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Tune Hotels Will Keep Air Asia Company In Coming To The USA

September 23, 2009 at 5:43 PM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

Our sis site HotelChatter does a bang-up job of covering the latest news and trends in the hotel world. We're also including a few links from VegasChatter, the newest member to the family. So check in and stay awhile.

· Tony Fernanades tells us that Tune Hotels will keep Air Asia company in the US

· We took the Zappos headquarters tour!

· A peek at the Hotel Andaz Wall Street (opening in January) and it's pillow puffs.

· Counting down the Dirtiest Pool Scenes in Las Vegas. Ew.

· NYC's Surrey Hotel pitched itself at us

· The most dis-regarded sign in all of Las Vegas

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Talking With Air Asia's CEO Tony Fernandes About US Plans

September 21, 2009 at 9:23 AM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

A Jaunted Exclusive

We've been following the secretive saga behind the Air Asia X plane gone native—meaning it slipped into some Oakland Raiders livery—ever since May when it's tail was spotted getting the new paintjob. We speculated that perhaps this meant one of two things: either the Oakland Raiders football team was chartering an AirAsia plane for their season, or Air Asia was readying for some trans-Pacific routes to the United States.

After the plane flew to Oakland for a grand unveiling last week, we had to get to the bottom of the deal. Is Air Asia coming to the United States or what? So we dialed up the Air Asia CEO and mogul Tony Fernandes for a quick rundown of the low-cost carrier's North American plans.

And here's what he said...

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Air Asia X Launches Low-Cost, Long-Haul Service

March 13, 2009 at 9:59 AM | by juliab | 0 Comments

Our London correspondent Julia Buckley is riding on the inaugural Air Asia X flight as we speak. We'll have that flight review for you later but check-out all that happened at the launch party below. Enjoy.

Air Asia X had the weather on their side yesterday when the first-ever no-frills long-haul flight touched down at Stansted. Amazingly there was no rain, but rather sun, a clear sky, and even a prince (only Andrew, unfortunately) to welcome the inaugural flight from Kuala Lumpur to London.

The flight was even 25 minutes early, so everyone was in celebratory form for the launch party at Altitude 360, on the 29th floor of the Millbank Tower, which looks down the Thames past the Houses of Parliament, London Eye and over to St Pauls and the Gherkin. The views were incredible – although most people were tucking into the free-flowing drinks rather than looking outside. Those who did, though, were rewarded by strobe lights swirling the red Air Asia logo around on the building on the other side of the river.

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AirAsia Growing So Much It Deserves Its Own Airport

January 30, 2009 at 9:45 AM | by amandak | 0 Comments

What do you do if your low-cost airline finds the local airport simply too crowded for your liking? Well, if you have the confidence of Tony Fernandes and you're in charge of always-growing AirAsia, you just decide to build your own airport.

AirAsia has plans to build an exclusive-use airport in Kuala Lumpur, closer to downtown than the main airport and ready to fly 30 million AirAsia passengers around annually from March 2011. Tony Fernandes reckons this will cut AirAsia’s costs by 30% and bring down ticket prices even more.

Enter the Malaysian government. Although they approved this airport before, the rumor now is that they will backtrack on the agreement and tell AirAsia to live with the normal airports instead. Pretty safe bet that Tony Fernandes isn't at all impressed with that. And if it means losing our cheaper fares, neither are we.

Related Stories:
· AirAsia Braces Itself For KL Backtrack [AsiaOne]
· AirAsia Unveils Plans for Own Airport [AFP]
· AirAsia’s Grown Uninhibited By Its Narcissism [Jaunted]

[Photo: JasonDGreat]

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AirAsia's Growth Uninhibited By Its Narcissism

Where: Malaysia
November 25, 2008 at 9:15 AM | by ced138 | 1 Comment

OK AirAsia, we know you’re one of the few carriers with healthy specs. But we think you might be getting a big ego. First, you offered an on-time guarantee and now your CEO is talking about growing AirAsia X, the company’s Australian subsidiary, tenfold by 2010. That’s faster than when Krispy Kreme suddenly glazed the entire United States in the late '90s.

Both AirAsia X and its Southeast Asian affiliate AirAsia are rapidly buying planes and adding destinations. And as Asian carriers ratcheted up fuel surcharges recently, founder Tony Fernandes scrapped AirAsia’s. Confidence is clearly not a problem for this carrier.

In fact, the one-year-old AirAsia X division will have one billion ringgit ($276 million) in profits by the end of 2009, says CEO Azran Osman Rani. This year’s profits will be about 350 million ringgit.

We’ll tell you if they back up the bluster with a flight review next week: We’re flying AirAsia from Phuket to Bangkok, and we're expecting to be impressed.

