To AirAsia's Tony Fernandez, being allowed to fly the Kuala Lumpur to Singapore route is like going to the moon for his airline.

"We got Singapore... It is like Neil Armstrong going to the moon," Bernama quoted the airline's group chief executive officer as saying in a lighthearted session with reporters just before the take-off of AirAsia X's maiden flight to Australia late last night.

The first AirAsia X flight had been scheduled at 9.40 pm and is expected to arrive Brisbane this morning after an eight-hour flight.

On Oct 25, the Cabinet announced that Malaysia-based AirAsia and Singapore's Tiger Airways have been given the green light to fly the lucrative Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route.

AirAsia can operate two daily flights each from Kuala Lumpur and Penang, and from Kota Kinabalu and Kuching on Borneo Island.

Short flight

The pioneering low-cost carrier had mounted an intense campaign to break the monopoly held by Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.

Departing from Singapore, a round-trip ticket on the route, which takes less than an hour, currently costs around RM1,400 including taxes. AirAsia is proposing one-way tickets from RM290.

Meanwhile, AirAsia will fly four direct flights a week between the KL International Airport's Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) and Gold Coast Airport, with 279 economy seats and 36 premium XL seats.

On AirAsia X future plans, Fernandez said it would acquire 25 planes within five years.

Describing last night's flight by AirAsia X as making a history in aviation, he said its future destination included China, Japan, Middle East, South Korea, India and Europe.

He said the longest route is likely to be the flight to London.