SEPANG, Malaysia, 25 February 2019: AirAsia has reaffirmed its commitment to support Sarawak in its efforts to promote Kuching as one of Malaysia’s premier destinations.
AirAsia made the statement of support during an announcement of a new joint campaign with the Sarawak Tourism Ministry and Sarawak Tourism Board.
It was responding to a report that was first published in the Borneo Post quoting critics, who objected to the airline suspending direct flights to Kuching from Shenzhen in Mainland China, with a copy sent to TTR Weekly that had made additional comments on the shutdown of the direct flight.
The airline reiterated it would continue to offer a service on the Kuching-Shenzhen route as a Fly-Thru via Kuala Lumpur. AirAsia’s Fly-Thru service also connects Kuching and other destinations in Sarawak to more than 60 cities across the AirAsia network including China. It requires a change of plane at the airline hub in Kuala Lumpur.
Sarawak’s Assistant Tourism Minister, YB Datuk Lee Kim Shin was quoted saying: “We treasure our relationship with AirAsia and are committed to partner with them to make future routes from China to Sarawak viable. We have put together a special task force to support the Visit Sarawak Campaign and also to further enhance our collaboration with the Mandarin speaking markets.”
AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat said, “AirAsia remains committed to transforming Sarawak into one of our most important hubs. We have six aircraft stationed in Sarawak managed by more than 400 local employees including pilots, cabin crew and operations staff. Through this partnership with the State Tourism Ministry and Sarawak Tourism Board we hope to see more tourists than ever before visit the Land of the Hornbill.”
Riad added, “In the last three months alone, AirAsia has also introduced three new routes between Sarawak and Sabah including Kuching to Tawau and Sibu and Bintulu to Kota Kinabalu.”
AirAsia currently flies to 12 direct destinations from Kuching, including Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kota Bharu, Johor Bahru, Bintulu, Langkawi, Penang, Sibu, Tawau, Miri, Pontianak and Singapore.
With its Fly-Thru service, AirAsia also connects Sarawak with more than 60 cities in Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India and Southeast Asian countries.
