MELBOURNE, 4 November 2022: AirAsia X (AAX) celebrated its resumption of services to Melbourne on Wednesday as one of its first key destinations to return to post-pandemic.
The inaugural flight from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne touched down at 0625 and departed from Melbourne at 0740. With strong passenger loads on both flights, the new services signal a sharp rebound in demand for low-cost mid-range air travel, delivering a welcome boost to both Australian and Malaysian tourism.
Pre-pandemic, AAX contributed 45% of the market share for flights between Australia and Malaysia, with up to 92 flights weekly to four destinations. Following the recent return to Sydney and with the resumption of services to Melbourne and Perth this week, AAX will reconnect 24 flights weekly to three key destinations in Australia. AAX also plans to recover over 50% against its pre-pandemic flight frequency to Australia by the third quarter of 2023.
The celebration of the inaugural flight and the return of AAX operations at Melbourne Airport was announced at a press conference on 2 November hosted by Tunku Dato Mahmood Fawzy, Chairman of AirAsia X; Benyamin Ismail, CEO of AirAsia X; Lorie Argus, CEO of Melbourne Airport; and Brendan McClements, CEO of Visit Victoria. The Consulate General of Malaysia in Melbourne also attended the event, representatives of the Victorian Government and other key industry dignitaries.
AAX CEO Benyamin Ismail said: “Australia was our first destination in November 2007 when we commenced operations. It has always been one of our core destinations with strong demand for two-way travel, which is historically proven.
“With today’s announcement, Asian travellers will benefit from more value and choice with convenient and affordable access to Australia. At the same time, Australians will have access to 130 destinations on the AirAsia route map, with many low-fare connecting services through to popular destinations on our short haul and long haul network group of airlines such as Thailand, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and more.”
AAX also celebrates the recommencement of services from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland, New Zealand, via Sydney, which touched down at 1720 local NZ time on Wednesday, and returned from Auckland to Kuala Lumpur Thursday at 1535 local time.
In celebration of the new services to Melbourne and Auckland, AAX is offering all-in fares on sale until 6 November 2022 for the travel period between 1 January and 28 October 2023. Fly from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur from AUD349 all-in one-way for economy or AUD2,099 one-way for a Premium Flatbed. Guests flying from Auckland to Kuala Lumpur via Sydney can also enjoy fares from NZD429 all-in one-way for economy or NZD2,299 one-way for a Premium Flatbed.
From Kuala Lumpur, fly to Melbourne for RM1,399 all-in one-way for economy or MYR4,499 one-way for a Premium Flatbed. From Kuala Lumpur to Auckland via Sydney, enjoy fares from RM1,799 all-in one-way for economy or MYR6,999 one-way for a Premium Flatbed.
