Thai AirAsia X has announced the suspension of flights between Sydney and Bangkok, its only operation in Australia.
The suspension will be effective from 1 August 2024, but the airline says it “remains committed to the Australia market” and will return to Sydney Airport with even more flights from December this year.
“The airline will resume these services in December 2024 with additional flight frequencies and better connectivity to key onward destinations in the AirAsia Group network, which will be updated in the near future,” the carrier stated.
“While this decision to suspend services temporarily is not taken lightly, the aim is to return again soon with an enhanced schedule and experience to better meet our guest demands for the best value fares to and from Australia.”
According to Thai AirAsia X, the decision was made due to the carrier’s “fleet management and operation hub movement”.
This week, the airline revealed it would be moving all of its flight operations back to Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport (DMK) from 1 October 2024 after operating out of the Thai capital’s Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK).
To minimise disruptions to passengers, Thai AirAsia X says it will automatically reroute impacted flights between Sydney and Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur with services operated by AirAsia X Malaysia.
In addition to this, the Bangkok-based carrier will offer travellers who want to alter their travel plans free flight changes (permitted once within six months at no extra cost, subject to seat availability), flight credits (value of flight plus 10 per cent in a credit account linked to flyers’ AirAsia member accounts, redeemable within two years) and full refunds.
Passengers who made direct bookings with the airline will be notified via email or SMS, while all others should refer to their respective booking channels for more help.
Thai AirAsia X (XJ) previously flew to Melbourne and Brisbane, however, it cancelled these services in May 2023 and April 2020 respectively, leaving Sydney as its sole Aussie operation. The carrier commenced its NSW service in December 2022.
“Homecoming”
Thai AirAsia X says its relocation to Don Mueang Airport aims to boost connections to the larger AirAsia network and offer easier access to central Bangkok.
“The return of Thai AirAsia X to Don Mueang Airport is a homecoming,” Thai AirAsia X CEO Tassapon Bijleveld said.
“We will be joining the strong and extensive AirAsia network, which has a domestic market share of over 40 per cent in Thailand and a vibrant international network that encompasses Greater China, India and South Asia, ASEAN and Japan for a total 93 routes served by 1,250 flights a week to provide a wealth of opportunities for FlyThru services.”
Going global
Earlier this year, parent company AirAsia announced its intention to become the first global budget network carrier. To this end, it recently unveiled AirAsia Group’s first-ever service to Africa, with low-cost carrier AirAsia X to operate Kuala Lumpur-Nairobi (Kenya) flights from later this year.
In February, AirAsia also said that it plans to grow its network to Europe and North America when its new spec aircraft are delivered in the coming years, operating a hub and spoke model with several new virtual hubs.
AirAsia airlines have certainly been busy Down Under recently. In June, subsidiary AirAsia Indonesia unveiled a new three-times-weekly service between Cairns and Bali’s Denpasar Airport. Indonesia AirAsia also operates Perth-Bali and Perth-Jakarta flights. Elsewhere, Western Australia welcomed the arrival of sister carrier, AirAsia Malaysia, into the Australian aviation market, with the first flight touching down at Perth Airport in March.
