Wednesday, Nov 25, 2009
Gulf News
Abu Dhabi The first flight of Malaysia's long-haul, low-cost airline AirAsia landed in Abu Dhabi yesterday, marking the beginning of commercial flights on the Kuala Lumpur-Abu Dhabi route.
AirAsia will fly the route five times a week and plans to use Abu Dhabi as a gateway to the Middle East, AirAsia's Chief Executive Azran Osman-Rani told reporters.
"Abu Dhabi will serve as a vital hub for AirAsia in connecting Asia with Europe," said Osman-Rani.
He said up to 30 per cent of the seats on the route are being sold at promotional prices, starting at an all-inclusive one-way ticket as low as Dh99.
Free seats
"There are also a few free seats up for grabs," Osman-Rani added. The Kuala Lumpur-Abu Dhabi route will be served by an Airbus A340-300 aircraft configured for 256 seats in economy and 30 premium seats on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Osman-Rani said AirAsia will use Abu Dhabi international airport's Terminal 1A. "We have comparatively lower operational costs due to better utilisation of our aircraft which on average fly 18 hours per day," he said.
The Kuala Lumpur-based airline has more than 80 aircraft in its fleet and they fly to more than 70 destinations.
"With a flying time of only around six hours to Singapore and Malaysia the market has much to offer us. China — slightly further away at 10 hours — has huge potential for us and AirAsia's network to this vast market will assist our marketing efforts there," said Ahmad Hussain, Deputy Director General of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).
Investment
Malaysian Ambassador to the UAE Yahya Bin Abdul Jabar said trade and investment between the UAE and Malaysia will get a boost with the Malaysian carrier operating on the Kuala Lumpur-Abu Dhabi route.
Separately, he said trade between the UAE and Malaysia is expected to fall about 10 per cent this year because of the global economic recession.
Last year, trade between the UAE and Malaysia was valued at about $6 billion (Dh22 billion), said the ambassador.
Malaysia primarily exports gold jewellery, electronic equipment and palm oil to the UAE and imports mainly crude oil and chemical products from the UAE.
By Himendra Mohan Kumar
Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
