DARWIN, 30 June 2025: AirAsia Malaysia (AK) launched its inaugural Kuala Lumpur–Darwin route on Friday, reinforcing the airline’s commitment to boosting tourism in Australia’s Northern Territory.
Flight AK612 departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Terminal 2) at 0555 on 27 June 2025 and arrived at Darwin International Airport at 1235 pm (local time) on the same day.
The maiden return flight departed from Darwin at 1310 (local time) and arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 1650.
Flights are scheduled to depart from KLIA to Darwin four times weekly, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, using an A320neo for the five-hour, 10-minute flight.
The launch of this new route, along with the new service between Bali and Adelaide (introduced on 26 June 2025 and operated by AirAsia Indonesia), marks a significant milestone for AirAsia and its strong ties with Australia.
These new services underscore the group’s ongoing commitment to expanding its network, enhancing regional connectivity, and offering more travel options for leisure, tourism, and trade.
Minister for Trade, Business and Asian Relations, Robyn Cahill, joined AirAsia on its maiden flight to Darwin and commented: “The Territory’s aviation sector continues to go from strength to strength with this new route providing a boost to tourism, growing business and trade and connecting Territorians with a new international flight option.
“We are thrilled to partner with AirAsia and the Airport Development Group to expand AirAsia Group’s network into the Northern Territory and provide greater choice, connectivity and competition for travellers. More flights will make it easier for people to visit and do business in the Territory. Having just returned from Kuala Lumpur, I can attest to the beauty of the destination. I encourage Territorians who are heading to Malaysia to take advantage of this fantastic service with direct and affordable flights into Kuala Lumpur 4 days a week.”
AirAsia Malaysia CEO Dato Captain Fareh Mazputra said: “Darwin now becomes part of AirAsia Malaysia’s expanding network in Australia, further boosting the airline’s strong and growing presence in the region. We are confident this new service will be well received, not only offering the only direct and affordable connectivity between Darwin and Kuala Lumpur but also as a gateway to our vast network of over 130 destinations across Asia and beyond at great value.
“Our seamless Fly-Thru connecting services to Aussies’ favourites such as Vietnam, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Japan, China and beyond continue to be extremely popular with the Australian market.
“For adventure-seeking travellers, the Top End of Australia becomes an existing and affordable new destination. We also look forward to welcoming guests from Darwin to discover Malaysia or Fly-Thru to destinations to visit the rest of Southeast, as well as North and Central Asia.”
Tourism Malaysia Director-General Datuk Manoharan Periasamy added: “We laud the new Kuala Lumpur-Darwin route for enhancing connectivity with Australia, which has consistently been one of our top visitor-generating markets. This connection is crucial, as Malaysia and Australia share a deep and longstanding friendship, and tourism is a key pillar that brings our communities closer together. As we celebrate 70 years of Australia’s diplomatic presence in Malaysia in 2025 and gear up for Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026), we look forward to welcoming more Australian travellers to experience our cultural diversity and commitment to sustainable tourism.
In 2024, Malaysia recorded 447,785 visitor arrivals from Australia, an 11.7% increase from 2023 and 6.3% above pre-pandemic 2019 levels.”
AirAsia Malaysia will operate four weekly flights on the Kuala Lumpur-Darwin route, offering more than 1,488 seats weekly with fares starting from MYR319* all-in one way for flights from Kuala Lumpur to Darwin while fares for its return flights from Darwin to Kuala Lumpur start at AUD219* all-in one way. The promotional fares are available for immediate booking until 6 July 2025 for travel until 27 March 2026 on airasia.com and the AirAsia MOVE app.
*All-in fares are quoted for one-way travel only, including passenger service charge, regulatory service charges, fuel surcharges, and other applicable fees. T&C apply.
