AirAsia expands its presence into China

PETALING JAYA: AirAsia said it will further expand its presence into China with the launch of four times weekly direct flights to Tianjin from Kuala Lumpur starting Dec 2.
AirAsia will also beef up its direct route between Kuala Lumpur and Changsha, doubling the current number of seats on the route in response to popular demand, by operating its fleet of larger wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft commencing Oct 29, it said in a statement.
AirAsia X Malaysia CEO Benyamin Ismail said with the launch of Tianjin as its newest destination, AirAsia will fly to 20 cities in China with 550 weekly direct flights from hubs in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
"Together with our existing routes into China, today's announcement means we are further strengthening our foothold in Northern China and increasing our overall capacity to China - one of our fastest growing markets.
"We will continue to look for expansion opportunities that not only maintain AirAsia Group's dominance as the largest foreign carrier to China by capacity, but also enable us to remain committed in our quest to making air travel affordable for everyone, " Benyamin added.
Tianjin is located in the northern China bordering Beijing and Heibei Province. The coastal metropolis boasts many of China's cultural, social and economic elements over the past century.