PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Group Bhd has added three routes connecting Kuala Lumpur to the southern regions of China, following the country’s recent reopening and robust pent-up demand.
Services to Quanzhou and Guilin operated by AirAsia Malaysia (AK) and to Chengdu (Tianfu) operated by AirAsia X Malaysia (D7) have been added to the network of 15 routes with over 129 flights weekly between China and Malaysia.
Flights to/from Quanzhou will recommence twice weekly starting June 18; flights to/from Guilin will restart thrice weekly beginning July 18; and flights to/from Chengdu (Tianfu) will start twice weekly from July 1 and increase to thrice weekly starting July 4.
AirAsia is the largest foreign carrier serving China.
Recently, AirAsia Malaysia resumed daily services from Kota Kinabalu to Wuhan, strengthening its position as the Malaysian carrier with the most connections and capacity in China.
AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat said: “Following the recent opening of China to the world and strong pent up demand, our rapid expansion into China continues and we are proud to connect millions of guests not only to major destinations but also to underserved second-tier cities and launch unique routes such as Quanzhou and Guilin.
“China remains a key market for our future growth and we will continue to review a number of other potential Chinese routes that we hope to be in a position to announce soon,” he said in a statement.
AirAsia X Malaysia CEO Benyamin Ismail said China has always historically been one of its core destinations for medium haul air travel and the newest route to Chengdu (Tianfu) serves as the foundation for more AirAsia X flights to China in the near future, which will significantly boost their North Asia network.
“As China is rapidly bouncing back, we expect to launch even more flights to/from the country as well as increasing frequency on the most popular and profitable routes within our network in the short to medium term,” he added.
