PETALING JAYA: AirAsia welcomes the government’s decision to fully open international borders from April 1.
Previously, it had resumed operations in tandem with travel bubbles and had focused on domestic services following the gradual resumption of international flying in tandem with borders reopening around the world.
Following the continued easing of travel restrictions, the airline increased its domestic flight capacity by 156% which kicked off with the establishment of the Langkawi travel bubble, while international flights rose by 50% with the government’s announcement of borders reopening in April.
Currently, it has 75 aircraft in operations group wide.
The move was also supported by the reopening of other countries like Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore and Vietnam.
AirAsia stated Malaysia’s reopening will provide a welcome boost to support additional capacity in many of its core international markets in line with significant pent up demand.
AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd’s group CEO Bo Lingam stated it is thrilled to be resuming more flights in all of its core markets in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia and to be adding additional services to the carrier’s most popular international destinations starting in April.
“Domestic flying also continues to soar across the group. We have recently launched four new domestic routes in Malaysia from Kuching to Langkawi, Penang to Sibu, Johor Baru to Bintulu and Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Terengganu this year,” he said in a statement.
“Regionally, we have seen similarly encouraging developments for domestic and international services in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.”
Bo said the group will continue to review its network which evolves based on a number of factors including demand, and new services will be announced in due course as the world continues to gradually reopen.
“While our domestic services across the group have grown by 156% in recent months due to significant consumer demand, and by 50% for international, we expect to return to 100% or more of pre-Covid domestic and international flying by the end of this year.”
On the subject, AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat reassured customers that safety will always be the carrier’s priority and it will continue to strive to provide quality service and experience with a commitment to adhering to stringent safety rules and procedures.
“While we are extensively prepared to ensure all of our guests can travel safely from an operational standpoint through the robust safety and health measures that we have in place, we would also like to remind our guests to adhere to all SOPs set by the government during your travels and we can’t wait to see you back on board our flights soon,” he said.
In conjunction with the reopening of international borders, it offers flight to its popular international destinations for as low as RM89 one-way, while domestic routes are on sale from just RM39 one-way for bookings made before March 27, valid for the travel period between April 1, 2022 until March 25, 2023.
