Airlines’ see surge in bookings

Since the announcement of the reopening of borders on April 1, local airlines are recording a surge in daily bookings for overseas trips, especially within the Asian region, as Malaysians get their passports ready and draw up travel plans.

AirAsia Malaysia said bookings for international travel have doubled since the announcement that borders are reopening on April 1. Popular destinations include Indonesia (Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali), Singapore, Manila, Thailand (Bangkok and Phuket), Ho Chi Minh City and Dhaka.

This has also been supported by the reopening of other countries like Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore and Vietnam, and Air Asia expects to return to 100 percent or more of pre-Covid 19 domestic and international flying by the end of this year.

Malaysia Airlines said it has seen a 70 percent increase in daily average bookings, compared to last month and is therefore increasing flight frequencies.

Popular destinations include India, Australia and the United Kingdom and Malaysia Airlines is looking to achieve approximately 70 percent of their pre-Covid 19 capacity by the end of 2022.

Malindo Air said the airline is witnessing an ‘encouraging increase’ in ticket sales of more than 30 percent and the island of Langkawi is still by far the most popular destination for Malaysian travellers while ticket sales to Singapore and Perth are picking up.