been paying more attention to long-term good performer Malaysia Airlines, we might have picked up a really special deal recently: An error was made when uploading prices to the computer system, and the cost of a business class flight from Bangkok to Johannesburg was listed as 11,580 Thai Baht instead of 111,580.

That missing "1" made about US$3,500 difference to the price, and those in the know snapped up bargain-priced business class deals for under $400. Malaysia Airlines has now corrected the error but will honor the tickets bought at the cheaper rate. We just wish it had been us.

Related Stories:
· Pricing Error for Malaysia Airlines [eTravel]
· Malaysia Airlines Heart All Passengers [Jaunted]

[Photo: JanneM]]]> amandak 2008-04-01T10:25:45-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/28/5582/42023

Remember we said that the Air Asia boss is full of big plans and dreams? Well he might be about to make one of our dreams come true by mentioning the possibility of flights between Australia and Europe for A$1,000 (US$920), which would start before Christmas 2008 if the plan comes together.

Flights with Air Asia's long-haul arm, Air Asia X, already run from Kuala Lumpur to the Gold Coast in Australia, and they are looking to expand to Melbourne and one other (undecided) city. And the airline is in talks with London's Stansted and Manchester airports to get a landing deal--allowing for flights from KL--and apparently both airports are keen.

With the hope of $1,000 flights from LA to Sydney already getting our suitcases jiggling this week, adding cheap Europe to Australia flights to the mix is making the possibility of actually affordable round-the-world travel seem tantalizingly close. We're keeping all our fingers and toes crossed.

Related Stories:
· Australia-London Return for $1,000 [Herald Sun]
· Calculated Speculation: V Australia Edition [Jaunted]
· Air Asia Boss Has Really Big Plans [Jaunted]

[Photo: jetalone]
]]> amandak 2008-03-28T09:20:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/11/113238/076

Serial publicity hound Richard Branson is headed Down Under later this month to reveal the details on Virgin's latest airline, V Australia.

The start-up is a spin off of Virgin Blue, set to challenge Qantas on flights between Oz and the US before the end of 2008. Interestingly, Branson's visit is timed to coincide with the opening of London Heathrow's Terminal 5--the new home of Virgin rival British Airways.

We're guessing RB won't be taking Kendra Wilkinson along on his trip south, but he won't be hyping V Australia all alone. AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes will be in Melbourne too, talking up his new routes to Malaysia.

Related Stories:
· Branson to Reveal V Australia Plans [Aviation Record]
· Open Skies Travel: Transpacific Routes Now (Sorta) Open [Jaunted]
· Jaunted Interviews: Surprise Call from Richard Branson [Jaunted]
· V Australia coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-03-11T11:35:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/8/223742/3462

Air travel in the Asia-Pacific region is non-stop action at the moment. With Asian LCCs forever threatening to expand and governments chipping away at open skies agreements, it almost feels like we'll be able to fly around Australasia for free in a couple of years.

The news this week is an agreement between the Australian and Malaysian governments to allow more seats on flights between the two countries. Until the announcement, the weekly traffic between Oz and Malaysia was around 35,000 seats, but there are now 5,000 more seats with another 3,500 seats allowed from March 2009.

The expansion is likely to encourage budget airlines like Air Asia X to start more routes to Australia and even compete on the domestic market--there are even rumors that they plan to cooperate with Virgin Blue. We are really hanging out for some cheap flights around this region, so watch this space.

Related Stories:
· Air pact with M'sia allows more seats [The Australian]
· Air Asia X Making X-Tra Small Seats [Jaunted]
· Transpacific Routes Now (Sorta) Open [Jaunted]

[Photo: jetalone]

A few days ago Jaunted heartthrob Charles Ogilvie called us up to tell us he was in Asia for a flight on AirAsia. Normally, we'd take that in stride, but Chuck was hopping the inaugural flight between Kuala Lumpur and Vientiane in the company of the airline's CEO, Tony Fernandes (pictured at center), and Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan (left).

Charles was definitely a fan of the airline, which has a bunch of different carriers unified under one brand banner. (Reminds us of another group of airlines we follow, actually.) He had the chance to ride AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia and Thai AirAsia--and his full review is just a click away.

]]> pbb 2008-02-26T10:30:01-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/