KUALA LUMPUR: Low-cost airline, AirAsia Bhd will increase flight frequencies for its most sought-after routes during the recovery movement control order (RMCO) period including Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Penang.
Chief executive officer Riad Asmat said the routes are from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, as well as from Johor Bahru to Kuching and Penang.
However, the number of add-on flights for July would be announced later, he said.
“Since the resumption of our flights post-hibernation mode, we are witnessing encouraging demand for domestic travel.
“We will continue to monitor demand and hope to gradually increase the frequencies from our other hubs such as Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, and Penang in the near future,” he told Bernama.
Other AirAsia’s domestic destinations namely Alor Setar, Ipoh, Kota Bharu, Kuala Terengganu, Miri, Bintulu, Sibu, Sandakan, Tawau and Labuan.
Commenting on in-flight safety measures, Riad said it was paramount for AirAsia to continuously educate travellers about safe flying to build their confidence to start travelling again.
Hence, the airline has implemented various measures throughout different flight phases such as temperature screenings, limited hand-carry item, face mask usage, end-to-end contactless procedures, proper hygiene standards and inflight medical training for cabin crew.
According to IATA, evidence suggests the risk of Covid-19 transmission on board is extremely low as aircraft are equipped with features that will reduce the already-low risk of transmission onboard.
Passengers are seated facing forward with the seatback serving as a solid barrier, while the cabin air is fully filtered and renewed every 2-3 minutes through the hospital-grade high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, ensuring clean cabin air.
Coupled with a layered approach of biosafety measures covering the entire passenger journey, the risk of transmission onboard is further minimised.
“With continuous information provided to our guests, we believe this will help to build the confidence of our travellers to start flying again,” he believed.
With regards to international destinations, Riad said AirAsia would begin operations once the situation improves and governments lift borders and travel restrictions.
Asked on AirAsia’s focus in the next five to six months, he said the airline would continue with the diversification of its revenue base during this situation, with a more rigorous and market-friendly approach to further expand its digital and ancillary businesses such as Santan, Teleport and BigPay.
Aside from that, AirAsia would also focus on supporting government initiatives to promote local tourism together, he said.
AirAsia, which was named the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline for 11th consecutive time at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2019, has recently extended the sale of its Unlimited Pass Cuti-Cuti Malaysia due to the overwhelming demand.
Since its launch on June 11, over 40,000 flights have been redeemed with the first flight redemption taking place only seven minutes after the pass went on sale.
On Thursday, AirAsia announced its partnership with local hotels to offer hassle-free, best price guaranteed deals with bigger savings on SNAP, its new flight+hotel combo booking platform.
SNAP leverages the airline’s extensive network of over 160 destinations, with many being unique and exclusive routes, to provide the best price for flights, while working directly with hotel partners to offer best value room deals. – Bernama
