12 January 2012 Last updated at 05:43 ET

Air Asia X ends European and Indian flights

AirAsia is one of Asia's biggest low-cost airlines

Malaysia's budget airline Air Asia has said it will end flights to Europe and India because of high fuel prices and weak demand.

The carrier's cheap long-haul associate airline, Air Asia X, will instead focus on new routes and expanding in its core markets of Australia and East Asia.

Air Asia will end its flights to India in February and stop flying to London and Paris after the end of March.

It said high taxes in Europe had made it difficult to offer low fares.

The airline also blamed the sluggish European economy, hurt by the continuing eurozone debt crisis.

In India, it blamed visa restrictions and baggage handling charges.

Air Asia X said that it would suspend flights from Kuala Lumpur to Mumbai starting on 1 February and to Delhi on 23 March.

It will stop flying to Paris on 31 March and London's Gatwick airport on 1 April.

Air Asia X launched non-stop flights between London's Stansted and Kuala Lumpur in 2009, before switching to Gatwick last October.

Air Asia is run by chief executive Tony Fernandes, who took over Premier League football club Queens Park Rangers earlier this year.