Mumbai : AirAsia X, the Malaysian-based long-haul, low-fare airline, on Wednesday announced its latest international route from Kuala Lumpur to Christchurch, New Zealand.
This will be the fifteenth destination for the airline after locations in Australia, India, Taiwan, China, UK, Korea, Japan, Tehran and soon France.
AirAsia X will extend its network deep into the southern hemisphere with four non-stop weekly services between Kuala Lumpur and Christchurch from 1 April, 2011.
To mark the opening for sale of the new route, AirAsia X is offering an unbelievable promotional all-in fare from as low as INR 2,989 one way from Kuala Lumpur to Christchurch for the booking period from 3 to 5 December (Booking starts 04.30 am India time and 07:00 am Malaysia time) for the travel period from 1 April to 10 November, 2011.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said: ?AirAsia X flights will open up routes and connectivity to New Zealand not just from Malaysia, but from India, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, China and London via AirAsia X?s Kuala Lumpur hub.?
?This announcement is great news for AirAsia and AirAsia X customers and great news for New Zealand. We have strong growth in demand from South East Asia and this new service will go a long way to fulfilling this increased interest in visiting our stunning country,? Bowler said.
In the last 12 months until Oct2010, New Zealand welcomed 28,421 Indian visitors (up 16%), 20,784 Malaysian visitors (up 6.9%), 30,839 Singaporean visitors (up 7.1%), and 21,052 Thai visitors (up 7.1%).
Dato? Tony Fernnades, Founder of AirAsia X, said ?We anticipate that this new route will be able to tap first-time travellers to and from Christchurch, which will significantly contribute to tourism growth both in New Zealand and Malaysia.?
Air Asia X currently operates flights to Kuala Lumpur from nine cities in India, including Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Tiruchirapalli and Trivandrum.