AirAsia X to Increase KL - Gold Coast Flights

AirAsia X will increase its Kuala Lumpur-Gold Coast service from five to seven flights per week on 24 November 2013.

AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani said the Gold Coast was the airline’s first Australian port and AirAsia X, the long-haul, low fare airline affiliate of the AirAsia Group, had invested heavily in the city from the start.

“We hold a special place in our hearts for this vibrant city which has strongly supported us since our launch in 2007,” Mr Osman-Rani said. “Passenger movements between the Gold Coast and Kuala Lumpur have been consistently strong with an increase on average passenger load year-on-year for the past three years. This has given us confidence to increase capacity to seven flights a week. AirAsia X is very much committed to the Gold Coast and we have been active in the community by supporting events such as the Gold Coast Airport Marathon. AirAsia X has wonderful backing from industry partners such as the Queensland Government, Gold Coast Airport and tourism bodies, and will continue our strong involvement with the Gold Coast for years to come.”

The State Government has established an A$8 million Attracting Aviation Investment Fund to help secure new aviation business into Queensland.

“The State Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ), will work in partnership with Gold Coast Tourism, Gold Coast Airport and Tourism Australia to develop marketing activities to support these new daily flights,” said Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games, Jann Stuckey. “In the year to March 2013, Queensland welcomed more than two million international visitors to the state, a 5% increase compared with the year prior. Gold Coast Airport welcomed 91,880 international passengers in 2012 which was a 31.2% increase on 2011. Our goal is to double annual overnight visitor expenditure from $15 billion to $30 billion by 2020, and aviation access will be key to achieving that goal.”