AirAsia’s first guests from Taipei arrived at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport here today to a truly Malaysian welcome. Flight D7 2673 with 335 guests on board, which is a load of 87%, touched down at 8.35 pm.

On hand to receive the guests were Minister of Transport Malaysia YB Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat and Minister of Tourism Malaysia and YB Dato’ Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen, who joined AirAsia Group CEO Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes and Regional Head of Commercial Kathleen Tan. Also present was H.E. Tseng Ching Yuan, Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia.

The new Kuala Lumpur–Taipei route with 5 direct flights weekly operated by AirAsia’s low-cost long-haul affiliate AirAsia X, received a remarkable response from travelers when it opened for sale on 24 April 2009. All promotional seats offered for RM101 (NT$888) per way were snapped up within 12 hours after the sales announcement, with an estimated 80,000 guests flying the route until the year’s end. This represents an average load factor of over 80% on the 383-seater Airbus A330.

Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat said, "I am proud that the Kuala-Lumpur-Taipei route has finally taken off. Again, AirAsia has made another achievement in Malaysia’s aviation industry. AirAsia’s move in promoting connectivity to places beyond Malaysia is seen as an effort to promote more travel and business opportunities for both Malaysians and foreign users. With Taipei added into AirAsia’s route network, this further strengthens AirAsia’s foothold in this region and enhance economic ties between the two countries."

Meanwhile Dato’ Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen commented, "I am honored to be part of AirAsia’s inaugural flight celebration for the first time and believe AirAsia has done a commendable job in contributing to the tourism sector. Taiwan is among our key tourist source markets and I look forward to seeing the Kuala Lumpur-Taipei route attract more tourists from Taiwan to Malaysia and enhance our tourism performance."

AirAsia’s first flight from Kuala Lumpur to Taipei departed at 10.00 am this morning, carrying 338 guests, including President of the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre in Taipei, Datuk Abdullah Mohd Salleh and AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani. The flight had an 88% load.

Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes remarked, "I am ecstatic to see that Kuala Lumpur-Taipei started off with a huge success. This important piece of the jigsaw puzzle covering our route network is the result of everyone’s hard work at AirAsia. Taiwan’s population who are highly Internet-savvy relate well to AirAsia’s concept of online low fares."