Malaysia's AirAsia X to suspend Iran service
The long-haul arm of budget carrier AirAsia said it would suspend
operations to Iran, citing currency “volatility” as the carrier mounts
new profitable destinations across the Asia-Pacific.
Malaysia-based AirAsia X said the current four times weekly flights
between Kuala Lumpur and Tehran will be suspended with the last flight
on 14 October.
AirAsia X said “the suspension of its services to Tehran Imam
Khomeini Airport” was due to challenging economic and business
conditions including the “volatility of the Iranian currency”.
The statement did not say when services would be resumed.
Iran, which has been ruled by an Islamic theocracy since the 1979
revolution, is locked in a diplomatic stand-off with the West over its
nuclear activities, which Tehran insists are entirely peaceful.
Western sanctions has resulted in the plunge of Iran's currency.
In a bid to rationalise its operations AirAsia X this year axed its
four-weekly flights to Christchurch. It has also ceased service to
London, Paris and Delhi and Mumbai.
Oil-rich Iran has good ties with Malaysia. Tehran and Kuala Lumpur
have been trying to grow trade relations. The airline launched flights
to Iran in 2010 since Malaysia was a popular tourists destination for
Iranians.
AirAsia X operates nine Airbus A330-300s to 12 destinations in six
countries -- Japan, Korea, Australia, China, Nepal, and Taiwan.
Former record industry executive Tony Fernandes plucked ailing
AirAsia from its deathbed in 2001 and quickly turned it into one of the
aviation sector's biggest successes.
Fernandes established a successful template for AirAsia that included
flying into secondary airports in major cities, with their lower landing
costs.
He launched AirAsia X in 2007, to concentrate on long-haul routes.
AFP |