AirAsia X will withdraw from India by suspending its only route to the country, adding New Delhi to a growing list of destinations being cut from the long-haul LCC’s network.
Flights between Kuala Lumpur International Airport and New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) will end from Oct. 25. The route is currently served 4X-weekly using Airbus A330 aircraft.
Its removal follows AirAsia X’s decision to end Kuala Lumpur-Tashkent service from Sept. 2 after less than a year of operation, while flights to Sydney will also be suspended in late October. The Malaysian carrier says the DEL decision forms part of a “network optimization strategy to support long-term network sustainability.”
However, the Kuala Lumpur-Delhi market will continue to be served by Malaysia Airlines, Air India and Batik Air Malaysia, offering nonstop flights between the cities. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows airlines are offering about 382,500 two-way seats on the 2,407 mi. (2,092 nm) route during the northern summer 2026 season. Malaysia Airlines is the largest operator, accounting for 40% of capacity, followed by AirAsia X at 22.3%, Air India at 20.2% and Batik Air Malaysia at 17.5%.
Despite the withdrawal from DEL, sister carrier AirAsia will maintain flights from Kuala Lumpur to nine Indian destinations during the winter 2026-27 season: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchirappalli.
However, the group’s overall India capacity is shrinking. OAG data shows AirAsia is scheduled to offer about 573,900 two-way seats between Malaysia and India during winter 2026-27, down 17.3% from the corresponding season a year earlier. Its network has also fallen from 12 routes to nine, with Calicut, Jaipur and Lucknow absent from the forthcoming winter schedule.
Across the wider Malaysia-India market, AirAsia and AirAsia X are currently scheduled to provide a combined 640,200 seats during winter 2026-27. Their collective market share stands at 34.4%, down from 38.4% a year earlier. Those figures also include AirAsia X’s previously filed DEL flights beyond Oct. 25.
The Delhi decision forms part of a wider retrenchment at AirAsia X. Its scheduled capacity in August 2026 was already down 34.2% year over year to about 276,700 seats, while the number of routes operated fell to 17 from 21.
AirAsia has said the cuts reflect cost pressures, weaker demand on some routes and the need to align its network with a smaller available fleet. The group plans to return 25 older aircraft during the current fiscal year, removing associated lease costs while awaiting A220 and A321XLR deliveries in 2028.
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