KOTA KINABALU: The suspension of several international direct routes to Sabah by AirAsia will have minimal impact, says chief executive officer Datuk Capt Fareh Mazputra.
He said that suspension of the routes would affect only around 70,000 passengers while the airline was now focussing on routes that could bring in more travellers in line with the state's efforts to hit 3.5 million tourist arrivals this year.
"We want to focus on viable routes and are working closely with Sabah Tourism Board (STB) and other stakeholders to determine what those destinations would be," he said at an AirAsia breaking of fast event here.
He said this when asked about AirAsia's decision to temporarily suspend some of its routes to Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Wuhan, Kunming and Manado.
He said the temporary suspension of certain routes was because it was not viable and did not meet the low-cost carrier’s expected results.
"They are not providing the results that we want. If you are going to launch five new routes, it is better for us to be able to bring in more passengers, like 200,000 to 300,000, rather than what we are doing now, which is not so effective," Capt Fareh added.
He said the suspended routes were not seen as effective enough to help the state meet its tourism targets.
Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, who is also STB chairman, together with STB chief executive officer Julinus Jeffery Jimit were also present at the event.
Earlier Saturday (March 22), Capt Fareh met with Sabah Association of Tour and Travel Agents, the Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association, and the Sabah Tourist Association on measures to boost tourist arrivals.
