KUALA LUMPUR, 29 June 2023: Malaysia’s newest low-cost airline MYAirline, launched daily flights to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport this week and expects to introduce daily services to the city’s Don Mueang Airport on 1 July.

The Bangkok flight is the first to an overseas destination since the airline started operations on nine domestic routes in Malaysia last December.

In just six months since it rolled out its first Airbus A320, the airline has increased its fleet to six leased A320 and established a domestic network serving nine destinations in Malaysia from its home base at Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Terminal 2.

Commenting on the launch of the Bangkok flights, the airline’s CEO Rayner Teo told a press briefing in Kuala Lumpur MYAirline would be the first Malaysian airline to fly to both international airports in Bangkok. Ultimately the airline plans to offer four daily flights to Bangkok – two flights to Suvarnabhumi and two to Don Mueang. He claimed the airline was also interested in flying to Phuket and Chiang Mai from Kuala Lumpur, possibly by the end of the year.

The Bangkok Suvarnabhumi flight Z9550 departs Kuala Lumpur at 1020 and arrives in the Thai capital at 1145. Flight time is two hours and 25 minutes. The return flight Z9551 departs Bangkok at 1245 and arrives in Kuala Lumpur at 1615.

The competition will be brutal on the route as the two low-cost airlines MYAirline and AirAsia, engage in a fare war on a route still recovering post-Covid.

MYAirline quotes a one-way fare of MYR169 for the flight to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and Bangkok Don Mueang at MYR139. AirAsia’s lowest one-way fare is MYR149. The roundtrip fare on MYAirlne is around MYR398 compared with MYR345 on AirAsia. Both have similar flight departure times, mid-day, so there is not much between the two airlines regarding the lead-in fares. Both fares streak ahead of Malaysia Airlines and Thai Smile, which have to convince us to part with MYR1,060 round trip for a journey that takes two hours and 15 minutes.

SEPANG, 28 June 2023: AirAsia opened a new chapter in its efforts to drive industry engagement and spark greater collaboration by hosting its inaugural Sustainability Day, themed ‘Doing More with Less’.

Led by Capital A Chief Sustainability Officer Yap Mun Ching, the event saw in-depth exchanges on topics that address AirAsia’s pathways to decarbonisation, as well as challenges and opportunities in the implementation of these strategies.

The line-up of speakers, comprising AirAsia technical heads and subject matter experts, tackled topics including how AirAsia is factoring ESG considerations into the deployment of its fleet assets, prospects in switching to greener biofuels, opportunities for ESG financing and managing talent to meet its future growth needs.

Capital A chief sustainability officer Yap Mun Ching said: “Today marks the first time we are bringing all our key stakeholders from government officials, regulators, financial institutions, aviation analysts, business partners and the media, to advance their understanding of the intricacies of aviation sustainability. As we rebuild our business post-pandemic, we are broadening and deepening our sustainability agenda by incorporating robust ESG practices into our strategic priorities so that we recover stronger and better.

“Since aviation is a hard-to-abate sector, decarbonisation in aviation requires collaborative efforts from airlines and all industry stakeholders to achieve our goal of reaching net zero by 2050. With daily reminders in the media that the world is likely to reach an environmental tipping point earlier than expected, this calls for immediate action by all parties to realise and make accessible the solutions that airlines need to reduce their carbon emissions.”

In sharing AirAsia’s net zero plan, Yap continued: “All airlines are faced with four pathways to decarbonise, namely to upgrade their fleet, implement green operating procedures, switch to biofuels and offset remaining emissions. AirAsia’s top priorities are in upgrading its fleet to the A321neo, widely acknowledged as the most fuel-efficient aircraft on the market today, and in expanding and deepening its industry-leading fuel-efficiency programme.

“Whether we are using fossil fuels or biofuels, what should precede this question is whether we are using more than is necessary. AirAsia’s fuel efficiency programme is one of the best if not the best in the world. Even as we explore new solutions, we cannot lose sight of our strength which has enabled us to achieve among the lowest cost and emissions per seat in the industry,” she said.

AirAsia currently has 362 new A321neo aircraft on order, which will be delivered between 2024 and 2035. According to AirAsia Senior Manager of Flight Operations Projects, Development & Efficiency Jonathan Sanjay, since 2015, the airline has saved over USD130 million in fuel consumption while avoiding the associated CO2 emissions. AirAsia is also exploring options to introduce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into its fuel mix before 2025.

AirAsia also launched its Guide to Aviation Sustainability, a handbook of aviation sustainability terms to make more accessible common concepts associated with the subject. The handbook also highlights outcomes from AirAsia’s own implementation of some of the measures listed. Publication of the booklet was supported by AirAsia’s business partners, namely Avolon, Honeywell, Mirus Aircraft Seating, PETRONAS, Shell Aviation and SITA.

More information on AirAsia’s Sustainability achievements, goals and targets are available in the Capital A Sustainability Report 2022