AirAsia wins award from Airbus

AIRASIA Bhd has received the A320 Family Operational Excellence Award from Airbus in recognition of its service record with the single aisle aircraft type.

In a statement in Kuala Lumpur today, AirAsia said the award was presented in Paris this week during Airbus' bi-annual symposium of all operators of the A320 Family worldwide.

The selection criteria for the awards is based on data covering two years of operation and takes into account the number of aircraft in the fleet, daily utilisation rate, technical reliability and the number of delays caused to flights for operational reasons.

"While the world A320 Family fleet continues to record outstanding operational results, these awards recognise exceptional technical performance at individual operators," said Charles Champion, Executive Vice President Customer Services.
"AirAsia has established an extremely efficient operation with its Airbus aircraft, including exceptionally high utilisation and an outstanding dispatch reliability," Champion added.

AirAsia Group CEO, Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes said the award from Airbus accentuated the constant efforts of the airline, in striving for better performance and greater flying experience for customers.

AirAsia is one of the largest customers for the Airbus A320 Family, having placed firm orders for 175 aircraft, of which 59 have already been delivered.

All A320s ordered by AirAsia are in 180-seat configuration and powered by CFM International CFM56 engines.

AirAsia in Malaysia now operates a fully Airbus A320 fleet and is in the process of replacing its existing Boeing 737’s in Indonesia and Thailand with the brand new A320.

AirAsia Marks Langkawi-Singapore Route with Holiday Deals

08 May 2009



From left: Dato' Aziz Bakar, Chairman of AirAsia Berhad, YB Dato' Sri Liow Tiong Lai, Minister of Health Malaysia, YB Dato' Sri Ong Tee Keat, Minister of Transport Malaysia, and Dato' Sri Tony Fernandes, flanked by AirAsia's cabin crew.

Pay RM1 (1SGD) For Flight And Get FREE Rooms On GoHoliday.airasia.com

AirAsia guests are up for a special treat by AirAsia when the world’s best low cost airline commences its flight between Singapore and Langkawi come June 1.

To mark the much awaited Langkawi-Singapore route, AirAsia through its holiday division GoHoliday, is offering guests FREE ROOMS at its partner hotels in Langkawi. This special deal, in addition to AirAsia’s current promotion campaign of RM1 (SGD1) for flights from Singapore to Langkawi, is available on GoHoliday website goholiday.airasia.com. Booking starts today until 12 May 2009. The RM1 (1SGD) flights and FREE hotel rooms are available on first come, first served basis and are subject to availability.

AirAsia today held a ceremony at the Langkawi International Airport here to officially announce the Langkawi-Singapore route. Transport Minister Dato’ Seri Ong Tee Keat and Health Minister Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai graced the event which was attended by AirAsia Chairman Dato’ Abdul Aziz Abu Bakar and Group CEO Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes.

The Langkawi-Singapore route will commence on 1 June 2009, together with Penang-Singapore and the 8th frequency of Kuala Lumpur-Singapore.

Tony Fernandes said: “Having stamped our mark all over Malaysia, and with a 60% share of the domestic air travel market, AirAsia welcomes the Government’s approval for us to connect more destinations in Malaysia with Singapore. Langkawi and Penang come after we did Kuching and Kota Kinabalu since November last year. On top of that, we are increasing frequency for Kuala Lumpur-Singapore to 8 daily flights. We would like to thank Dato’ Seri Ong for all the support given to AirAsia in securing the routes thus making AirAsia a key aviation player both in Malaysia and the region.”

The introduction of the new routes further enhances connectivity from the republic to Malaysia. For Singaporean travelers, Langkawi and Penang are new interesting destinations available for their holiday plans besides other Malaysian destinations (Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching) and regional destinations in Thailand (Bangkok, Phuket) and Indonesia (Bali, Bandung, Jakarta, Pekanbaru, Yogyakarta).

AirAsia was the first airline in the world to abolish fuel surcharges from all its international and domestic flights. The low fare airline is dedicated to making travel more affordable and accessible for all. Since 11 November 2008, guests flying AirAsia and AirAsia X will only have to pay low fares, airport taxes and administrative fees. This coupled with brand new planes, plush leather seats, wide array of hot meal choices and excellent hospitality; it will definitely be the ultimate flying experience for everyone.

The year 2009 started off with a good note for AirAsia, as the airline was awarded with Skytrax's Best Low-Cost Airline Award 2009. The highly regarded award, dubbed as the 'travelers' choice', has cemented its competency in providing excellent and value for money services through its incessant innovations and trend-setting measures.

*The free seats offer is excluding airport tax, admin fees and are applicable for one-way only. For Singaporean guests, the offer will feature an all-in fare (The amount stated are airport tax and admin charges, also applicable for one-way travel only).

