AirAsia X to boost flights over peak holiday season

Leading low cost carrier AirAsia X will boost flights between Melbourne, Perth, the Gold Coast and Kuala Lumpur to meet increased demand over the Christmas-New Year period.

Flights from Melbourne will increase by two services to 12 flights a week and Perth by an extra three services to 10 flights weekly.

The budget carrier will also add an extra service from the Gold Coast to the Malaysian capital, bringing capacity to six flights weekly.

The additional services will take effect over various timeframes beginning 1 December 2011* until 14 January 2012*.

“We are pleased to announce an increase in capacity across our Australian routes to cater for soaring demand during the peak holiday season,” AirAsia X Head of Commercial Darren Wright said.

“This demonstrates AirAsia’s commitment to its Australian routes and our confidence in the market. The additional frequency on the Gold Coast also proves our commitment to respond to demand accordingly and revise our schedule where necessary.”

AirAsia earlier this month announced services on the Gold Coast would be scaled back from seven to five per week from August 12 following a softening in demand.

“However, we always said we would look to reinstate daily flights between the Gold Coast and Kuala Lumpur in the future and this move is a positive development,” Mr Wright said.

“Loads have been consistently strong year-round on the Melbourne and Perth routes. The extra capacity across all three routes will create a much more efficient and effective network and provide better access to some of the world’s greatest destinations over the Christmas and New Year period.

“Tropical destinations such as Phuket and Bali are always popular at this time of the year while many will be taking advantage of our great value fares to Paris or London* to enjoy the European winter.

“The extra flights will also improve connections to Japan and Korea for the beginning of the ski season and to India when the weather is cooler.”

AirAsia X will also ramp up flights between Kuala Lumpur and Taipei by an extra four services a week in January*, bringing capacity to 11 weekly flights to cater to travellers celebrating the Chinese New Year.

The extra flights follow AirAsia X’s recent announcement of a 56 per cent year-on-year increase in passenger numbers for the 2011 second quarter.

AirAsia, the leading and largest low-cost carrier in Asia, services the region’s most extensive network with 160 routes covering 76 destinations in Asia, Australia and Europe.

The airline was named World’s Best Low Cost Airline in the annual World Airline Survey by Skytrax for three consecutive years in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Flights and fares are subject to availability. Terms and conditions apply.

Travellers can also log onto AirAsia’s one-stop travel portal at AirAsiaGo.com which offers a range of more than 80,000 three-star, five-star and boutique hotels to choose from.

Source - etravelblackboard