AirAsia mulls more flights from Penang

AirAsia Bhd is considering offering flights from Penang to other parts of Asia. The plan involves duplicating the low-cost carrier’s (LCC) destinations to India that are currently served via KLIA.

AirAsia’s chairman Datuk Aziz Bakar said the new routes were still under discussion with the respective countries. He declined to reveal when the plan to expand new routes from Penang would take off.

Aziz, who was at the Penang International Airport to receive AirAsia’s inaugural Chennai-Penang flight yesterday, said it was possible for AirAsia to introduce flights to other parts of India from Penang.

Also present at the airport was Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“We have started the Chennai-Penang route, and it is up to the state government to ensure that the tourism and other sectors are served well via this route,” Aziz told reporters.

He said if the response for the daily Penang-Chennai flight was overwhelming, AirAsia would even add on more daily flights.

“I see no reason why we cannot duplicate flights to Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai and also Bangalore from Penang,” he added.

Aziz believed that Indian tourists arriving in Penang will take advantage of the LCC’s extensive route network as AirAsia currently flies to 11 other domestic and international cities via the Penang International Airport, in addition to over 70 destinations across Southeast Asia, Australia, China and Europe from KLIA.

Through KLIA, AirAsia flies to Kolkata, Trivandrum and Thiruchirappalli, and has added Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore this year besides the Chennai-Penang route.

MAS used to fly from Penang to Chennai but it was discontinued due to the non-profitability of the route.

The inaugural flight from Chennai had a 92% load with 165 passengers and over the next two weeks, 85% of the seats have been booked.

BTimes