Compared with other airlines, AirAsia’s usage of its aircraft and staff was more efficient. Such (high) efficiency and utilization meant that the overhead and fixed costs associated with an aircraft were lower on a per flight basis. For example, seating configurations to AirAsia’s Boeing 737-300 aircraft were maximized, having 16 more seats than the standard configuration adopted by full-service competitors.
In addition, AirAsia’s aircraft (i.e. point-to-point services kept flights to no more than 4 hours, minimizing turnaround time), and employees (i.e. encouraged to perform multiple roles), were used more effectively and intensively than competitors. For example, its point-to-point services (in 2004) enabled AirAsia to operate its aircraft an average of approximately 13 hours/day. It was 2.5 hours more efficient then full-services airlines, which only managed to use their aircraft for an average 10.5 hours/day. Furthermore, the average turnaround time for AirAsia’s aircraft was lesser (e.g. 25 minutes), as compared to full-service airlines (e.g. 45-120 minutes).
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