KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 – AirAsia X Bhd will increase its current flights services from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, Australia, later this year.
The airline will increase its current flights to Sydney and Melbourne from 12 weekly flights and to Perth from nine weekly flights to 14 flights a week.
The daily flights from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne will start on Oct 1, 2013 and to Sydney and Perth on Nov 25, 2013, AirAsia X said in a statement.
The announcement followed the finalisation of a revised bilateral agreement between the Australian and Malaysian governments and an expansion of AirAsia X’s long-haul fleet of Airbus A330-300s which will comprise 16 aircraft at end-December 2013.
AirAsia X is expected to become Australia’s fourth largest foreign carrier by end-2013 as it allocates its additional capacity for the remainder of the year to the market.
“Overall, the airline has carried over 3.4 million passengers to and from its Australian routes since it began operations in Australia in 2007,” AirAsia X Chief Executive Officer Azran Osman-Rani said.
Australia contributed over 40 per cent of the airline’s total revenue, with an average of 83 per cent passenger load in the first-half of 2013, he said.
“Our flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth routes have performed extremely well and the new daily services will help meet increasing demand,” added Azran.
He said AirAsia X was also looking at doubling its fly-thru arrivals into Australia and from Australia across its group network.
“AirAsia X has been lobbying both governments for some time for the increased capacity, and we are delighted to be able to further expand our reach across these dynamic cities from Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
– BERNAMA
