KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia X Bhd, the long-haul arm of budget carrier AirAsia, will suspend its Kuala Lumpur (KL) – Tehran flights this year with the last flight taking off from Kuala Lumpur on April 20, 2018.
The suspension will be the second time following the first in October 2012.
AirAsia X chief executive officer Benyamin Ismail told NST Business that though the response on the KL – Tehran route has been good, the suspension is due to the US plans to re-impose sanctions against Iran.
"It did (response for the KL – Tehran flight has been good). Then Mr. Trump (Donald Trump) wanted to put back sanctions (on Iran),” he replied.
AirAsia X resumed its direct flight to the capital of Iran on June 21, 2016 after four years of suspension.
NST Business understood that last Thursday was the last day of work for at least five staff of AirAsia X Tehran office in Iran.
Some travellers claimed that they received notification regarding the route suspension from AirAsia X and they were given three options either to change their flight dates to an earlier date, retain the value of fare in AirAsia credit account or obtain a full refund.
In January this year, US President Donald Trump announced a revamp in the 2015 deal to lift the international sanctions against Iran.
He set May 12 as a deadline for Britain, France and Germany to 'fix' the existing deal in order to prevent Iran from re-escalating its nuclear activities in the next decade.
Iran was accused of instilling instability and violence across the Middle East.
The Islamic Republic in turn has denied the US allegations and said the country is not interested in any renegotiation of the 2015 deal made by former US President Barack Obama.
The US has also publicly warned that any companies doing business or considering to do business with Iran would be indirectly involved in the Middle East instability and funding militant groups in the region.