AirAsia X back in Delhi after 4 years

Malaysian long-haul low-cost carrier AirAsia X (IATA code: D7), which used to fly to Delhi till March 2012, has resumed its Kuala Lumpur-Delhi service on 3 February 2016. This time the airline operating Airbus A330-300 aircraft 4 times a week on the route with departure from Delhi on Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday. 2 other Malaysian carriers already operating on the 3,881 km route, while Malaysian Airlines flies Airbus A330 daily, Malindo Air flies Boeing 737 10 times a week. So after the introduction of the new service by AirAsia X, the number of daily flights between Delhi and Kuala Lumpur increased to 3. 

Last time in 2012, the airline ceased operation in Delhi citing high airport cost, this time it already has AirAsia India, the Indian joint-venture partner of AirAsia, present in Delhi airport. It is natural that they would coordinate with passenger sharing and in other operational areas. But if we look at AirAsia India's domestic network, 3 out 5 destinations it serves from Delhi have direct AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur, namely Bangalore, Goa & Visakhapatnam that left only Guwahati and Imphal but given their geographical position it is not likely that passengers form those cities will connect to AirAsia X's Kuala Lumpur flight through Delhi. So there is not much scope for passenger sharing between the two carrier at present.

Kuala Lumpur is among the top 10 busiest destinations from Delhi and the total number of passengers traveled on the sector during the first 3 quarters of CY2015 is 2,78,308. Among those passengers, there is fair share of both origin and destination traffic and transfer traffic. Malaysian Airlines (MAS) used to fly double daily to Delhi till August 2015 and carry a lot of transfer traffic onward to Australia. But as per the restructuring program MAS had scaled down its long-haul operation and focuses more on the regional routes. Now AirAsia X likes to feel that gap and is hoping to capture the sizable India-Australia transfer traffic. Air India flies non-stop 4 weekly to Sydney and 3 weekly to Melbourne from Delhi but still there is a strong demand for low-cost connecting flights via Kuala Lumpur or Singapore.  

As of February 2015, AirAsia X flies to 4 Australian destinations, namely Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The airline is scheduled to launch Auckland service in March, the flight will be an extension of its present Gold Coast flight. Now in order to cater transit traffic, the schedule of connecting flights should be such that transit time at Kuala Lumpur airport (KUL) is short. If we look at AirAsia X's Delhi-Kuala Lumpur flight schedule and its Australia network and its departure schedule from KUL, Gold Coast can be ruled out so as Auckland as it involves transit time of 14 hours. Perth, where the airline flies 11 times a week, has the best combination flight D7 232 with less than 3 hours transit time but it flies 4 times a week. So Indian passengers can avail that flight only for 2 days, the demand for Perth is also low as Indian diaspora mostly concentrated on Australia's south east coast, in Melbourne and Sydney. If we look at Melbourne, where the airline flies 12 times a week, has the best combination flights D7 212 with 6 hours transit time which is certainly not very attractive for Indian passengers as they have other better options. Finally Sydney, where the airline flies 11 times a week, has the best combination flight D7 220 with only 2 hours transit time but D7 220 flies only 4 times a week so Indian passengers can avail that flight only for 3 days in a week. 

So given the present schedule of AirAsia X, the scope of carrying transfer traffic is limited except for the Delhi-Sydney route via KUL. It can't sustain the operation depending only on the transfer traffic. Origin destination traffic will be equally important as there is demand on the sector following MAS reduced its Delhi capacity from double daily to single daily. Malindo Air operates narrow-body aircraft while no Indian carrier flies on the Delhi-Kuala Lumpur sector.

Delhi-Kuala Lumpur schedule

Flight No.	Delhi Departure	Kuala Lumpur Arrival	Days of arrival at KUL
D7 183	23:15	07:30+1	1, 2, 4, 6

Kuala Lumpur-Gold Coast schedule

Flight No.	Kuala Lumpur Departure	Gold Coast Arrival	Days of departure from KUL
D7 206	21:25	07:25+1	daily

Kuala Lumpur-Perth schedule

Flight No.	Kuala Lumpur Departure	Perth Arrival	Days of departure from KUL
D7 236	00:05	05:35	daily
D7 232	10:10	15:40	2, 4, 5, 7

Kuala Lumpur-Melbourne schedule

Flight No.	Kuala Lumpur Departure	Melbourne Arrival	Days of departure from KUL
D7 212	13:20	00:10+1	2, 4, 5, 6, 7
D7 214	22:30	09:20+1	daily

Kuala Lumpur-Sydney schedule

Flight No.	Kuala Lumpur Departure	Sydney Arrival	Days of departure from KUL
D7 220	09:10	20:20	2, 4, 5, 6
D7 222	23:35	10:45+1	daily