AirAsia, Darwin ready to hold talks

AirAsia, Darwin ready to hold talks

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Asia's top budget carrier AirAsia and Australia's Northern
Territory said on Tuesday they are willing to hold talks on
flights between Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island and
Darwin.

"We never turn down any offer. We are keeping an open mind,"
Kamarudin Meranun, AirAsia's executive director told AFP.

Kamarudin said the route between Sabah's capital Kota Kinabalu
and Darwin in the Northern Territory was within the three hour
time horizon of the carrier.

Meanwhile, Northern Territory International Trade Director
Quentin Kilian told AFP such a link would promote tourism and
trade, and could serve to make the state capital Darwin a
departure point for Australian tourists.

"We're certainly interested in discussing it (but) everything
hinges on it being a commercial reality," Kilian said.

"The opportunity is very much there."

Kilian said the flight to Kota Kinabalu could also open up
better links to Kuala Lumpur.

Northern Territory officials were in talks with a number of
airlines about expanding Darwin's currently limited international
reach of direct flights to Singapore, Denpasar in Bali and Brunei
only, he said.

"What we want to do is open up both trade and tourism links
within the near region," he said, adding that this could include
Malaysia and Brunei.

Darwin could also be considered an embarkation point for
Australian tourists in search of a cheap Asian holiday, Kilian
said.

"It wouldn't be restricted to just the people of the Northern
Territory, essentially there's a lot of people living on the
eastern seaboard of Australia, in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane,
who could use Darwin as an exit point to go to places like (Kota
Kinabula)," he said.

Kamarudin said AirAsia's Indonesian unit AWAIR was also keen
to begin flights from Bali to Darwin.

"We can also do the Bali-Darwin route," he said, adding that
AirAsia would have to conduct a feasibility study before making a
decision.

"For instance, we need to find out about Darwin's flight
connectivity with other Australian cities," he said.

Launched as a budget carrier in December 2001 with just two
aircraft, AirAsia has defied the skeptics to become a significant
player in the air industry and has been imitated by startled
national carriers along with a host of new low-cost entrants.

AirAsia currently operates in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia,
the Philippines and Macau.

It will become the first no-frills foreign airline to fly to
China next month with daily services between Bangkok and the
southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen.