AirAsia To Fly To Three New Routes In Southern India

28 September 2009

SEPANG-- AirAsia, Asia's leading low cost airline, will fly to Kochi, Trivandrum and Kolkata come December, in a move to expand its network in Southern India.

AsiaAsia Group's Regional Head of Commercial Kathleen Tan said AirAsia was flying now to Tiruchirappalli and would spread its wings to other destinations in Southern India this year.

"Last year we were very busy working in China and we are now extentively covered in China. At present, AirAsia flies to Chengdu, Guangzhou, Guilin, Haikou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Tianjin in China.

"For the fourth quarter and next year, AirAsia will focus on building our network in India where there is huge demand," she told Bernama in an interview on Monday in conjunction with AirAsia's 48-hour sales.

The two-day promotion, offers a 20 per cent discount on fares to all destinations, excluding London and Thailand, for the travel period beginning today until Nov 30.

It covers all domestic and international destinations across 20 countries and over 130 routes.

Elaborating on the Indian sector, Tan said AirAsia was looking at tapping destinations like Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and AirAsia's long-haul affiliate, AirAsia X, would look further at Mumbai and Delhi.

She said the Tiruchirappalli sector received overwhelming response from the population in Southern India who visited Kuala Lumpur and used it as a gateway to enter Southeast Asia.

On whether AsiaAsia was experiencing a dip in sales due to the economic downturn, Tan said AirAsia was not really affected due to the airline's strategic commercial initiative to encourage people to travel.

"Because of the economic downturn, people are downgrading but corporate travellers still want to fly. AirAsia offered alternative solutions to get people to fly," she said.

Tan said AirAsia's market was huge covering the corporate, youth, retired, labour, family and student segments, adding that travelling during an economic crisis was best because of low prices offered by hotels.

"Because of our low cost model, the fares are affordable. We are changing the travel dynamics in Asia and we see more Malaysians flying now. In the past, people in East Malaysia will not come to Kuala Lumpur because of the expensive airfare," she said.

Tan said the low cost carrier had opened up the flying experience as people not just travel for holidays but also for shopping or medical treatment.

She said AirAsia's low cost model also boosted domestic tourism as the airline's huge network enabled more Malaysians to take short domestic holidays to Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Miri and Tawau.

"We see 2009 as a challenging year for the aviation industry. We removed fuel surcharge and administration fees because we want to keep flying at affordable prices to stimulate travel.

"AirAsia today is more than just about low fares. We are selling romance, lifestyle and holiday dreams," Tan said.

Asked on AirAsia's sales target for 2010, Tan said the economy was recovering and people are beginning to spend.

"The worst is over, so let's see. Our bookings have been very encouraging," said Tan, adding that AirAsia was still expanding despite the challenging economy.

Saying that the low cost model was more matured and gaining acceptance, Tan added that online booking was no longer an issue because people were more tech-savvy now.

On AirAsia's 48-hour sales campaign, Tan said the airline rarely offered such a promotion.

"The campaign will encourage people to travel because this year was a tough year due because of the H1N1 pandemic and challenging economic factors," she explained.

Asked on the sales expectation, Tan said: "I would not be able to give figures, it depends on the response, but I think the response will be good. we are running into the peak travel period now and people want to start planning their holidays."

During the two-day promotion, AirAsia will offer a 20 per cent discount on fares to all destinations, excluding London and Thailand, for the travel period beginning today until Nov 30.

It covers all domestic and international destinations across 20 countries and over 130 routes.