KUALA LUMPUR (May 15): Malaysian multinational low-cost airline AirAsia has launched three new routes from Kuala Lumpur to southern Chinese cities, namely Quanzhou, Guilin and Chengdu (Tianfu).
New services to Quanzhou and Guilin will be operated by AirAsia Malaysia, while AirAsia X Malaysia will operate the Tianfu route, it said in a statement on Monday (May 15).
Flights to and from Quanzhou will recommence twice weekly, and to/from Guilin thrice weekly, both effective from June 18, 2023.
Flights to/from Tianfu will start twice weekly on July 1, 2023, and be increased to thrice weekly from July 4, 2023, it said.
The new routes would be part of the network of 15 routes, with over 129 flights weekly between China and Malaysia.
“Following the recent opening of China to the world and strong pent-up demand, as well as our rapid expansion there, 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 we hope to be in a position to announce soon,” said AirAsia chief executive officer Riad Asmat.
On the same note, AirAsia X Malaysia chief executive officer Benyamin Ismail said China had always been one of its core destinations for medium-haul air travel.
“Our newest route to Tianfu serves as the foundation for more AirAsia X flights to China in the near future, which will significantly boost our North Asian network.
“As China is rapidly bouncing back, we expect to launch even more flights to and from the country, as well as to increase the frequency on the most popular and profitable routes within our network in the short to medium term,” he added.
To celebrate the launch of the new routes, it is offering a 20% discount on all seats on all flights across its 130 destinations, including all flights to and from China.
The promotion is available for booking from now until May 20, 2023 for the travel period between June 1 and Dec 14, 2023, it added.