Australians have another way to get to Asia now AirAsia X restarted its Kuala Lumpur to the Gold Coast service yesterday. The nostalgic service retraced AirAsia X’s first-ever route, launched over 25 years ago.
AirAsia X started the Kuala Lumpur to Queensland’s Gold Coast in November 2007, but it has been suspended for more than two years due to the pandemic restrictions. The Gold Coast is one of Australia’s premier tourist destinations for domestic and international travelers and has been one of AirAsia X’s most popular destinations.
Radar24.com, flight D7200 departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) on Friday at 23:43 for the 6,500 kilometers (4,000 miles) flight to the Gold Coast. The flight was operated by a nine-year-old Airbus A330-300, registration 9M-XXK and manufacturer serial number 1433.
After 7:51 hours of flying, it landed at Gold Coast Airport (OOL) at 09:34 yesterday morning. The A330-300 was on the ground for just over two hours before departing at 11:36 and arriving back in Kuala Lumpur at 17:44. It then returned to Australia as flight D7288, arriving at Sydney Airport (SYD) at 09:45 this morning.
Fleet data from ch-aviation.com shows that AirAsia X (AAX) has a fleet of thirteen A330-300s, with three inactive. The data shows it also has 20 Airbus A321XLRs, 15 A330-900neos, and one A330-300 on order.
AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail was on the flight. He said it was a crucial day for the airline that will “strengthen the ties between Malaysia and Australia.
“The Gold Coast will always hold a special place in our hearts, and what makes this announcement even more of a major milestone is that AAX is now the only airline connecting Kuala Lumpur directly to the Gold Coast and to Queensland on the whole.
“Our newest route now provides the most affordable and convenient air travel option for guests who want to explore one of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations and for Australians seeking to visit Malaysia or continue on throughout Asia with our vast global network, including to leisure favorites like Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, India and more.”
In March, AAX resumed flights from Kuala Lumpur to Shanghai and Hangzhou in China and restarted services to Beijing. Flight D7342 departed KUL on March 30th at 19:15 and landed at Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) at 00:55 on Friday. The Airbus A330-300, registration (M-XBF), left Beijing at 03:32 and, after a 5:49 hour flight, landed in Kuala Lumpur at 09:21.
The route will operate twice weekly and will stimulate business travel and tourism in both directions. Now that China has resumed issuing tourist visas, AAX believes it will see a surge in demand for flights between KL and PKX. AirAsia X last operated the route on April 12th, 2020, although it operated in and out of Beijing Capital Airport (PEK).
The airline plans to ramp up Beijing frequency to four flights weekly starting from June 1st to meet growing forecast demand. Beyond that, AAX is planning more expansion to more unique, less traveled destinations in China soon.