Nov. 23 – Malaysian budget carrier, AirAsia, is increasing its coverage in India following its growth in China with 200 flights weekly to seven Chinese cities.

The move is expected to foster more business and tourism for Malaysia and India. According to the company’s regional head of commercial, Kathleen Tan, said they had been looking at the Indian market for a long time and that it took a while to go there due to a lot of documentation issues.

“There is a lot of demand for flights between India and Kuala Lumpur. The expansion of the Indian routes will help open up the tourism industry in both countries and stimulate the labour market as well,” she told The Star in Kolkata last Friday to launch the first company Kuala Lumpur-Kolkata flight.

AirAsia began offering flight to Trichy last year followed by Kolkata, Kochi and Trivandrum this year with plans to eventually add Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi. “We have a hub in Bangkok within our network and we are planning to do the Bangkok-Kolkata, Phuket-Kolkata as well as Bangkok-Mumbai and Bangkok-Delhi routes,” Tan added.

Tan said: “With Kolkata added to our extensive network, AirAsia is unlocking the potential of international air travel from KL to eastern India and its surrounding areas. We are thrilled to be serving Kolkata direct, a huge market that no other airline is serving direct.”