A Bernama report today says that starting 30 Mar 2008, Air Asia will fly to Jakarta and Medan from Penang, making these destinations Air Asia’s second and third international flights from the island. The first was Bangkok.
In announcing the new routes today in Penang, Air Asia Group Chief Executive Officer Datuk Tony Fernandes said the company hopes to gain rights to fly from Penang to China, Singapore and India after Penang builds a low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT).
“Penang has been on the tourist route-map for decades. And we are confident that the state tourism board would help us promote this route. We would be investing around RM250 million in the next two years. We also plan to make Penang its fourth and final hub within the country once it has an LCCT airport.”
The Bernama report also quoted Air Asia Indonesian Marketing and Distribution Director Widijastoro Nugroho as saying that Indonesians were very interested in medical tourism.
Penang state exco for Tourism, Development and Environment Teng Chang Yeow welcomed this new development: “Greater air accessibility makes travelling easy, cheap and convenient. The Penang Tourism Action Council fully supports Air Asia and we will help promote them. We have already approved the land for the LCCT but now it lies in the hands of the other government agencies such as the Transport Department.”