NEW DELHI— AirAsia X Bhd., the long-haul arm of Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd., will resume flights to India and start service to the U.S. this year as it looks to new routes for growth.
Benyamin Ismail, chief executive of AirAsia X, said Wednesday that low fuel prices and increasing market potential have given the company confidence to resume service to India. The budget carrier will operate four flights a week between New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur. AirAsia X abandoned flights to New Delhi in 2012.
“It’s about the right time to come back” to India, said Mr. Ismail in an interview. “India is a massive market.”
Next month, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will likely approve the airline’s request to operate four flights a week from the Malaysian capital to Honolulu, said Mr. Ismail. Air Asia X had earlier said flights to Honolulu would start in November.
“If we get the approval in the first week of February, we will open ticket sales within weeks and we will operate from the end of April,” he said.
The planned flights to Honolulu will stop over in Osaka to tap into the large number of Japanese tourists who travel to Hawaii.
The carrier—which has posted losses for eight straight quarters—has delayed delivery plans for new planes from Airbus Group SE. It will take delivery of four Airbus planes this year but none in 2017, said Mr. Ismail.