AIRASIA JB-IPOH FLIGHT TAKES OFF
New direct route to boost number of visitors to state and tourism revenue, says Menteri Besar
AIRASIA Bhd painted the Ipoh sky red after its inaugural flight from Johor Baru to the state capital landed at the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport, here, early yesterday.
AirAsia flight AK6082, operated by an Airbus A320, departed Senai International Airport at 7.30am and arrived at the airport, here, at 8.40am.
The 120 passengers were greeted by Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu, AirAsia director Datuk Aziz Bakar and AirAsia Malaysia chief executive officer Riad Asmat.
Also present were Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd acting group chief executive officer (CEO) Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin, state Tourism, Arts and Cultural committee chairman Tan Kar Hing, Tourism Perak CEO Zuraida Md Taib and Tourism Malaysia Perak director Mohd Roslan Abdullah.
Riad said the launch of the new service was a testament to AirAsia’s efforts to extend its reach domestically.
“We have been aggressively expanding our network from Johor Baru to enable more people to fly from and to this charming city.
“In fact, it is a double celebrations for AirAsia as we have also just launched our new four-time weekly flight from Johor Baru to Alor Star,” he said yesterday.
“We are committed to further grow the tourism industry by improving connectivity with new routes as well as our services in Ipoh, which will contribute in terms of tourism revenue and job creation,” added Riad.
Ahmad Faizal said AirAsia’s four weekly direct flights would further boost the number of visitors to the state and contribute significantly to its economy.
“The state government is excited to welcome new visitors to Perak and I would like to applaud AirAsia for launching the route.
“We are honoured to welcome the first guests from Senai International Airport to Sultan Azlan Shah Airport
“While we are looking forward to receiving a higher number of visitors through the direct service, the state government acknowledges the importance of encouraing day-trip visitors to stay longer so they can experience our heritage and ecotourism offerings, besides making Ipoh an entry point to other towns in Perak,” he said.