I have frequently noticed Air Asia X flights operating from Kuala Lumpur to Beirut directly, on Flightradar24.

Does anyone know what this flight number D7 681 is ? It's not listed as a scheduled destination of Air Asia X so perhaps it's a regular charter? Maybe for the UN ?

Appreciate anyone's input on this curiosity!

AsoRock

Google Malaysia, Lebanon and United Nations and you'll get your answer. Not every unusual flight deserves a thread.

Hisham.

hisham wrote:

Google Malaysia, Lebanon and United Nations and you'll get your answer. Not every unusual flight deserves a thread.

Hisham.

I suppose you can also just share what you know Hisham, since you bothered to respond anyways.

hisham wrote:

Google Malaysia, Lebanon and United Nations and you'll get your answer. Not every unusual flight deserves a thread.

Hisham.

I thought forums were the place to pose questions and discuss things? For the reference of anyone else interested, it is the transport of Malaysian UN peace-keepers to Lebanon.

AsoRock wrote:

I have frequently noticed Air Asia X flights operating from Kuala Lumpur to Beirut directly, on Flightradar24.

Does anyone know what this flight number D7 681 is ? It's not listed as a scheduled destination of Air Asia X so perhaps it's a regular charter? Maybe for the UN ?

Appreciate anyone's input on this curiosity!

AsoRock

As mentioned by AVFCdownunder, the flight is specifically for transporting Malaysia UN peacekeeping troops to and fro from SZB. Last week they did a flight, returning home empty. A regular charter, not available for public purchase.

Here is a new release back in 2015: https://www.airasia.com/mo/en/press-rel ... sions.page

Hope this helps.

The final XAX681/682 flights for 2017 will operate today.

What happened to their Istanbul flights? They made a big announcement and then nothing came of it. I think it would have been a good idea, because Istanbul is a gateway to Europe.

peterinlisbon wrote:

What happened to their Istanbul flights? They made a big announcement and then nothing came of it. I think it would have been a good idea, because Istanbul is a gateway to Europe.

Istanbul was never announced or planned. Few months ago, there was a glitch in the booking system and route map on their website. But it was fixed. I agree with you IST would be a good gateway to Europe, but AirAsia X is not planning to return to Europe anytime soon. They are concentrating their attention in Asia Pacific, route that around/ within ten hours from their hub KUL. AKL and HNL are exception.

juliuswong wrote:

peterinlisbon wrote:

What happened to their Istanbul flights? They made a big announcement and then nothing came of it. I think it would have been a good idea, because Istanbul is a gateway to Europe.

Istanbul was never announced or planned. Few months ago, there was a glitch in the booking system and route map on their website. But it was fixed. I agree with you IST would be a good gateway to Europe, but AirAsia X is not planning to return to Europe anytime soon. They are concentrating their attention in Asia Pacific, route that around/ within ten hours from their hub KUL. AKL and HNL are exception.

I think Istanbul would be about 10 hours. The thing about Istanbul is that it would connect the whole of Europe plus North Africa, Russia, the eastern Med (Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus etc). The key is that no visa is required for most nationalities, which makes it a much better connection point than anywhere in Europe itself, plus it avoids backtracking and the need to limit loads or buy some new aircraft type. I wish they would reconsider, but forget the Barcelona tag as it's not worth it. Anyone wants to get to Barcelona they can buy a separate ticket for 50 Euros.

peterinlisbon wrote:

I think Istanbul would be about 10 hours. The thing about Istanbul is that it would connect the whole of Europe plus North Africa, Russia, the eastern Med (Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus etc). The key is that no visa is required for most nationalities, which makes it a much better connection point than anywhere in Europe itself, plus it avoids backtracking and the need to limit loads or buy some new aircraft type. I wish they would reconsider, but forget the Barcelona tag as it's not worth it. Anyone wants to get to Barcelona they can buy a separate ticket for 50 Euros.

Airasia X has to look at its routes carefully because they currently lack aircraft due to the delays in the A330Neo programme. They are looking to lease some used A330-300s at the moment and I doubt very much if another new destination will be served in 2017. They need to maximise yields and new destinations usually mean negative yields in the early stages of operating the route.

The problem with Istanbul is the airport - which one should Airasia X go to, Atatürk or Sabiha Gökçen? Both have their pros and cons and Airasia X will need to evaluate this carefully.