(Photo Caption: AirAsia passengers onboard flight AK 1776 from Singapore were warmly greeted upon arrival at Kuching International Airport.)

KUCHING, 29 April 2022 - AirAsia celebrated two momentous inaugural flights into Sarawak today after more than two long years of no international air connectivity.

Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak, YB Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah led the welcoming party to receive a full load of 180 passengers on flight AK 1776 at the Kuching International Airport at 3.55 pm today. Also present were Deputy Minister for Transport Sarawak YB Datuk Dr Jerip Susil and CEO of Sarawak Tourism Board Sharzede Salleh Askor.

Earlier today in Miri, Minister of Transport Sarawak Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin greeted passengers on flight AK1758 that touched down at Miri Airport at 11.25 am. Passengers at both events were welcome with much fanfare at the terminals including a water salute for the aircraft upon landing.

The ceremonies were jointly organised by AirAsia and the Sarawak Tourism Board, and supported by Malaysia Airports.

Offering a daily flight frequency between Kuching and Singapore and four times weekly between Miri and Singapore, promotional one-way all-in fares are available for booking on the airasia Super App from as low as RM69 one-way (Kuching-Singapore) and RM79 one way (Miri-Singapore). Book these special fares from now until 1 May 2022 for travel between 12 September 2022 and 25 March 2023.

In total, AirAsia currently operates 44 weekly flights between Singapore and Malaysian cities and popular destinations including Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh, Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Miri, and will be increasing the frequencies in tandem with demand.

YB Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak said: "We welcome the reinstatement of AirAsia’s flight from Singapore to Kuching. Currently, we have reinstated more than 90% of flight frequencies during the pre-pandemic stage, with newly added routes such as the Penang to Kuching route and Singapore to Miri route. "

"I believe that the resumption of international flights comes at the right time for both tourists and locals in Sarawak, who have been excitedly anticipating and planning their travels. On top of that, the relaxation of standard operating procedures (SOP) starting May 1 onwards, including the lifting of requirements of Covid-19 tests for pre-departure and arrivals, mask mandates for outdoors and MySejahtera check-ins announced by the Health Ministry is another positive development for tourism activities to resume normally.

Riad Asmat, CEO of AirAsia Malaysia said: “AirAsia is very pleased to resume international flights to Sarawak, following our inaugural flight to neighbouring Sabah just two weeks ago and also to Langkawi today. Sarawak is a very important market for AirAsia with Kuching being one of our key hubs in Malaysia where six of our A320 aircraft are stationed, providing employment to over 500 Allstars across Sarawak. We look forward to returning to the pre-Covid levels soon, when we used to have over 300 weekly domestic and international flights to and from Sarawak.

“AirAsia will continue to explore opportunities to connect Sarawak with more destinations within Asean and beyond. We pledge our full commitment and support towards the full reopening and resumption of travel and tourism activities in Sarawak and we look forward to continuing to work closely with all relevant stakeholders and industry players to ensure the highest standards of compliance are in place for every single flight that we operate.

“We wish to reiterate our strong and undivided commitment to providing affordable air fares through an extensive network to connect all Malaysians especially between Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, as we have done over the past 20 years.”

Sarawak is famed for its natural biodiversity, national parks and unique colonial architecture. Often dubbed the ‘Land of the Hornbills’, it is Malaysia’s largest state and is home to luscious forests and tourist attractions. Sarawak has already planned an exciting calendar of events to look forward to this year such as the return of its iconic festivals – the Rainforest World Music Festival happening from 17-19 June 2022 and Borneo Jazz Festival happening from 24th-26th June 2022.

AirAsia continues to grow its international services in line with strong demand. Apart from Singapore, AirAsia has also resumed flights from Kuala Lumpur to India, Brunei, the Maldives, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. The first international flight from Singapore to Langkawi also touched down today with a full flight. More international flights to and from Kuching will begin operating soon.

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. 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. Effective 1 April 2022, AirAsia’s counter check-in service is strictly for exempted categories of guests only at all airports in Malaysia. 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.

For more information on AirAsia’s safety measures and travel SOPs, please read the latest travel advisory here.

Stay up to date with everything from the airasia Super App by following @airasiasuperapp on Instagram and Facebook for the latest updates on airasia Super App’s offerings! For a seamless and enhanced experience, download your airasia Super App from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store or Huawei AppGallery now.

KUCHING-SINGAPORE & MIRI-SINGAPORE FLIGHT SCHEDULE

Double celebration for AirAsia with resumption of international flights from Singapore to Kuching & Miri