SENAI Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd (Senai International Airport) today announced the resumption of its international network by welcoming the first flight arriving from Guangzhou via AirAsia at 6.55am.

The flight was greeted by Johor Tourism, Environment, Heritage and Culture Committee chairman K. Raven Kumar along with representatives from Johor Tourism, Johor State government agencies and other stakeholders. 

Senai Airport Terminal chief executive officer Kennedy Ayu said the airport was pleased to greet its first 110 passengers from the AK1395 flight, a non-stop service to Johor Bahru. 

“Among the passengers from China, Johor is well-known for leisure and business and the resumption of this service will give exciting opportunities to both destinations,” he said in a statement today.

The three weekly flights between Johor Bahru and Guangzhou are in line with AirAsia’s strategy in re-establishing its international service to China from other hubs in Malaysia, following the resumption of services from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu to Macao, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Kunming recently.

AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat said the airline would continue to expand its network to and from China in response to the increasing travel demand, especially as the republic reopened its borders to tourism this month. 

“We are proud to be the first airline connecting Johor Bahru to an international destination, post-pandemic. Since recommencing our operations from China last month, we have flown close to 10,000 Chinese visitors to Malaysia, reaffirming once again that Malaysia is a top destination for Chinese travellers.

“We look forward to working with our stakeholders including Senai International Airport to return our service to pre-pandemic levels, which in turn will support the local tourism and economic sectors as a whole,” he said.

In line with the service resumption, AirAsia is offering a 20% discount for flights from Johor Bahru to Guangzhou as well as to Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Kuching, and Kota Bharu. 

The promotional fares are available for booking from now until April 2, 2023, for the travel period between April 10, 2023, and December 14, 2023, on AirAsia Super App or airasia.com. – Bernama, March 29, 2023.