Positive momentum moving into second-half 2020

SEPANG, 24 JUNE 2020 - AirAsia registered its highest post-hibernation sale day yesterday, with a record-breaking 41,000 seats sold in a single day across AirAsia Group, signifying a strong rebound in demand for air travel.

AirAsia's website is experiencing traffic growth of 170%. Some of the most popular routes booked include Kota Kinabalu and Kuching to Kuala Lumpur for Malaysia, Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Hat Yai for Thailand, Manila to Puerto Princesa and Davao for the Philippines, Delhi to Srinagar and Bengaluru to Hyderabad for India and Jakarta to Denpasar and Medan for Indonesia.

The Group's load factor averaged around 50 percent with AirAsia Malaysia hitting 70 percent, its highest load factor post-hibernation yesterday.

AirAsia Group CEO, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said "We are encouraged by this positive trend and we foresee this will continue in the coming weeks. Our recent innovative product in Malaysia, AirAsia Unlimited Pass, which is a product specifically designed to promote the Malaysian Government's effort to stimulate and encourage domestic travel, sold out quickly. We will be rolling this out in other markets soon. We continue to play our part to revive the domestic tourism industry by partnering directly with local hotels to offer hassle-free, best price guaranteed deals with bigger savings on SNAP, our flight + hotel combo booking platform. We remain true to our mantra - enabling everyone to fly through our great value fares. Currently, we are offering 20% off all seats, for all flights in Malaysia. AirAsia is all about value, choice and innovation and this is just the beginning of our recovery efforts and we look forward to introducing more exciting products, promotions and collaborations in the near future.

"We are aiming to increase our flight frequencies to around 50% of our pre-COVID operations and we look forward to resuming all domestic routes in the coming weeks and months to cater to the increasing demand. Currently, we are operating 152 daily flights across the region. We look forward to the reopening of international borders in recognition of the fact that air transport provides the connectivity that is essential for the resumption of economic activities and the global recovery efforts", he added.

Air travel remains one of the safest modes of travel. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), evidence suggests that the risk of transmission on board is extremely low. Aircraft are equipped with features that will reduce the already-low risk of transmission onboard. Passengers are seated facing forward with the seatback serving as a solid barrier, while the cabin air is fully filtered and renewed every 2-3 minutes through the hospital-grade HEPA filters, ensuring clean cabin air. Coupled with a layered approach of biosafety measures covering the entire passenger journey, the risk of transmission onboard is further minimised.

AirAsia works actively with all relevant regulators, local governments, civil aviation and health authorities, and adheres to guidance from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to ensure the highest standards of compliance and conformance are in place for every single flight we operate in our network.