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Malaysian airline to begin Kaohsiung-Manila direct flights on Oct. 30

AirAsia offers discounted fares with single-trip tickets starting from NT$388

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(Photo courtesy of AirAsia)

(Photo courtesy of AirAsia)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Low-cost Malaysian Airline AirAsia announced Thursday it will begin direct flights between Kaohsiung, Taiwan and Manila, capital of the Philippines from Oct. 30.

In order to celebrate the company’s second flight route departing from the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung, AirAsia will offer discounted single-trip tickets starting from NT$388 (US$12.5), tax not included, for trips occurring between Oct. 30, 2018 and March 31, 2019, reports Apple Daily. Tickets will be available through the AirAsia website starting on Friday until Aug. 19.

AirAsia said there will be three flights departing from and arriving in Kaohsiung every week once the route is open. A single flight trip is expected to be two hours.

Chen Chang-hsing (陳長星), AirAsia’s sales manager in Taiwan, said the demand for direct flights between Taiwan and the Philippines has been high since the company began to offer flights between Taipei and Manila as well as Taipei and Cebu in 2016, with passenger loads reaching 90 percent on average.

The passenger load of the Taipei-Clark flight has also surpassed 80 percent after its opening on July 12, added Chen.

According to AirAsia, the number of Southeast Asian tourists visiting Taiwan exceeded 1.2 million in the first half of 2018, with Taipei being the most popular destination and Kaohsiung standing at second.