AirAsia marks 11 years of flying long-haul

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia’s long-haul sister airline, AirAsia X, began flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2007 with two A330 aircraft, and has since grown its fleet to 32 widebody aircraft with affiliates in Malaysia (carrier code D7), Thailand (XJ) and Indonesia (XT).

AirAsia X Malaysia chief executive officer Benyamin Ismail said, “As the pioneer of long-haul low-cost travel, we are proud to reach this significant milestone. When we started 11 years ago from Malaysia, affordable long-haul air travel was relatively untested.

“I would like to thank the 40 million-plus guests who have chosen to travel with us to date, and congratulate our dedicated and hardworking Allstars who remain committed to delivering the very best experience for our guests.”

AirAsia X Group operates flights to more than 29 destinations across Asia Pacific and the Middle East, and was the first low-cost airline in Asean to be given approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate into the US with its Osaka-Honolulu route.

“We are proud to deliver consistently affordable fares, enabling more people to travel long-haul for less. AirAsia X stimulates and grows the air travel market wherever we fly - a win-win for travelers, tourism and the economy,” Benyamin added.

“Demand for long-haul, lowcost travel continues to expand worldwide, and with 100 new A330neo aircraft on order, consumers can look forward to more flights and exciting new destinations from AirAsia X in the future.”

This year, AirAsia X launched new routes in India from Kuala Lumpur to Jaipur and Amritsar. In China, the airline doubled the number of seats from Kuala Lumpur to Changsha and announced a new route to the coastal city of Tianjin, commencing December 2, 2018.

In Thailand, the airline announced it would operate services between Bangkok Don Mueang and Nagoya this week following the introduction of Tokyo, Sapporo and Osaka earlier this year.

AirAsia X also increased its frequency on the popular Kuala Lumpur-Osaka-Honolulu route from four times weekly to a daily service. Earlier this week, the airline announced new services from Taipei to Osaka commencing 30 January 2019.

The 11th anniversary promotional fares are available on airasia.com from yesterday until November 4, 2018 for travel between May 1, 2019 and November 26, 2019.