Airline News
AirAsia to open Langkawi base, flymojo announced
March 30th 2015
Malaysia AirAsia will set up a new regional hub in Langkawi, AirAsia Group co-founder and chief executive, Tony Fernandes, announced last week. Read More » The budget carrier said it would initially run services to regional destinations, including Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Jakarta and Singapore, but eventually has plans to use the new hub to expand to international destinations in India and China. “With this breakthrough, we can put five [aircraft] here. [Langkawi] should be as big as Bali or Phuket,” Fernandes said.
Langkawi International Airport, which gained international status in 1991, has long been seen as something of a white elephant facility despite its long-haul-capable 13,000 feet runway. AirAsia and SilkAir are the only airlines offering international services from the resort island after flag carrier, Malaysia Airlines, pulled out in 2006. Airlines have repeatedly criticized Malaysia Airports Holdings for charging disincentivizingly high landing fees at Langkawi.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Deputy Transport Minister, Aziz Kaprawi, at last week’s Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Show said local start-up, flymojo, had signed a Letter of Intent for 20 Bombardier CSeries 100 aircraft, plus 20 options. Based in Johor Bahru, the carrier will operate from Senai International Airport, with a secondary hub in Kota Kinabalu. “Flymojo will transform Senai into a key regional aviation and logistics hub,” Kaprawi said, as well as boost tourism into the Malaysian provinces of Sabah and Sarawak. The new airline is privately owned, but no details are known about its backers. The full-service carrier will begin flying in the first quarter of 2016 and focus on regional routes, managing director, Janardhanan Gopala Krishnan, told Singapore’s TODAY newspaper, though local media reports in Malaysia have suggested flymojo will start operations as early as October.
