SHANGHAI, March 30 – Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia plans to start new routes connecting smaller mainland Chinese cities with Southeast Asia to tap a recovery in the country’s travel market, as consumers become more budget conscious, reported South China Morning Post.
According to the report, AirAsia has also signed a deal with Ant Group that will create savings for Alipay+ users.
In an interview, Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia’s parent, Capital A Berhad, said that Xian, home to the world-famous terracotta army in China’s central Shaanxi province, and an undisclosed city in Inner Mongolia province will be the airline’s next destinations on the mainland.
The expansion plan is in line with AirAsia’s efforts to chase annualised 15 per cent growth in its Chinese business over the next few years.
“There are two parts of growth here,” Fernandes said. “One is new cities, but the bigger one for me is to provide direct connectivity from the smaller cities.
“Your smaller cities are still very big for us.”
AirAsia, founded in 2001 by Fernandes with two aircraft, offers 17 routes to the mainland with about 160 flights a week. The airline links major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou with Southeast Asian destinations like Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Johor Bahru.
“What I found in an economic slowdown is that people generally go to lower-cost products and lower-cost airlines,” Fernandes said. “I guess we will benefit.”
