LOW-COST carrier AirAsia, which took off on its inaugural flight to Tianjin this morning, plans to fly to Chengdu and Xian this year as part of its expansion into China.
AirAsia group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said the airline will have 10 destinations to China this year, attracting over two million passengers from China, Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
Tianjin is the seventh route into China for AirAsia, which has been named the world's best low-cost carrier by Skytrax, the UK-based consultancy which conducts research on commercial airlines.
AirAsia's other routes to China include Macau, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Guilin and Haikou.
Located in northeast China, Tianjin is the country's sixth-largest city.
"China is crucial to AirAsia’s expansion plan towards becoming a major player in connecting Malaysia and the greater Asean region to East Asia," Fernandes said during the launch of the Kuala Lumpur-Tianjin inaugural flight in Sepang today.
The event was witnessed by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.
"Despite the gloomy economy, China would remain an important trading and economic partner for Malaysia and the Asean region," Ong said.
"We remain optimistic, we have a great first quarter. Passenger numbers are up significantly," he said.
Fernandes said was thrilled that AirAsia was chosen as the world's best low-cost carrier as the award came much earlier than he expected.
Ong said the flights to Tianjin would attract more tourists from China and bring further stimulus to the local economy.
He also said there were also efforts under way to explore new routes.
"It is my job under the Transport Ministry to get more rights to liberalise the air services sector (and) India is on our radar," Ong said.
However, he added, it was the responsibility of the industry players to ensure flying these routes were sustainable and able to meet the needs of people
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