Flying with Air Asia.

Flying with Air Asia.

On december 28, 2014 an Air Asia plane between Surabaya and Singapore crashed in to the ocean. Killing all people onboard. I have since then noticed that a lot of people who do not know the airline, are saying that they are afraid to fly with them. So I thought I would tell why I am not afraid to fly Air Asia. And why I will keep flying with them.

They fly new and well maintained planes.

Nice new airplanes from Air Asia.

Nice new airplanes from Air Asia.

Air Asia has one of the newest fleets in the world with an average age of their planes being just 4 years old.

This is a very new and modern fleet compared to almost every airline. They have a good record of maintaining their fleet as well as training their pilots well.

 

Best budget in the world for 6 years in a row.

The main airline research company in the world, Skytrax, has named Air Asia the best budget airline in the world for the last 6 consecutive years.

When you are in aviation, the Skytrax awards are the most important awards. They are made by a combination of using the world’s leading aviation experts. As well as asking thousands of airline passengers which airline they like the most.

And prior to the recent crash, Air Asia had never had a fatal crash with any of their planes.

The service is good for a budget airline.

Me taking a selfie onboard Air Asia.

Me taking a selfie onboard Air Asia.

Air Asia is a budget airline. So you pretty much need to pay for all extras. Their website is easy to use though. The prices for the extras are very cheap compared to european and north american budget airlines.

Once you are onboard it’s quite cheap to buy food and drink.

Last time I flew them, just a couple of weeks ago, I paid around 2 dollars for a drink and 3 dollars for a hot meal.

I have always liked the service from the cabin crew. They seem to be happy about working for Air Asia. and good treatment of staff is the key to getting good service.

Employees who are not treated nicely by the company do not deliver good services for obvious reasons. So I am happy that the Air Asia staff seem to be treated ok.

I trust Tony Fernandes.

 

 

Tony Fernandes is the charismatic owner of Air Asia.

A Malaysian/Indian businessman who used to work for Virgin and Warner music. He jokes that he learned how to do business as a kid while attending his mothers Tupperware parties.

He bought Air Asia in 2001 when it was a small, nearly bankrupt airline, With only two planes. But he has since turned it into the biggest success in Asian aviation history. Today Air Asia is one of the world’s most profitable airlines.

This has prompted Tony Fernandes to buy the english football club Queens Park Ranger as well as starting the Caterham Formula 1 racing team. He is indeed a man with many interests.

But what first of all is important in this case is that he has handled the recent crash extremely well, by being present all the time during the investigation. Tony Fernandes has not been hiding in the bush like you often see CEO’s do when a company has crises.

He has been very open and not been trying to hide anything. This is what is very important here as he clearly has nothing he needs to hide in this case.

This guy has my respect and I will be happy to keep flying with a company he is in charge of.

Air Asia employ lot’s of female pilots.

Captain Moana giving me thumbs up after flying me from from Lombok to KL.

Captain Moana gave me thumbs up after flying me from Lombok to KL.

Another thing that I really like about Air Asia is that they employ lot’s of female pilots.

Aviation is a very male dominated business. And Southeast Asian society is quite male dominated too. I have often felt that this is what is holding the region back a bit financially. I have been to very few parts of the world where I see more well educated, intelligent and strong minded women. So it’s really good to see that this is becoming more recognised.

 

I just love when it’s a woman flying the plane.

On my last Air Asia flight I flew with a female captain called Moana and she gave us all a very pleasant flight from Lombok to Kuala Lumpur. When she saw that I was snapping a photo of her through the window, as I was leaving the plane. She smiled and gave me thumbs up.

And by the way, she was a tiny little Malay girl with a muslim headscarf. I thought that was utterly cool.

I have a little list of people I would like to meet in real life.

Tony Fernandes has been on that list for a while. But captain Nur Moana Ishak is on that list now as well.

One of my many Air Asia bookings.

One of my many Air Asia bookings.

So this was a few of the reasons why I love Air Asia. And this comes from a guy who is not really that keen on budget airlines. Air Asia knows how to make flying a budget airline a pleasant experience though. Not a pain in the butt.

Hope you read this Michael O’Leary.

Now everyone go on to www.airasia.com and book the next time you want to fly around Asia for a cheap price. Flying with Air Asia will be a good choice.

Claus.

5 Comments

  1. Thanks for this post..I will keep flying air Asia more despite the recent accidents. I hope to be in Asia later on this year for TBEX, I’m planning to do Bangkok to Saigon then to HongKong..
    Last year, I was on an Air Asia flight from Singapore to Phnom Penh.

  2. I’ve flown AirAsia from Hong to Bangkok. It’s a pretty OK budget airline. Customer service was average. I wouldn’t purposefully seek them out but if it’s a part of the flight deal, I could go with no qualms.

    I was in Singapore at the time of the crash. It made me feel a bit uneasy but I had to get home. I flew Sri Lankan Airlines though.

    http://www.poisedinprint.com

  3. Great points, thank you for sharing them!

  4. I also love Air Asia – they make travel more affordable to more and more people are able to travel who might never have been able to previously. I didn’t know they hired so many female pilots but that is great to hear! 🙂

  5. Well, Air Asia must be doing something correct. As you say, best budget airline several years in a row. New airplanes must be one of the reasons. I have not flown Air Asia but will keep them in mind should the chance present itself.

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