AirAsia X expands Australian network

AirAsia X will go double daily between Kuala Lumpur and Sydney, Melbourne and Perth later this year following a concerted lobbying campaign by the carrier.

Sydney will increase from 12 weekly flights from November 25, the same date that Perth will rise from nine flights to 14.

Melbourne will rise from 12 weekly flights to double daily from October 1.

“The Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to KL routes have performed extremely well and the new double daily services will help meet increasing demand,” AirAsia X chief executive Azran Osman-Rani said.

They will also provide passengers with a greater choice of travel times which, in turn, will improve connections to other parts of the carrier’s network, he said.

“We are, in fact, looking at doubling our fly-thru arrivals into Australia.”

The additional services follow the signing of a fresh bilateral agreement between the Australian and Malaysian Government and the expansion of AirAsia X’s A330-300 long haul fleet.

Osman-Rani said he was “delighted” to extend its operations after lobbying both governments “for some time”.

“Australia is a huge part of our core focus and Australians can expect to see us continuing to expand our operations in this vitally important market,” he said.

The KL-based airline has carried 3.4m passengers on its Australian routes since launching to the Gold Coast in 2007, with Australia now accounting for 40% of total revenue.

The carrier will further expand its local network on October 31 with the launch of four weekly flights to Adelaide.

To mark the expansion of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth services, AirAsia X is offering a buy one, fly two sale from August 26 to September 1.