KUALA LUMPUR, February 18, 2026, 20:51 (MYT)
- Starting June 26, AirAsia X will run daily flights from Kuala Lumpur to London Gatwick, routing through Bahrain.
- Bahrain’s hub proposal eyes a potential local operating licence, aiming for 25 daily flights by 2030.
- Back in 2012, the carrier ended its London-Kuala Lumpur service, marking its exit from Europe.
After more than ten years, AirAsia X is set to relaunch flights to London Gatwick, with daily departures from Kuala Lumpur making a stop in Bahrain starting June 26. The link will be served by Airbus A330-300 jets.
The relaunch puts the low-cost long-haul carrier back on the European map, this time with a stopover model the company claims can extend past just one route. For Bahrain, there’s now a sharper position inside AirAsia’s network, and that comes as airlines focus on building connections instead of relying solely on point-to-point traffic.
The move expands on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked Nov. 3 by Capital A, which owns AirAsia, and Bahrain’s Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications. An MoU is a nonbinding agreement outlining possible collaboration.
The document lays out plans that might see AirAsia get a local Air Operator’s Certificate, or operating licence, in the Gulf, opening up the possibility of nonstop flights to Europe, Africa, and other destinations. There’s also a roadmap for direct flights into Bahrain from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with a five-year window mapped out for those routes.
AirAsia is targeting 25 daily flights via Bahrain by 2030, with plans to move over 20 million passengers in five years on routes connecting Manama to its Asian network.
Passengers flying from London Gatwick to Kuala Lumpur will face a 90-minute to two-hour layover in Bahrain, bringing the total trip to roughly 16 and a half hours. AirAsia X is offering one-way tickets from 85 euros, if booked by Feb. 22, for travel dates stretching from June 26 through Nov. 30.
Back in 2012, AirAsia X dropped its direct London and Paris Orly to Kuala Lumpur routes, blaming pricier jet fuel, higher taxes, and softer demand. This day, Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes described Bahrain as a “strategic hub” for the airline’s Europe network.
AirAsia X group CEO Bo Lingam called the latest development “a milestone,” pointing to the airline’s shift into what he described as “a truly globally connected airline.” Lingam said AAX is working through a five-year growth strategy, underpinned by a “secured orderbook of 374 aircraft.” Thebusinesstravelmag
The carrier’s move back into Europe started with a direct Kuala Lumpur-Istanbul flight that debuted in mid-November. London is up next, a key gauge for whether the one-stop model can keep seats filled through every season.
Industry route data shows that on the Malaysia-UK route, Gatwick flights will join nonstop services from London Heathrow offered by British Airways and Malaysia Airlines.
There’s a clear risk here: the same economics that forced AirAsia X out of Europe before — fuel bills, taxes, those razor-thin margins — could resurface, now with the added wrinkle of a stopover. On top of that, the bigger plan for a Bahrain hub depends on whether regulators and airport infrastructure move fast enough to match the airline’s schedule.
