Bangkok--Oct 26--eTurboNews
NEW DELHI, India (eTurboNews) - Continuing its route expansion spree, low-cost airline AirAsia Berhad said it is planning to offer more flights to different destinations in Asian countries.
AirAsia's daily service from Kuala International Airport to Chiang Mai took flight on October 20. The airline's daily flights to Phnom Penh will begin on November 1.
"We want to bring people in Asia closer by offering cheap air fares so that more people can afford to fly with us," said AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes.
"AirAsia would be the first and only airline to offer direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Chiang Mai," he told reporters. This destination marks the fourth major city in Thailand for AirAsia, after Bangkok, Phuket, and Hat Yai.
The addition of Phnom Penh to AirAsia's route network now established in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Macau, China, and the Philippines, further strengthens AirAsia's connectivity and increasing presence in the region.
Thai AirAsia's venture into Vietnam began on October 17, via flights to Hanoi from Bangkok, signaling that the airline has all but covered most of the major cities in Southeast Asia. "We will continue to strive to add more points and connect more dots while offering low fares for a fraction of the costs, so that more people can fly," Fernandes said.
On new operations, he said, "We have sold over 12,000 seats for the route since the tickets went on sale two weeks ago," he said, adding that the first fight to Chiang Mai had a passenger load of 90 percent.
In another development, the Ministry of Finance has approved airline's application for investment allowance incentive dated January 31, 2005. In a statement, the airline company said that the investment allowance incentive constitutes income tax exemption equating to 60 percent of qualifying capital expenditure incurred within five years commencing July 1, 2004 until June 30, 2009 to be deducted up to 70 percent of statutory income for each year of assessment. This is in addition to the normal 100 percent allowance for capital expenditure, it said. For every ringgit spent on qualified capital expenditure, AirAsia receives 160 percent worth of capital allowance, the company said. The unutilized portion of capital allowances can be carried forward perpetually.
"We're delighted as this effectively re-enhances AirAsia's position as the lowest cost airline in the world, and our competitors will find it tough to match our cost structure. This also helps to ease our financial obligations since we are spending billions to expand our business and enhance our service," said Fernandes.
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