KUCHING: The Kuching-Shenzhen direct flight is expected to be suspended for a while beginning this month.
AirAsia Board of Director Datuk Aziz Bakar said the suspension was due to route rationalisation.
He said the suspension of the direct flight had nothing to do with politics, but must be looked from a business perspective.
“When we fly from one destination to another, we put in a lot of investment. So after a certain period, we invest in other destinations. This is all part of a business rationalisation process,” he said in response to a question raised by reporters on AirAsia was stopping its direct flight from Kuching to Shenzhen.
Aziz, who was addressing a press conference after attending the launch of AirAsia Sarawak Livery Campaign at Kuching International Airport (KIA) here yesterday, said there were times when destinations turned out to be without commercial value.
“But when we take a step backward, it doesn’t mean we are not coming back. We will still revisit and polish the plan, then come back,” he said.
“Sarawak targets five million tourist arrivals in conjunction with the Visit Sarawak Campaign this year. And for us in AirAsia, we have a role to play to help you achieve that target,” Aziz said.
“Rather than handpicking on Shenzhen flight being cut off, we have to look at the bigger picture. And we are constantly looking into opening up new routes,” he pointed out, adding that Kota Kinabalu-Sibu flight is one of them.
He said he is confident Sarawak will not be affected by the cancellation of the Shenzhen flight, adding with the new route tourist arrivals might even go up to 5.2 million by the end of the year.
He said AirAsia is happy to be able to work “very closely with the Sarawak Government and Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) to constantly look into increasing direct routes and bringing in more tourists to Sarawak”.
“AirAsia is totally committed to Sarawak, we have been investing from day one till today, and Kuching is one of our major hubs with six aircraft, with lots of potential for growth,” he stressed.
On Dec 26 2017, AirAsia, as the world’s best low cost airline, had launched its Kuching-Shenzhen direct flight.
