AirAsia opens Shanghai route

AirAsia began accepting bookings Friday for its new route from Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur, the budget airline announced Thursday.

The new route will give residents of Shanghai, a city light in budget airline routes, a local connection to the Malaysian airline's hub in Kuala Lampur, where they can get flights to many of AirAsia's 85 destinations at budget carrier prices.

"In the past, I had to go to Hangzhou, two-hour ride from Shanghai, to take an AirAsia flight. Now I can fly directly to Kuala Lumpur, where I can enjoy more affordable flights to many other countries in southeast Asia," said Zheng Ping, a white-collar worker in Shanghai.

The airline's first flight from Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur will take off on February 20. The airline will initially offer six flights a week from Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur, but plans to increase the frequency on May 1 to one each day. Each flight will be able to carry 377 passengers.

Southeast Asia has long been a frequent destination for Chinese tourists, said Yang Yong, a business professor at East China Normal University. "An increasing number of Chinese people have traveled there in recent years, so routes to the region offer budget airlines access to a huge potential market," Yang told the Global Times.

Round-trip tickets will cost less than 2,000 yuan ($321), including airport charges and taxes that total about 1,000 yuan.

The new route could also drive more Chinese tourists to the region, said Zhang Junjin, Island Department Manager with Shanghai CITIC International Travel.

"The launch of the new route may bring down the price of group tours to Southeast Asia. Since it is convenient to book budget tickets online, the number of independent tourists could also increase," Zhang told the Global Times.