KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 — Low cost airline, AirAsia, has expanded its connectivity from Sabah to Southwest China with the launch of a new direct route from Kota Kinabalu to Kunming, commencing November 30.

The four times weekly direct flights marks AirAsia group’s fourth route into the Yunnan province capital after Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand and its 10th international route from its Kota Kinabalu hub, the airline said in a statement today.

AirAsia Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Riad Asmat said the new route signalled its commitment towards expanding Kota Kinabalu as a hub in East Malaysia.

"We have launched three international flying routes from Kota Kinabalu this year to Bangkok, Macao and now Kunming and we have also doubled our flights from Kota Kinabalu to Shenzhen from November 1, 2018.

"We have flown more than 700,000 passengers travelling between China and Kota Kinabalu, and we are confident this new route will further boost visitor arrivals,” he said.

AirAsia is offering a special introductory all-in members fare starting from RM138 one-way for Kota Kinabalu-Kunming on airasia.com and the AirAsia mobile app from today until October 28, for travel between November 30, 2018 and March 30, 2019. — Bernama