KUALA LUMPUR, 18 July 2023: AirAsia is confident its newly-launched routes from Kota Kinabalu to Beijing and Macau will generate strong travel demand.
Both the Kota Kinabalu-Beijing and Kota Kinabalu-Macau flights are registering impressive load factors (percentage of seats filled) in the 90% territory.
The maiden flight from Beijing on 2 July recorded 172 guests (92% full), and the inaugural flight from Macau on Sunday welcomed 169 guests (93% full). Both new services demonstrate significant consumer demand for these routes, and the airline expects it to continue to pick up both ways.
AirAsia’s mid-haul airline, AirAsia X (AAX), also recorded a remarkable load factor for its first flight from Chengdu (Tianfu) to Kuala Lumpur on 1 July 2023 with 376 passengers (99% full). AAX has increased flights from two to three weekly based on increased forward bookings.
Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah, YB Datuk Christina Liew said: “The tourism scene is moving fast towards recovery, especially from China since its border reopening this year, and we are pleased to continue working with AirAsia to welcome more travellers into the state.
“The impressive load factors from AirAsia will not only foster stronger international relations and open up new opportunities for economic growth and cultural exchanges for Sabah as a whole but also bring us a step closer to achieving our aim of registering more than 2.2 million tourist arrivals this year.
“AirAsia’s daily flights from Beijing (Daxing) and four weekly flights from Macao will add to the current 100 international flights weekly into Sabah. This signifies that we are on the right course for a steady tourism recovery, and we welcome AirAsia’s commitment to increasing its flight frequencies and launching more flight services in support of the government’s relentless efforts to boost the tourism industry in Sabah.”
AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat added: “We are proud to contribute to the tourism industry in Sabah continuously. Kota Kinabalu has always been an important hub for us, and our Sabah network growth plays a significant role in our recovery strategy. Currently, we operate 21 domestic and international routes to the state, with 300 flights weekly to and from Sabah, with the addition of daily flights to and from Beijing and four weekly flights to and from Macau.
“From 1 January to the first week of July this year, we have flown 2.1 million travellers to Sabah, and with these additional direct flight connections, the numbers will continue to increase, contributing significantly to the number of tourist arrivals, boosting the economy in the state.
“Moreover, with the strong demand for more China flights from this hub, we look forward to increasing the frequency and adding more routes. This would not have been possible without the support from our industry partners, especially Sabah Tourism Board, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support.”
AirAsia Malaysia (AK) currently flies 14 routes to China with over 104 flights weekly from Kuala Lumpur to Guilin, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Kunming, Shenzhen, Nanning, Shantou and Macao; Kota Kinabalu to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Beijing and Macao; and Johor Bahru to Guangzhou.
AirAsia X Malaysia (D7) currently flies four routes from Kuala Lumpur to China, with over 22 flights weekly to Chengdu (Tianfu), Beijing (Daxing), Shanghai and Hangzhou.
