AirAsia X has resumed service to Melbourne (MEL) and Perth (PER), part of the long-haul LCC’s plan to rebuild flying between Malaysia and Australia.

The Kuala Lumpur (KUL)-based airline noted it had a 45% market share on all Malaysia-Australia routes in 2019. AirAsia X restarted KUL-Sydney (SYD) service in September with 2X-weekly Airbus A330-300 flights. From Nov. 7, it will add a leg to Auckland (AKL) to the KUL-SYD route.

“Our recently resumed Sydney services are already proving very popular,” AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said in a statement, adding that Australia “has always been one of our core destinations with strong demand for two-way travel which is historically proven.”

Service on the KUL-MEL and KUL-PER routes will be flown 3X-weekly with A330-300 aircraft. AirAsia X operated 92 weekly flights to Australia prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The carrier said it aims to surpass 50% of 2019 Malaysia-Australia capacity by the 2023 third quarter.

“The return to Melbourne, with a balanced inbound/outbound traffic flow, allows AAX to review adding more services to meet a strong forecast growth in low-cost travel demand,” the airline stated. “Moreover, AAX is looking forward to leveraging its operations at Australia's core domestic cargo hubs, including in Melbourne, to provide additional revenue streams.”

Ismail added that “Australians will have access to 130 destinations,” pointing to the ability to connect via KUL to India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, affiliate Thai AirAsia X will begin flying from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK) to both MEL and SYD from Dec. 1.