The Southeast Asia’s largest budget airline said it expects a positive momentum moving into second-half of 2020 after a record-breaking 41,000 seats sold in single day across the AirAsia Group. 

AirAsia said its  website is experiencing traffic growth of 170 percent.

“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 budget airline said.  

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

“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,” Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, chief executive of AirAsia Group said.

“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,” he added.

Fernandes also looking orward 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. 

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 to 3 minutes through the hospital-grade HEPA filters, ensuring clean cabin air.