Budget flights to Kuala Lumpur open up the East

A no-frills airline is launching a recession-busting £99 fare today from London to Kuala Lumpur.

It will be the first long-haul scheduled budget service from the British capital since Sir Freddie Laker's Skytrain to New York in the Seventies.

AirAsia X, backed by Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, starts taking bookings this afternoon for the five-times-a-week direct flight from Stansted to the Malaysian capital. It could slash the cost of flying to popular destinations such as Hong Kong and Australia.

Parent company AirAsia Group chief executive Tony Fernandes said about 30 to 40 per cent of the seats on the flights will cost £99 one way, and the rest in a range up to a maximum of £250. The average fare is expected to be about £150.

AirAsia is known as the Ryanair of the East and has been operating no-frills services in the region for the past seven years. But the London route will be its first foray into Europe.

It had always been thought passengers would not tolerate the "discomfort" of no-frills for more than three hours.

But Mr Fernandes said the airline's eight-hour service from Malaysia to Australia had already proved hugely popular, with planes flying 90 per cent full on average.

Passengers will have to pay about £3 to £4 extra for meals and £5 for an entertainment system on the 12.5 hour flight. There is also an option to pay for a bed, for an extra charge starting from £150 each way.

When the route starts next March passengers will be able to fly from Kuala Lumpur to about 100 other destinations in the Far East served by AirAsia's network.

The airline will use four-engined Airbus 340-300 jets with 340 seats. The first plane will be called "The Spirit of Sir Freddie" because of Mr Fernandes's admiration for the no-frills pioneer.

Typical return connections from Kuala Lumpur to Bali start from £40, and from the same hub to Bangkok from £50. Buying the cheapest fares cuts the cost of a return from London to Australia to between £330 and £350, around half the best price now on the market.

Mr Fernandes said he hoped to increase the service to one flight a day when a second Airbus is delivered and eventually to five flights a day: "I see this as a shuttle service to Asia. Everything is doom and gloom, everyone is cutting back but people need a holiday more than ever.

"Somebody in London will now be able to see things like the jungles of Borneo, that they have never before been able to see outside the pages of National Geographic."

AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani added: "The London route will allow those who have always wanted to travel between Europe and south-east Asia to [fly] at an affordable price. We are looking to expand from five flights per week to a daily service in the near future."

Mr Fernandes said the flights would bring in lots of tourists from south-east Asia, "who have only seen Big Ben or their favourite Premiership club on TV", and that Stansted had been chosen as it was Europe's "premier" no-frills hub.