AirAsia X closes Indonesian branch

AirAsia X, based in Malaysia and a subsidiary of AirAsia, has decided to close its operations in Indonesia. Both aircraft in the fleet, A330-300s PK-XRA and -XRC have returned to Malaysia.

AirAsia X Indonesia was established in 2014 as a joint-venture between AirAsia X and local Indonesian investors. As foreign companies are not allowed to be a majority shareholder in companies, AirAsia X owned 49% of the shares.

It started flying scheduled flights in 2015 and connected Bali with destinations in Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Taiwan. In January 2019 the airline, however, cut all scheduled flights due to financial difficulties and focused on charter flights. As this was also not very succesful the airline ceased all flying in September 2019 and has been dormant since then.

The closure of AirAsiaX Indonesia is part of AirAsia X's reorganization as the company is facing strong headwinds and is having large financial issues. It proposed a restructuring plan for its Malaysian and Thai units to the lessors of their fleet, but so far no deal have been reached. A deal is crucial for the survival of the company which currently has a fleet of 23 A330-300 in Malaysia and twelve A330-300s and two A330-900s in Thailand.