AirAsia Boosts Flights to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan

Low-cost airline AirAsia has confirmed it will introduce additional daily frequencies on its routes from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan from the first quarter of next year. The budget carrier will introduce a 14th daily flight to Kota Kinabalu and a third daily flight to Sandakan from February 6, 2012.

AirAsia is currently the dominant carrier to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan from its Kuala Lumpur base, although it competes directly with national carrier and soon to be business partner Malaysia Airlines on both routes. An estimated two million O&D passengers travelled between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu last year, a route previously also served by Firefly, with AirAsia holding a 60 per cent share of this traffic, while around 325,000 flew between Kuala Lumpur and Sandakan of which 67 per cent used the flights of the budget carrier.

“With these additional flight frequencies, our guests can look forward to added convenience and the liberty to pick the best flight times for their travels, as there are now more options on flight times available for these destinations,” said Kathleen Tan, Regional Head of Commercial, AirAsia.

AirAsia will also introduce three additional weekly frequencies on the Kota Kinabalu - Hong Kong route, increasing weekly flights to ten. Dragonair and Malaysia Airlines also provide service between the two cities. “We are currently the airline with the highest frequency for the Kota Kinabalu – Hong Kong route, providing guests with seamless connectivity,” said Kathleen Tan. An estimated 236,000 O&D passengers travelled between the two cities in the past year, around 46 per cent flying with AirAsia whose average fares are around half those of its rivals.