MACAO, 8 April 2021 - Around 60 guests of different nationalities including Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, South Africa, Korea, Kazakhstan, India, Turkey, China and Japan who had been stranded due to the pandemic are now a step closer to being reunited with their families and loved ones as they boarded a special AirAsia chartered flight between Macao and Malaysia.

This flight was organised by  the Consulate General of Malaysia in Hong Kong and Macao especially to repatriate Malaysian citizens in Macao back home. However, with the ongoing border restrictions and the suspension of commercial flight service, the repatriation flight came as a blessing for dozens of other foreign nationals who have also been stranded in Macao  as they decided to join the flight to transit in Kuala Lumpur  before continuing their journey home.

A total of 12 guests  were on board the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Macao, while 47 guests flew on the return flight from Macao to Kuala Lumpur. 

AirAsia has been working very  closely with authorities on both sides to ensure a smooth and pleasant journey home for all guests.  As current travel restrictions in Malaysia only allow transit within the same terminal for international passengers, arrangements were made for all guests to disembark at the KLIA Main Terminal to enable foreign national guests to conveniently connect on their next flights home. 

CEO of AirAsia Hong Kong & Macao, Celia Lao said, “We are pleased to be of service to our local communities again. We know how important it is for a lot of people to fly home especially during these challenging times.

Travels may be restricted now, but with the vaccination program underway, better testing, and globally recognized digital health passports, we all can look forward to flying our guests to their destinations with confidence and peace of mind in the very near future. 

It is our hope that everyone will fully participate in the vaccination programmes and support our governments' efforts in putting an end to the pandemic, so we can all fly again!”

Consul General of Malaysia in Hong Kong & Macau, Mr. Yap Wei Sin said, “On behalf of the Government of Malaysia, I wish to thank AirAsia for helping us bring home this group of Malaysians in Macao, who have found it difficult to return to Malaysia because of travel and flight restrictions. Today’s flight is the second repatriation flight the Consulate-General successfully organised jointly with AirAsia  to bring Malaysians home from Macao, after a similar flight on 12 January earlier this year. These repatriation flights reflect the Government of Malaysia’s commitment to assist stranded Malaysians abroad to be back home.”

AirAsia assures that the health and wellbeing of our guests is always our paramount concern. All guests can expect enhanced safety measures throughout the entire journey, including pre-flight, in-flight, and arrival processes.

AirAsia’s efforts by going above and beyond the protection of its passengers against COVID-19 have earned all airlines in the Group the top 7/7 stars rating from Airlineratings.com.

For the latest AirAsia news, activities and promotions, follow AirAsia on Twitter (twitter.com/AirAsia), Facebook (facebook.com/AirAsia) and Instagram (instagram.com/AirAsia).