00:00AirAsia has expanded its operations in Malaysia to the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport with
00:09two domestic destinations namely Kuching, Sarawak and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah starting
00:15from August 30, 2024. It marks a significant milestone in the airline's history after
00:22AirAsia started operations 23 years ago at Subang Airport. AirAsia Malaysia Managing
00:29Director Datuk Captain Fareh Masputra said the expansion complements its operations at
00:36its main hub at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2, solidifying its position
00:43as the nation's biggest airline in terms of connectivity and capacity.
00:47Make sure that we are always in the lead, we are always a trendsetter, we are ahead
00:52of the curve and creating a new, you know, always new product that will exist and assist
00:59passengers in their travel comfort. We are connecting over 948 weekly flights across
01:08Malaysia, right? And this is not the end, this is only the beginning. The beginning
01:14of a more interesting journey looking at the next five years. We are extremely optimistic
01:20in the future and Subang will be a goldmine, it will be a hub that we want to be in to grow
01:29the nation's aviation industry. Kota Kinabalu and Kuching have always been our trunk route,
01:39a very important route for the connection between Sabah and Sarawak to Peninsular Malaysia.
01:46So naturally this is the first thing that we want to do to ensure that the connectivity
01:51to Subang has always been with Sabah and Sarawak. Then of course we have a list of airport and
01:59destinations that we want to operate when capacity allows us to do it.
02:04He told reporters after launching AirAsia's operations at the Subang Airport on Tuesday.
02:10Earlier, Capital A Berhad Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes celebrated
02:17the low-cost airline's return to its humble beginnings at the Subang Airport after two
02:21decades in a simple ceremony.
02:23It's great to be back in this airport 24 years after we left. 24 years ago, but there are
02:32many many people who are still in Red Q actually who were with me 24 years ago when we started
02:37AirAsia in December of 2001. In this airport, the two planes, our kind of major major step
02:50forward was this airport where we went from two planes to three planes. That was the start
02:56AirAsia under DRB Haikon had only had two planes for five years. Boy did we grow. We
03:04went from three planes to 240 planes. We have 400 in order. I've lost count of how many
03:12destinations we have and how many routes we have because it was my dream to return back
03:20to Subang one day.
03:22Fernandes also unveiled the new AirAsia Plus experience, exclusive at the Subang Airport
03:28and catered to business travellers. He said as a city airport, Subang will cater to business
03:33passengers who desire additional services beyond the standard AirAsia offering at KLIA2.
03:40I think people in Subang, it's like a city airport in London etc. People will pay a premium
03:50to come to this airport because it's much closer. In my view, our product shouldn't
03:55be low cost, it should be a premium product. What that exactly is, I don't think people
04:04want to be worried about losing their seat or worrying about buying luggage etc. A lot
04:13of the things that are unique for AirAsia, I'll probably change for Subang. So maybe
04:26food will be provided for. We will have different luggage allowances. You don't have to pay
04:34for luggage. So we will give a different product for Subang.
04:40So it means that the AirAsia Plus is only for Subang Airport?
04:44Yes, at the moment. Let's try it. If it works, we might bring it to other airports. But for
04:50the moment, only for Subang.
04:52When can we expect it to be launched?
04:54On the first day. First flight.
04:56First flight.
04:58That means together with August 30th.
05:00Yes.
05:02Fernandes adds the government's decision to revitalise the airport into a regional aviation hub
05:08aligns perfectly with the mission to continue revolutionising the aviation industry.
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