Cheap Flights in East Asia
Linking Penang, Langkawi and Brunei to the rest of Asia
MAS plans to encourage tourists from China, India, Europe and Australia by linking them with Penang and Langkawi, while Tiger Airways opens a cheap route to Brunei.
News that several airline companies, including Malaysia Airlines (MAS), its subsidiary Firefly, plus AirAsia and AirAsiaX are to link Malaysia’s island of Penang to China, India, Australian, Europe and other s.e. Asian countries, is exciting travellers between these countries. Formerly, anyone wishing to travel between them had to use a hub such as Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, as a connecting point.
The proposed new links will attract more tourism and investment to the region and, it is hoped, turn Penang into the regional hub for civil aviation. This follows on the heels of the recently announced development plan for Kedah, Perak, Perlis and Penang, by the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).
The government is keen to see Penang and Langkawi (in Kedah) taking the lead in pushing Malaysia’s tourism industry. Under the NCER plan which hopes to see the area develop into a world-class economic region by 2025, the two islands will become premier tourist destinations.
One of the key areas of focus will be medical tourism, something at which neighbouring Thailand excels and which is a big earner for that country. Penang already has some expertise in this field and it is hoped that Langkawi can be develop to provide complementary medicine, traditional therapies and spa treatments.
From here, 2025 seems a long way away yet, especially with China looming ever larger over the whole of Asia. Medical tourism could be China’s next step.
AirAsia is also set to fly three times a week from Kuala Lumpar to Amritsar starting this coming October. This will make travelling between the Punjab and Malaysia much easier and will consolidate Malaysia’s growth in tourist arrivals from that region which have doubled in five years.
Singapore-based low cost carrier Tiger Airways is to commence flights to Brunei later this year. This will be Tiger Airways 21st International route.
As this will be the only low cost carrier flying to Brunei, Tiger Airways is confident of strong demand on the route, as neighbouring Malaysia cities such as Miri, Labuan, Kota Kinabalu and others are expected to gain from the greater accessibility of Tiger Airways low fares between Singapore and Borneo.
As well as low cost fares, the new route should bring socio economic benefits through tourism and business and foreign commuters in the region.