AirAsia’s Bali to Perth free tickets snapped up

PETALING JAYA: Promotional free tickets for AirAsia’s new direct route from Bali to Perth were snapped up within hours of them being made available for booking.

However, seats for AirAsia’s first route to Australia from Indonesia are still available from as low as RM364 till May 10 for the travel period July 17 till Jan 31 next year.

The new route will be serviced by AirAsia Indonesia, an associate of AirAsia, and is the airline’s fifth international route operating from the Bali hub.

AirAsia Indonesia chief executive officer Dharmadi said Bali was the driving force behind Indonesia’s tourism economy and that the new route would also improve educational ties.

“Education is the main drive for closer Indonesia-Australia ties with approximately 19,000 Indonesian students studying in various parts of Australia.

“There are also large Indonesian communities living in Perth, so we expect this new route will do well,” Dharmidi added.

AirAsia will utilise its A320 aircraft to service the four-hour long flight which will fly daily return flights from Denpasar to Perth.

CEO: Fantastic earnings for AirAsia in first quarter

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Bhd, South-East Asia’s biggest discount carrier, said earnings for the first quarter were fantastic after the company boosted passenger numbers.

Earnings for the second quarter were also looking good, chief executive officer Datuk Tony Fernandes told Bloomberg Television in an interview yesterday. He didn’t elaborate.

AirAsia’s first-quarter passenger numbers surged 21% from a year earlier as more people chose low-fare airlines for their leisure trips amid job concerns and the economic recession.

That contrasts with lower traffic for bigger regional rivals, including Singapore Airlines Ltd, which is cutting routes and taking out planes.

The airline carried 3.15 million passengers in the first quarter, AirAsia said in an April 22 statement. The carrier, which has not reported first-quarter earnings, expected to fly 24 million people this year, Fernandes said on April 29.

The growth in traffic contrasts with declining passenger numbers worldwide. Global airline passenger traffic fell 11.1% last month compared with a year earlier, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Airlines already suffering from the global recession have been further hit as air travel declines due to the spread of swine flu virus, which has sickened at least 1,085 people in 21 countries.

Fernandes said the influenza A (H1N1) virus hadn’t dented AirAsia’s passenger numbers.

“There is no impact at all,” he said. “People are fairly sensible, they’ve seen that it’s really probably a storm in a tea cup. It’s business as usual, and bookings have been very strong.”

AirAsia expected to start a Hong Kong-Phuket route in June or July, Fernandes said. — Bloomberg

Upgraded Malacca airport to boost health tourism

MALACCA: The newly upgraded airport at Batu Berendam is expected to receive 500,000 passengers within the next three years.

This figure is not far-fetched as the airport, which will be renamed Malacca International Airport by year end after a RM131.5 million upgrade, is targeted to boost the state as a hub for health tourism.

In citing an example, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said even with the old airport, the health tourism sector in the state had seen a steady increase in medical tourists, especially those from Singapore and Indonesia.

"Take the state-owned Putra Hospital for example. It recorded revenue of RM100 million from medical tourism packages last year compared with RM70 million in the previous year.

"This is why I foresee the airport playing a significant role in bringing in the medical tourists, especially from Sumatra, which has about 70 million people," Ali said after the soft launch of the new Batu Berendam airport terminal here yesterday.
Earlier, Ali, accompanied by Malaysia Airports Berhad managing director Datuk Seri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid, received 26 tourists from Indonesia who arrived at the new terminal via Riau Airlines.

On the operations of the airport, Ali said Riau Airlines would fly to Batu Berendam once daily while Firefly, the low-cost carrier of Malaysia Airlines, would resume its operations from here to Singapore in September.

"AirAsia will only operate from here in November when the full length of the runway, which measures 2,135 metres, is completed."

Ali added that there had been a request from AirAsia to privatise the Batu Berendam Airport similar to the Senai International Airport in Johor.

"AirAsia proposed to take over the operations of this airport and we have no problem with that.

"However, any decision on this will have to be made by the Federal Government."

Airline reveals 'free' Bali flights

Perth has become the first Australian city to be serviced from Indonesia with direct daily flights to and from Bali.

This morning AirAsia launched a new route from Perth to Bali with a special "free flight" promotion.

An AirAsia spokeswoman said the "free" one-way flights must be booked from today to May 10 for travel between July 17 and January 31.

"This is a genuine sale with free flights for just $77 taxes Perth – Bali and $10 taxes Bali – Perth," she said. "Promotional seats are limited and available on first-come, first-served basis."

To be serviced by AirAsia Indonesia, an associate of AirAsia, the Bali–Perth service is the 5th international route operated from the Bali hub after Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Bangkok and Singapore.

The new route will be served by AirAsia’s new Airbus A320 aircraft, as the distance will require four hours travel.

Flights will also run daily from Denpasar to Perth. Bookings can be made online at www.airasia.com