AirAsia calls for opening of lucrative Singapore-KL route

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Southeast Asia's biggest budget carrier AirAsia on Friday urged Malaysia to allow it to run two daily flights to Singapore to enable Kuala Lumpur become a "true" low cost hub.

"We have always asked for, just two flights (a day) to enable us to have a true hub," AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes said in a statement.

In May, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said the lucrative air route between Malaysia and Singapore was unlikely to open up before the end of 2008.

Najib did not give any reasons.

Singapore and Malaysia are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has agreed to open up capital-to-capital flights by the end of 2008.

AirAsia operates from a dedicated low-cost terminal at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, south of the capital Kuala Lumpur which it hopes to turn it into a regional low cost hub.

Fernandes also pressed Idris Jala, Malaysia Airlines' managing director, to support open competition in the industry.
"That is the only way forward for all of us. Protection is not the way," he said.

The money-spinning Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route is operated by national carriers Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, which have voiced opposition to an early opening of the sector.

The two flag carriers account for 85 percent of traffic on the short route, with a round-trip ticket departing from Singapore costing around 450 Singapore dollars (298 US) including taxes.

AirAsia has been among the most vocal in campaigning for access to the route, with Fernandes proposing one-way tickets from 60 dollars.

AirAsia was launched as a budget carrier in December 2001 with just two aircraft. It now offers more than 100 domestic and international flights to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.