AirAsia has said that it will launch a campaign
to promote the budget terminal KLIA2 as Low-Cost Carrier Terminal
2 (LCCT2).
AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said, "We want
the world to know that the best value fares are here in Malaysia.
To me, KLIA2 doesn't mean anything. LCCT2, on the other hand, is
synonymous with low-cost. It is a brand that we built up together
with Malaysia Airports and it shouldn't go to waste. I urge MAHB
to stop denying the fact that it is a low-cost hub."
AirAsia currently operates over 220 flights
daily to and from Kuala Lumpur. Travellers can connect to over 100
destinations in 24 countries via Kuala Lumpur using AirAsia's
Fly-Thru service.
AirAsia Berhad CEO Aireen Omar said, "AirAsia
group occupies 97% of operations at LCCT with an average of 37,000
guests daily. Last year, AirAsia Group flew over 2.3 million
guests into our main hub in Kuala Lumpur. Additionally, 1.3
million Fly-Thru guests came through Kuala Lumpur. As of May this
year, close to 700,000 guests have done the same, including
significant traffic from Singapore. In fact, Singapore-India is
one of our top five most popular Fly-Thru pairings. Malaysians
used to go to Singapore to catch onward flights. The fact that
Singaporeans are now coming here shows the strength of our wide
network and we are the Asian low-cost hub."
"We are particularly proud to be the largest
foreign airline operating into China. As a group, we have carried
over 33 million guests to and from China over the past ten years.
In 2015, we carried 1.49 million Chinese guests into Malaysia, and
are poised to push the envelope even further as we plan to
strengthen our flight network between Asean and the Republic of
China," added Aireen. "In view of the high volume of traffic
brought into Kuala Lumpur via the AirAsia Group, we need MAHB to
acknowledge the fact that Kuala Lumpur is a true low-cost hub with
enormous potential and they need to change their mindset to
facilitate the need of a low-cost model and its rapid growth. Don
Muaeng airport in Bangkok has overtaken KLIA2 as the world's
largest LCC airport as it works closely with their customers to
bring in the traffic. MAHB needs to adapt the same approach for it
to be relevant and gain back that recognition for Malaysia."
AirAsia Group and AirAsia X Group form the
leading low-cost carrier in Asia. Since the inception of AirAsia
in 2001 and AirAsia X in 2007, the group has carried over 330
million guests and has grown its fleet from just 2 aircraft to
over 200.
See other recent
news regarding:
AirAsia,
AirAsia X
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