AirAsia Group CEO: Lawsuit Will Not Affect AirAsia Sales

SEPANG, Feb 2 (Bernama) -- The recent lawsuit against AirAsia X in Australia will not affect the sales performance of the the low-cost carrier in the country, says AirAsia Group chief executive officer, Tony Fernandes. He said the lawsuit was a minor technical problem and would not result in any changes in the long-haul budget airline's frequencies to Australia. AirAsia X currently flies to Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Earlier last month, a consumer watchdog in Australia sued the budget carrier for allegedly failing to disclose the full price of fares for flights from Australia. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took legal action against the airline the same day its executives were launching the fares for the Sydney-Kuala Lumpur route with one-way fare from as low as US$99 (RM319). "The issue concerns only four routes from hundreds of AirAsia's and AirAsia X's routes. Thus, it's a small issue. "The AirAsia X management has corrected it," he told reporters after welcoming the arrival of AirAsia's 100th Airbus A320 at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal here Thursday. He said Azran (AirAsia X chief executive officer) has already eyed possibilities for AirAsia going to Adelaide. Meanwhile, Fernandes said, the Comprehensive Collaboration Framework between Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS), AirAsia and AirAsia X last year would produce significant results in the next six months. "The share-swap deal, which included a collaboration agreement to explore opportunities on a broad range of areas between the entities, is special to AirAsia group. "In the next six months, things will change significantly. MAS and AirAsia will jointly make Malaysia a powerhouse in the Asian aviation industry," he said. -- BERNAMA