Air Asia Airlines Proceeds with Expansion Despite Natural Disasters

Since their founding in 1993 Air Asia Airlines has been known for making bold moves that others in the industry were reluctant to act upon. This has both helped and hurt the airline over the years depending upon what situation we are talking about. Air Asia Airlines is making another moderately bold move again by continuing with their scheduled expansion of routes flying to both New Zealand and Japan. Their subsidiary low cost airline Air Asia X has just recently began to fly into the earthquake stricken region of Christchurch, New Zealand. The company’s decision to add flights to Christchurch was not impacted by the recent devastation in the area due to the earthquakes that hit here in February.

Their reasoning behind this decision is likely to give travelers confidence in the airline by showing that they are dedicated to providing them with a high quality, low cost travel option for the area. In a time where other airlines are scaling down flight routes, Air Asia Airlines is adding additional routes and destinations. The earthquake ravaged region of Japan is also an area that Air Asia Airlines have targeted for expansion. Again, they are sticking with their plans for expansion that were made well before the earthquake hit the area.

There is a lot of uncertainty in the area about what the future holds, especially in relation to the potential nuclear disaster. Regardless of this uncertainty Air Asia Airlines is sticking with their plans to add flights to and from Japan. It seems likely that they are willing to take a chance that things will turn around quicker than anticipated. This would mean they would be perfectly positioned to take advantage of increased travel to Japan when things calm down. This will put them in a perfect position, whereas other airlines will have to scramble to react and add flights.

Air Asia Airlines is consistently ranked one of the top airlines in Asia and throughout the World. They are known as having a great record of on time flights, the lowest possible fares, and high customer service ratings. Along with these attributes they also boast some of the lowest per mile operation costs of any airline. The company has had a storied past, such as when they almost went out of business in 2001. Air Asia Airlines is making yet another gamble that other airlines are reluctant to make, only time will tell if this move pays off for them.