Nội Dung Chính
AirAsia officially announces five new routes to Vietnam
Plan for new routes to Vietnam
HÀ NỘI — In line with plans to leverage Việt Nam’s strategic location and significant appeal as one of the airline’s hubs in the Indochina region, AirAsia continues to focus on launching new routes to the popular destination.
New routes announced recently include HCM City to Phnom Penh commencing from December 22 and from Hà Nội to Phnom Penh launching from January 24, 2025.
Adding to the continued expansion of AirAsia in Việt Nam, flights from Phú Quốc to Bangkok (Don Muang Airport) returned recently on October 27, while flights from Đà Lạt to Kuala Lumpur recommenced on November 1. The first-ever services between HCM City and Malaysia’s Kota Kinabalu are set to launch on December 3.
AirAsia Chief Commercial Officer Paul Carroll said AirAsia commits to boosting affordable connectivity to Việt Nam as the airline continues to resume operations to the country post COVID-19, bringing over 1.7 million visitor seats annually to the ‘Land of the Rising Dragon’ with the launch of these five new routes based on strong demand trends.
“Việt Nam has always been among our most popular destinations. It is now over 19 years since our first flight to the country and we are excited about the huge potential of not only these new services, but also significant growth opportunities in the future.”
On the launch of the Cambodia routes into Việt Nam, Vissoth Nam, CEO of AirAsia Cambodia said: “We are excited to add Việt Nam to AirAsia Cambodia’s fast-growing network of international destinations.
“As the newest low-cost airline in Cambodia which launched in May this year, we are witnessing strong demand for services in ASEAN and beyond. While there are many similarities between Cambodia and Việt Nam, they are also very different, offering unique and affordable experiences that will prove popular with both local citizens of both countries and global visitors to the region.”
AirAsia Group already flies 165 flights weekly to and from Việt Nam (providing more than 1.5 million visitor seats annually into the region). With the new services, the airline will be flying 195 flights weekly to and from Việt Nam (or over 1.7 million visitor seats annually)
AirAsia – first low cost airlines in Asia
AirAsia is a budget airline based in Malaysia. It was one of the first low cost airlines in Asia and has received numerous international airline awards. It is based in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur and uses Kuala Lumpur International airport as its hub. It operates out of the klia2, the low cost airline terminal at the airport. It has several affiliate airlines including Thai AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, Philippines AirAsia and AirAsia Zest. These operate out of Don Mueang International Airport, Soekarno–Hatta International Airport and Ninoy Aquino International Airport respectively. It operates at one of the lowest unit costs with a cost of USD0.023 per available seat kilometer (ASK.) AirAsia sponsors the Singapore national football team, the Malaysia national football team and Queens Park Rangers.
The history of AirAsia
AirAsia was founded by DRB-Hicom, a Malaysian government owned conglomerate, in 1994. It started operations in November 1996. However, during its early years of operation it was not very successful and slipped into heavy debts. In 2001, the airline was bought by Tony Fernandez, a former Time Warner executive through his company Tune Air Sdn Bhd for 1 Ringgit. At this point, the company had USD 11 million in debts but Fernandez managed to turn the company around and posted a profit in 2002. New routes from Malaysia were launched and passenger numbers increased with low fares (promotional fares were as low as 1 Ringgit.)
In 2003, AirAsia expanded to another hub at Senai International Airport in Johor Bahru, a southern airport near Singapore. The company launched its first international flight, to Bangkok. AirAsia then started flying to Singapore and set up an affiliated airline in Thailand, connecting the three countries with regular flights. By 2006, Air Asia was flying to China, Philippines, Macau, Brunei and Myanmar as well. In 2006, AirAsia also took over operations for domestic rural operations from Malaysia Airlines and started operating FlyAsianExpress. However, these routes were later returned to MASwings due to financial constraints.
Fernandes set up a five year plan in 2006 that would increase its route network to include Vietnam, Indonesia, Southern China and India. Along with affiliate airlines, the company started to develop their twin hubs of Bangkok and Jakarta with passenger volume increasing to 13.9 million in 2007. In 2008, 106 new routes were added bringing the total routes to 166.
There was a proposed alliance between AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines in 2011 but this was struck down by the government. The proposed to swap shares to work together but the government saw the merger as anti-competitive and ruled against it. In 2013, AirAsia saw a huge rise in profits and proposed setting up an operation airline in India with them owning the maximum allowed 49% stake in a new sister airline.
Read more:
