AirAsia strengthens foothold in China (5099)

Low-cost airline, AirAsia is strengthening its route network and
connectivity in the world's most populated country, China, with its
newest route from Kuala Lumpur to Nanning.

The airline is
offering a special all-in-fare from as low as RM99, one way in
conjunction with the announcement of the new route and is available for
booking from tomorrow until Sept 16.

In a statement here
today, it said the route is the only direct flight available from KL to
Nanning and will commence operations with three times weekly flights
from Dec 11, 2012.

The route will complement the AirAsia
Group's network connectivity from Asean to China, especially with the
recent announcement of Bangkok to Wuhan flights operated by Thai
AirAsia.

"KL-Nanning will be AirAsia Group's 22nd route to China," it said.

Guests
can obtain these fares online at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] from Sept 12-16, 2012,
for travel period from Dec 11, 2012 to May 22, 2013.

AirAsia's
Commercial Group Head, Kathleen Tan said: "China is a great market for
us to explore and expand our route network and connectivity.

"We
are seeing a greater demand between both ends especially for business
travel, and we hope to showcase what Nanning has to offer to the
average of 30 million guests that fly through our network every year,
and for the Chinese to use our Kuala Lumpur hub to connect to more than
75 destinations that AirAsia flies to.

"We are glad to be
able to provide the only direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Nanning and
we are confident that flight loads will pick-up once we open this new
destination for sale, especially with the importance of Nanning as a
city that works closely with the Asean countries to promote investment
and trade
between China and Asean."

Nanning city is also
known as the 'green city' due to its abundance of greenery and natural
landscape, and is the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
in Southern China.

The city is situated about 160km from
Vietnam border and located beside the Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong and
Hunan provinces. -- Bernama