 |
| Langkawi International Airport |
PETALING JAYA: AirAsia has announced Langkawi as its sixth and newest international hub in Malaysia, which will focus on ASEAN destinations.
"We are very excited about this announcement today. We plan to put five planes in Langkawi and generate approximately 1 million to 1.5 million passengers through Langkawi very quickly. We will obviously focus on ASEAN destinations and gradually expand the connectivity to China and India, which are both very strong routes. It is exciting news for the state of Kedah and exciting news for job creation as we will base pilots and cabin crew in Langkawi," said AirAsia group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.
"By making it a hub, we hope to contribute further to the growth of traffic of this airport.
Kudos to the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Datuk Seri Idris Jala and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, for having a great vision, and taking proactive steps in making the ASEAN policy work," he said in a statement.
AirAsia Bhd CEO Aireen Omar said Langkawi has a great airport but is under-utilised and has the potential to grow as an international hub.
"Today is a big day for us at AirAsia. We have been campaigning for a while now, and we are pleased to know the government and the airport are beginning to see the benefits of low-cost carriers and understand that with the right cost structure, we can grow the airport and churn new businesses.
"We thank Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd for believing in us and supporting us with a five-year programme to make this a success," she added.
Liow said he is confident of AirAsia's capabilities to grow Langkawi into a top holiday destination, topping Phuket or Bali.
Langkawi was the airline's first route in 2001, and AirAsia currently serves three routes from the island of Langkawi with 98 flights weekly. There are currently five AirAsia hubs in Malaysia namely Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Johor Bahru, Penang and Kota Kinabalu.
The low-cost carrier unveiled the Asean-Malaysia Chairmanship aircraft livery on an Airbus A320 at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition '15 yesterday.
Fernandes said 2015 is also the year when the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Open Skies policy are expected to be implemented, and highlighted an urgent need for a common regulator to be established to ensure proper standards are implemented to promote travel within the booming Asean region.
Source: The Sun Daily | 19 March 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment