Air Asia Set To Launch Flights To Moscow, Russia

Intro

Aside from Europe and the Americas, the aviation market is booming to Moscow. With over 20 daily flights to China and many more to the rest of Asia, Russia has become a high-yield country in its own way. Well, it seems that a new airline is adding service to the capital, and I cannot say I am surprised...

Air Asia Launching Flights

A recent memo has just come out stating that Air Asia X is attempting to gain regulatory approval to fly to Moscow. Thanks to (now author) Alan for flagging this, but it seems that Air Asia is intending to launch these routes in the upcoming months, utilizing an A330-300.

Air Asia is set to serve Moscow, a huge addition to the network

For the time being, nothing is confirmed. However, I would have to imagine that this route will most likely operate 4-5x weekly, and arrive in DME. For those unaware, Moscow has three main airports, with Chinese carriers and SU operating into SVO, and TK+more operating into VKO.

However, the reason I am thinking that Air Asia X will operate into DME is primarily due to the market in which it serves. SVO is out of the equation with how slot-restricted it is, and with only Azur Air serving SE Asia from VKO, DME seems to make more sense.

Once again, none of this is confirmed, but I would be surprised if the DMK service didn't arrive at DME.

A Smart Route Addition

I'll keep it honest: this is a Western-focused blog. To add on to that, we have a certain image towards Russia, basically saying, "How are they surviving?". If you have followed my current series throughout Russia, you can see that every flight I have been on has had a load factor of over 95%= the market is booming.

With SU currently monopolizing the Bangkok market with 12x weekly flights, people heading to the capital will finally have an option to get there at a cheaper price point. However, the one competition that Air Asia X will face is fares. Traditionally, Air Asia has undercut every market, but with Chinese carriers offering RT fares from BKK-SVO for under 400 USD in economy, this might prove trickier than expected.

Side note: this will now represent the longest direct flight from DMK, by a whopping 3 hours.

Final Thoughts

Air Asia X is currently in talks to gain regulatory approval in hopes of serving direct flights from Don Mueang to Moscow. While nothing is confirmed, reports have stated that they hope to begin these flights within the next 6 months, and one would presume that DME is going to be the airport of choice. Finally, a way to get to Moscow in business class at a decent price!