Airasia X Begins Daily Direct Flight To Cochin Thursday

12 November 2009

KUALA LUMPUR-- AirAsia X on Thursday began daily direct flights to Cochin, the commercial capital of Kerala, following successful expansion to the South Indian city of Trichy last year, said Chief Executive Officer Azran Osman-Rani.

He said the low cost long-haul airline affiliate of AirAsia will also start flying to Trivandrum and Kolkata next week.

"We expect strong demand from customers, especially business travellers," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Third Kuala Lumpur International Trade Forum here Thursday, an event concurrently held with Intrade Malaysia.

He also confirmed AirAsia X's inaugural flight to Abu Dhabi was on Nov 23.

Azran said AirAsia X's business operations were on track despite the current global economic downturn which has affected many airlines' profit margin.

"We hope to register good financial performance this year and continue our route expansion programme," he added.

The AirAsia Group achieved RM288 million operating profit in the first half of this year, accounting for five times higher than the same period last year.

It also recorded 24 per cent passenger growth year-on-year.