Related Stories:
· Malaysia’s AirAsia X Plans to Expand Sales Tenfold [AFP, via Google]
· AirAsia coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: christophe ramos]

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Massive News For London Means Massively Cheap And Long Flights

November 20, 2008 at 9:30 AM | by amandak | 0 Comments

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]

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Asian LCCs: AirAsia Uses Its Bragging Rights

Where: Malaysia
October 13, 2008 at 1:00 PM | by ced138 | 0 Comments

AirAsia must be feeling pretty good these days. The Malaysian low cost carrier frequently tops Asia tourism industry lists as the best of its kind. And it certainly lacks modesty, plastering the bragging rights across the sides of planes.

The airline has also grown to be Southeast Asia's largest LCC and plans to add nine new planes in 2009 to its existing fleet of 72. In fact, as tourism in the region picks up, the airline is getting downright cocky about its strength in the marketplace. Economic apocalypse? For AirAsia, life's a bear....

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Travel Snapshot: AirAsia Upping the Billboard Ante

July 21, 2008 at 1:12 PM | by pbb | 1 Comment

We thought Orlando's inadvertently raunchy billboard was the greatest travel advertising of the year, but this ad from maverick LCC entrepreneur and washing machine salesman Tony Fernandes has just surged into the lead.

It should come as little surprise that this billboard is in Queensland, Australia, a country known for edgy advertising.

Related Stories:
· Hesitant to Travel? [Seattle P-I]
· Tourism Marketing and Double Entendres [Jaunted]
· Travel Advertising coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Beth Whitman]

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LCC Travel: Pure Revenue Generation for AirAsia's New Menu

June 27, 2008 at 9:35 AM | by amandak | 2 Comments

Not satisfied with promising punctuality or getting free advertising from Paris Hilton, low cost carrier AirAsia is giving us yet another reason to fly: a new menu.

AirAsia has had a limited menu of hot meals available for purchase for a while now, but they're expanding the menu to include a bunch of local Asian delicacies: chicken rice, satay sticks and yellow glutinous rice are among the additions. If you prebook your meal online, it works out cheaper.

But boss Tony Fernandes makes no secret of the real reason for the menu additions. He's quoted as saying "It's purely another revenue-generating initiative." Full marks for honesty, Tony, but until we see you eating yellow glutinous rice yourself we're not sure we're ordering.

Related Stories:
· AirAsia Expands In Flight Menu [IHT]
· AirAsia's Confident About Punctuality [Jaunted]
· What's up with Charles Ogilvie and Paris Hilton? [Jaunted]

[Photo: Chandra Marsono]

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Tony Fernandes Will Gladly Buy Your $140 Oil

June 16, 2008 at 12:30 PM | by pbb | 2 Comments

AirAsia CEO and Richard Branson buddy Tony Fernandes says the high fuel prices that are killing American carriers don't bother him. As a matter of fact, he thinks the SARS scare was way worse--at least for his business:

We are comfortable even with oil at US$200 (a barrel). There is a silver lining. We have taken a very different approach in that we will market ourselves out of this problem. We think that just putting your head in the sand and crying about oil and cutting routes is not the solution.

So what's the magic solution Fernandes has? Selling stuff. Expect to see more duty free shopping as well as more (and likely more expensive) food and beverage service. And it might not even stop there:

We will sell washing machines if we have to.

Related Stories:
· Budget Airline AirAsia Can Stay Profitable at $200 a Barrel [AP, via IHT]
· AirAsia Boss Has Really Big Plans [Jaunted]
· AirAsia coverage [Jaunted]
· Low Cost Carriers coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: lastsham]

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AirAsia Boss Has Really Big Plans

March 25, 2008 at 9:30 AM | by amandak | 0 Comments

If you haven't really heard much about AirAsia yet, never fear: according to the CEO Datuk Tony Fernandes, the whole world will be flying AirAsia soon.

Fernandes really loves his airline and has huge plans for it. The first low cost carrier in Asia, coming out of Kuala Lumpur, AirAsia has been flying for over 10 years now and is ready to conquer the world. Fernandes dreams of making the AirAsia brand as big as Coca-Cola and the airline's reach as significant as European LCC Ryanair.

Some of the latest plans for AirAsia's future include pioneering PDA check-in, adding 175 new aircraft to its fleet and having AirAsia advertising adorning football stadiums. And hopefully, remembering to give us good service at a good price.

Related Stories:
· Sky's Not the Limit [eTravel]
· Air Asia is as Good as Formula One [ENP]
· AirAsia Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: lastsham]

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V Australia: Details on Branson's Newest Baby

March 11, 2008 at 11:35 AM | by pbb | 0 Comments

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]