AirAsia welcomes international travellers as borders reopen

AirAsia celebrates the reopening of Malaysian international borders today by welcoming travellers back into the country with a series of activities at klia2.

(Middle from left): Datuk Musa Hj. Yusof, Deputy General (Promotion) Tourism Malaysia; Bo Lingam, Group CEO of AirAsia Aviation Group Limited; Dato’ Iskandar Mizal Mahmood, Managing Director, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB); Mohamad Radzuan Mazlan, Under Secretary, Aviation Division, Ministry of Transport; Riad Asmat, CEO of AirAsia Malaysia at the AirAsia international flight welcoming ceremony at klia2 today.

A total of 12 international AirAsia flights from eight countries, including Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh, the Philippines and India arrived into klia2 today, marking the revival of its international operations after more than two years of flying downtime due to the pandemic.

AirAsia’s dedicated team of fully-vaccinated staff including pilots, cabin crew and ground personnel were on duty to support the large number of guests who took the opportunity from AirAsia’s resumption of international services to cater to the significant pent-up demand for air travel across the region. Welcoming and sending-off events for the inaugural post-pandemic international services also took place in other destinations including in Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

In conjunction with the reopening of international borders, guests can again look forward to reconnect with friends and families and ignite their wanderlust to popular destinations in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, the Maldives and more from as low as just RM89 one-way, while domestic routes are on sale from just RM39 one-way. Book your flights on the ‘Flights’ option in the airasia Super App from now until 3 April 2022, for travel between 1 April 2022 until 25 March 2023.

Furthermore, guests who booked an AirAsia international flight (flight code AK) on the super app from now until 10 April 2022, will be automatically entitled to join a lucky draw contest, where they will stand a chance to win RM12,000 worth of airasia points. Additionally, guests can also secure RM10 off their next ride to or from the airport through airasia ride, the e-hailing service of airasia Super App.

To further boost demand for air travel and create more excitement amongst the consumer, airasia Super App has also launched an innovative and revolutionary SUPER+ subscription plan, which is available for purchase across Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines until 2 April 2022. SUPER+ is a smarter way to experience the new world of airasia as it allows the subscriber to fly anywhere, enjoy bigger savings and more rewards for their travel and everyday needs.

Bo Lingam, Group CEO of AirAsia Aviation Group Limited (AAAGL) said: “This is a significant day for everyone in AirAsia as we can finally welcome international tourists & travellers back to Malaysia after two years. We have been preparing rigorously from an operational standpoint and all of our guests can be assured that their travel experience is as safe, seamless and convenient as it can be. We would like to once again applaud and thank governments around the region for reopening their borders and relaxing travel restrictions. AirAsia looks forward to working with all relevant industry stakeholders to rebuild the aviation and travel industry together. We will continue to review our network and cater to the increasing demand. More service resumption as well as new unique routes will be announced in due course as the world continues to reopen safely.

“In support of the huge pent up demand for air travel, earlier this week we launched a revolutionary product called the SUPER+ subscription which enables unlimited travel across Asean in our four core destinations - Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. We are confident SUPER+ will be very popular with people wanting to connect once again with friends and family and seeking short getaways both domestically and internationally, after a lull of two long years. In addition to unlimited flights, SUPER+ subscribers will also enjoy COVID pre-departure insurance coverage as well as free deliveries on airasia food wherever the service is available across the region, including when they travel. This means anyone with a SUPER+ subscription can enjoy the best of airasia’s way of life wherever they travel, whether it’s for leisure or business,” added Bo Lingam.

Riad Asmat, CEO of AirAsia Malaysia said: “Today marks an important milestone in the long journey towards the recovery of the travel industry in the region. We have woken our planes from hibernation and have already started painting the skies red. We wish to assure everyone that we remain committed to upholding the highest standards of safety and hygiene at all times. Every AirAsia Allstar on-ground and in the air is fully vaccinated and ready to provide world-class service and the best quality guest experience alongside stringent safety rules and procedures to give our guests total peace of mind.

“While we are extensively prepared to ensure all of our guests can travel safely from an operational standpoint through the robust safety and health measures that we have put in place including our contactless check-in procedure via airasia Super App, FACES facial recognition and more, we would like to remind our guests to adhere to all SOPs set by the government during their travels. Today is the day we have been waiting for and we can’t wait to see you back on board our flights soon!”

Fully vaccinated travellers who wish to travel to and from Malaysia must meet the requirements set by the Malaysian Government and the respective Governments of all origin and arrival countries prior to purchasing their flights and upon arrival.

As part of its robust health and safety protocols, AirAsia Malaysia has successfully migrated over 95% of its guests to use contactless self-check-in service via the airasia Super App and its website, an initiative that was made mandatory at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. The airline will continue to promote its contactless procedures as an integral part of its efforts to further strengthen its Covid-19 mitigation plan.

As part of an ongoing education process, AirAsia is encouraging all guests to migrate and upgrade to the all-in-one airasia Super App for a seamless and contactless journey. AirAsia’s counter check-in service will be strictly for exempted categories of guests only at all airports in Malaysia from 1 April 2022. Among the exempted groups are senior citizens aged 70 and above, people with disabilities registered with the Welfare Department, young passengers travelling alone, group bookings of 10 guests and more, charter flight passengers and more.

AirAsia has twice been recognised for its robust and comprehensive Covid-19 mitigation plans, with highest levels of safety and operational integrity with a 7/7 rating from the aviation experts at airlineratings.com in 2021 and 2022.