AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said the airline is considering routes from the Gulf to European cities, including Dublin.
Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty ImagesAirAsia plans to open a Gulf hub this year and extend its flight network to a host of European destinations, including Dublin and London’s Gatwick airport, as the Malaysian budget airline tries to bounce back from pandemic-era financial troubles.
“Airlines such as ours have just been point to point, but a shift [to a network strategy] could be a very, very profitable part of the business for us,” he said.
AirAsia has not decided which Gulf airport it will use as a hub, but it has been expanding its connections to the region in recent years.
Under the new strategy, Fernandes said AirAsia would utilise the Middle Eastern hub later this year to fly to cities across Europe, particularly in eastern Europe, as well as secondary cities such as Cologne, Manchester, Glasgow, and Dublin.