AirAsia builds Langkawi hub

LANGKAWI  AirAsia has designated Langkawi as its latest international hub in Malaysia, following the unveiling of the airline’s ASEAN-Malaysia Chairmanship aircraft livery, Wednesday.
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, group CEO of AirAsia said: “We plan to put five planes in Langkawi and generate approximately 1 million to 1.5 million passengers very quickly.”
Ferrnandes also introduced a new aircraft livery depicting Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship this year during the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA)’15, earlier this week.
“We will obviously focus on ASEAN destinations and gradually expand the connectivity to China and India, which are both very strong routes,” the group CEO said. “This is exciting news for the state of Kedah and exciting news for job creation as we will base pilots and cabin crew in Langkawi.”
inside no 5AirAsia Berhad chief executive officer, Aireen Omar, said the government and airport were now “seeing the benefits of low-cost carriers and understand that with the right cost structure, we can grow the airport and churn out new businesses.”
There is a five-year programme in place, the airline’s CEO noted.
The Minister of Transport of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai applauded AirAsia saying: “I am confident AirAsia has the capabilities to grow Langkawi and turn it into a top holiday destination, even better than Phuket or Bali and eventually make Malaysia one of the favourite tourism destinations on the global map.”
Langkawi was the airline’s first destintion from its Sepang base, when it launched in 2001. It currently serves three routes from the island with 98 flights weekly.
There are five AirAsia hubs in Malaysia; Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Johor Bahru, Penang and Kota Kinabalu. Langkawi will be AirAsia’s sixth international hub in Malaysia.

sourced:ttrweekly.com