AirAsia plans to open new routes from Malaysia to points in mainland China and India over the coming weeks in response to the relaxation of visa entry requirements.

Malaysia began allowing visa-free entry to citizens of China, India and several Middle East nations in December, enabling them to stay for up to 30 days. The move, announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, aims to boost inbound tourism from China and India, which are the country’s fourth- and fifth-largest sources of tourists, respectively.

China also started trialing visa-free travel for citizens from Malaysia from December through Nov. 30, 2024. Visitors from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain will also be allowed to enter China for up to 15 days without a visa.

In response, AirAsia has unveiled a new service to Shanghai from Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Malaysia’s Sabah state in the northern part of the island of Borneo. The LCC will also commence flights to Jaipur in northern India from Kuala Lumpur.

Shanghai becomes the sixth destination in mainland China to be accessible from Kota Kinabalu, joining Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Wuhan. Flights will launch on Feb. 20, operating three times per week using Airbus A320neo aircraft.

“Following the government’s visa-free entry initiative last year, this presents a significant opportunity to stimulate tourism between China and Malaysia,” says Bo Lingam, group CEO of AirAsia Aviation Group. “China, being one of our largest markets, boasts a total of 19 routes from Malaysia, with a remarkable 162 weekly flights from February 2024 onward.

“Beyond expanding our Kota Kinabalu hub, this new international route reinforces our standing as the largest foreign LCC in China. We eagerly anticipate contributing substantially to the Sabah tourism sector as the state targets 2.8 million tourist arrivals in 2024.”

In the Kota Kinabalu-Shanghai Pudong market, AirAsia will compete with Shanghai Airlines, which serves the destinations daily using Boeing 737-500 equipment. Data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser shows that the route was also served nonstop by Malaysia Airlines and Spring Airlines before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, AirAsia’s Indian expansion will see the carrier grow its network with flights between Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) and Jaipur International Airport (JAI). The first flight will take off on April 21, operating four times per week.

Jaipur becomes the eighth destination in India to be served by AirAsia’s Malaysian unit, alongside flights to Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchchirappalli. The LCC will become the sole operator of KUL-JAI service and the first since long-haul affiliate AirAsia X suspended operations between the cities at the onset of the COVID crisis.

The planned network growth comes days after AirAsia X entered into a non-binding letter of acceptance to acquire all of AirAsia’s short-haul AOCs from parent Capital A and combine them into a single entity. The move will consolidate the group’s long- and short-haul airlines under the AirAsia brand, while Capital A will focus on non-aviation entities such as logistics and online travel agencies, and aviation services such as MRO.

AirAsia is the largest operator in the Malaysian market at present, with a 37.1% seat capacity share on routes from and within the country during January 2024. Malaysia Airlines ranks second with a 23.6% share, followed by Malaysia Airlines’ low-cost unit Firefly on 6.9%.

Earlier this month, Batik Air Malaysia also scheduled two new routes from Kuala Lumpur to destinations in mainland China from Feb. 9. Flights from KUL to Kunming and Zhengzhou will each be offered four times per week using 737-8s. Overall capacity between mainland China and Malaysia, which will see Routes Asia 2024 arrive in Langkawi next month, currently stands at about 85,700 two-way seats, equivalent to about 59% of pre-pandemic levels.