KOTA KINABALU: AirAsia is strategically restructuring its operations to enhance connectivity and support tourism in Sabah by discontinuing underperforming routes and introduce new ones to strengthen Sabah's position as a premier travel destination.
In line with these efforts, AirAsia is set to launch a direct route between Kota Kinabalu and Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, as part of a five-year strategic partnership with the Sabah Tourism Board (STB).
This collaboration, spanning 2024 to 2028, aims to bolster air connectivity between Sabah and regions including BIMP-EAGA, ASEAN, North Asia, and Oceania.
The partnership also explores the development of Kota Kinabalu International Airport as a regional aviation hub.
Further expanding its presence, AirAsia is establishing Tawau as its newest hub. This move includes plans to introduce direct international flights from Tawau to destinations such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Taipei.
The airline currently operates 370 weekly flights to Sabah, with over 77 pc serving domestic routes, and aims to increase passenger capacity by 38 percent in 2025.
Additionally, AirAsia is expanding its domestic connectivity across Malaysia by adding 2,000 weekly flights and 150,000 seats across 40 key routes by the end of 2024.
This expansion is expected to increase the airline's market share to 64 percent.
AirAsia CEO Datuk Captain Fareh Mazputra said the recent temporary suspension of routes to Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Wuhan, Kunming and Manado was due to low results.
"If you are going to launch five new routes, it is better for us to be able to bring in more passengers, like 200,000 to 300,000, rather than what we are doing now, which is not so effective.
"It is also not effective for the state, because the state has a target of bringing in more tourists, so we want to support that," he was quoted as saying.