SEPANG, 25 November 2022: AirAsia X will be the first airline from Malaysia to reconnect direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Busan, South Korea, in early 2023.
The three weekly flights will be the second AAX route to South Korea after launching flights to Seoul in April this year.
In addition to relaunching the route, AAX signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Busan Tourism Organisation (BTO) to develop joint sales and marketing campaigns, leverage travel agents’ support, strengthen flight connectivity, and foster both countries’ economies through tourism.
The MoU was signed by AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail and President of BTO Jung-Sil Lee.
AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail commented: “We are excited to be the first airline from Malaysia to return to Busan. South Korea is an incredibly important market, and we have seen tremendous growth from our existing route to Seoul with around 80% average load factor. Starting with three weekly services and based on strong forecast demand, we expect the flight frequency to Busan to return to daily services by year-end.
“We believe the relaunch of the Busan route will provide a significant boost to strengthen business and tourism ties between Malaysia and South Korea, and we wish to thank the governments and relevant authorities for their tremendous support.
“In 2019, we flew about 200,000 guests to and from Busan. As we look to increase the connectivity to South Korea further, we trust that our direct flights to Busan will provide a welcome boost for tourism and the economy in both countries. The new route also reflects our commitment to offer our guests great value mid-range air travel continuously and we look forward to seeing a surge in tourist arrivals into/from Busan in the near future.”
President of Busan Tourism Organisation Jung-Sil Lee added: “We are pleased to collaborate with AAX to strengthen the tourism opportunities for Busan, a city with a unique heritage, natural attractions, and leading infrastructure. The last two and half years greatly impacted our tourism industry, but we managed to surpass these challenges and could not be more pleased that AAX will be part of this effort.
“The relaunch of AAX direct flights to Busan will mark a major milestone in the resumption of services to the city. We believe travellers will appreciate the direct and affordable connection, making Busan a top holiday destination once again.”
