As a regular visitor to the Far East, I have to admit that I got very excited when I found out about Air Asia. Those of you who have travelled with Ryanair, BMI Baby, etc, will be familiar with the budget -airline procedure - buy a cheap flight using the company website, check-in at the airport and board the plane as you would a bus, ie, sit where you can find a seat. Air Asia follows this formula as Asia's first low fare airline.
**About the company** Air Asia is based in Malaysia and started operating in January 2002. Originally flying to domestic destinations, it quickly expanded to cover other countries in Asia, including Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. All the destinations (there are too many to list) can be found on the website but main tourist routes include:
Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Penang, Singapore, Macau, KL, Chiang Rai
Although the routes currently available are limited, Air Asia does seem to be expanding very quickly with new destinations being added every few weeks.
**Booking** The easiest way to book tickets is online which is very straightforward. Once you have chosen your arrival and departure points and dates of travel, a list of flight options and prices are presented to you. The cheapest flights have conditions attached to them such as non-changeable or refundable so it is worthwhile reading the small print.
I booked a one-way ticket from KL to Langkawi. It took just a few minutes (I had to register my details) and cost a bargain 56 Ringits including all taxes - that's just over £8 for a restricted ticket. It is important to note that some of the flight timings are a bit inconvenient (early morning or late night) although the same problem can be found with European budget airlines. Therefore, if you have important events/flight connections, Air Asia may not be the best choice. However, if you can be flexible with your travel times, Air Asia can save you a packet. For example, a Malaysia Airlines flight from Penang to KL costs approx £25 one way. The cheapest ticket with Air Asia for the same journey is less than £4. A flight from Bangkok to KL costs £23 one way including taxes. One way tickets from Bangkok to Phuket range from around a tenner to £30. You get the gist....
Tickets can also be purchased at KL International Airport as computers are set up at the Air Asia desk for online ticket purchases. It is also possible to make changes to tickets online although I have not tried out this service.
**The service** So what do you get for your £4, £8 etc? Well, no printed card tickets for a start. When you have booked a flight, you are given a reference number for presentation at check-in, together with your ID (passport normally). A boarding card (well piece of paper which looks like a paper receipt) is issued which also contains details of your luggage numbers. The weight allowance for checked-in items is 15 kilos per person. However, the excess baggage rates are very reasonable - 80p per kilo for domestic flights!
The planes are all Boeing 737s and look in good nick. The flight attendants are young and friendly although they don't really have that much to do as no drinks or snacks are served. A range of drinks and sandwiches/pot noodles type snacks may be purchased - a can of soft drink costs around 50p. I didn't partake in any airline food but it all looked pretty satisfactory.
Air Asia is proud of its punctuality and figures are given on its website. 91.8% of flights arrived within one hour of the timetabled time in the week ending 4th July. The flight I took arrived at Langkawi exactly on time.
**So would I recommend...** A definitive yes! Air Asia makes travelling around the Asia even cheaper and more accessible. I am already planning my next trip!
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you can change the flight till 24 hours before the scheduled departure but it costs around 3 pounds
ruth23 11.07.2004 19:33
I flew from Langkawi to KL and that cost £36 with Malaysia Airlines - and I thought that was cheap!! If I'd have known I could have got one for £8 that would have meant even more bargains to be had in KL. Oh well, I'll have the info for next time. Really helpful review. Ruth x
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