AirAsia to start Davao-KL direct service in January

AirAsia has announced its latest route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with four times weekly direct flights from Davao starting on Jan. 21, 2018.

Operated exclusively by AirAsia Berhad (flight code AK), the new route marks as the fourth direct route from the Philippines to Malaysia after Manila, Cebu, and Kalibo.

The launch event was attended by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes, Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, Ambassador Alfredo Yao, one of the Filipino investors of AirAsia Philippines, and AirAsia Philippines CEO Captain Dexter Comendador.

“We see Davao City as a major point of growth in the international market, especially with agriculture being the city’s largest industry. Our aim for the city is also to grow it to become a hub for financial, tourism, service and education in Mindanao. The introduction of the direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Davao could not be more timely and is a key step in this direction to empower local players across various economic activities,” the mayor said.

CEO Fernandes, who was one of the speakers at the conference, said, “Davao has a special place in my heart. It was one of the first cities we flew to when we started our Philippine operations in 2012. In fact, Clark-Davao, which we pioneered, was one of the two maiden routes when we started AirAsia Philippines five years ago. Since then, we have worked to strengthen our network in Davao. In this year alone, we have launched new flights from Davao to Cebu, Palawan and Boracay, and enabled Fly-Thru via Cebu to international destinations such as Singapore, Taipei and Seoul.

“Today marks the start of the next phase of our commitment to Davao. We believe Davao has the potential to be the international gateway for Asean to the southern Philippines, beginning with this new route to Kuala Lumpur. We strongly support the development of cities outside Metro Manila, and we are confident that by increasing connectivity and accessibility to affordable air travel, AirAsia can help play a role in boosting economic growth in the south. We can’t do it alone and we need airports to share in the responsibility, but together we can make His Excellency President Duterte’s vision of a more prosperous Philippines come true.”

To celebrate the new route, AirAsia’s all-in-fares from as low as P99 one-way are available for booking from July 21 to 30, 2017 for the travel period from Dec. 21 2017 to Aug. 28, 2018.

AirAsia Philippines (flight code Z2) currently operates several flights from Davao to Manila, Clark, Cebu, Palawan and Boracay.