AirAsia X pulls out of Europe, heading for Sydney

Malaysian long-haul carrier AirAsia X will stop flying to London and Paris from March and is heading for Sydney instead.

AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani cited two factors behind the withdrawal from Europe: poor demand and the European emissions tax which came into play on 1 January this year.

The budget carrier is also pulling out of unprofitable Indian routes and says it will now focus on its "core markets of Australasia, China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea".

The early speculation about Sydney was fuelled by airline founder Tony Fernandes saying that AirAsia X will add more flights to Australia; but also by the recent announcement that Singapore Airline's start-up Scoot will make Singapore-Sydney its inaugural route.

The Sydney move was confirmed today with Osman-Rani announcing in Sydney that the airline would commence daily operations from 2 April this year.

Meanwhile the start of the European carbon tax is likely to lead to other Asian carriers pulling out of Europe. Already some Chinese airlines are talking along those lines; and Reuters has quoted the deputy secretary-general of the China Air Transport Association as saying "China will not cooperate with the European Union on the ETS...".