AirAsia X To Offer KL-Mauritius Direct Flights From Oct 4

KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (Bernama) -- AirAsia X Bhd Wednesday announced Mauritius as the latest destination to its growing route network, offering direct flights from Kuala Lumpur three times a week. Chief Executive Officer Benyamin Ismail said in line with the announcement, the airline was offering a promotional all-in-fare from as low as US$72 (RM299) one-way for standard seats and from US$243 (RM999) one-way for premium flatbeds seats. The promotional fares are available for online booking from May 26 to June 5, for travel period from Oct 4 until May 22 next year. "We are sure the announcement of this route with the promotional fare will definitely excite the market, especially here in Malaysia," he told a press conference after the launch of the latest destination here, Wednesday. Benyamin said the flight announcement to Mauritius was also perfectly timed as it connected all the points in the company's vast network across Asia and Australia using the FlyThru service. He also said AirAsia X would begin operating flights to Hawaii soon after getting the regulatory approvals from the United States. "We've done everything on our side...just waiting because the process for approvals often take longer than expected, particularly for an airline group that does not have any prior experience with the US market," he added. Meanwhile, Benjamin was optimistic that AirAsia X would be able to sustain its profitable growth this year. "The management is very confident and the aim is to maintain this positive momentum," he said, adding AirAsia X was optimistic of achieving higher profit by year-end. Tuesday, AirAsia X announced a pre-tax profit of US$53.31 million (RM218.52 million) for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 compared with a pre-tax loss of US$28.62 million (RM117.28 million) a year ago. (US$1=RM4.09) Revenue jumped to RM970.67 million from RM775.37 million, mainly due to the increase in passenger traffic and growth in average base fare. AirAsia X Bhd, operated as AirAsia X, is a long-haul, budget airline based in Malaysia and a sister company of AirAsia. -- BERNAMA