With its financial maneuverings, corporate restructures and wide footprint, AirAsia is never far from the news. With COVID, from an aviation perspective now relegated to the history books, the airline group is making the news for all the right reasons.
AirAsia's operating entities in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, as well as AirAsia X, are bouncing back strongly, both operationally and financially. This week AirAsia Philippines announced it was adding more international services as part of its plans for a "strong revival in the third quarter of 2023."
In addition to launching new routes and resuming old ones, AirAsia Philippines is upping frequencies on key routes to capitalize on the surging customer demand for international flights.
At the end of the first quarter (January 1st - March 31st), AirAsia Philippines operated a fleet of 16 Airbus A320-200 aircraft with ten parked, compared to the six it operated in the first quarter of last year. From previous fleet news, it's clear the AirAsia Group is working hard to get more aircraft returned to service and meet this growing demand from all its satellites.
The airline said it is significantly increasing flight frequency on existing domestic and international routes, "especially with the foreseen return to service of some aircraft." The new international flights include services to Fukuoka and Tokyo Narita (NRT) in Japan, Shanghai and Shenzhen in China, Busan in South Korea and Hong Kong. It is also introducing fly-thru flights to the Maldives via Kuala Lumpur for travel from June 6th to December 14th, 2023.
