MIRI: Mirians can finally fly direct to Manila without transit, thanks to AirAsia Zest for making this possible from Dec 7.
The timely link for the festive season means tourists, Sarawakians and Filipinos can make plans to fly to Manila for celebration or Filipinos can fly in to Miri, the gateway to Sarawak.
AirAsia Zest is the first airline to operate the Manila-Miri route, making it the second international route to Miri, after Singapore (airlines) in 2009.
December 7 marks the historic moment when AirAsia Zest recorded its inaugural Z2 511 direct flight from Manila to Miri with 114 passengers on board, touching down in Miri Airport at 4.45pm.
AirAsia Zest executive vice president and chief operating officer in Manila, Joy Caneba said: “We are thrilled to be the first and only airline that serves this route, connecting the Philippines to Sarawak.”
Joy was confident of this new route, and from the support of Filipinos working overseas and the Sarawak Tourism Board, they hope the flow of business and tourism traffic will expand and grow.
Sarawak Tourism Board chief executive officer Datuk Rashid Khan expressed the same optimisim.
“We welcome AirAsia Zest as our newest partner in promoting business and tourism between the Philippines and Sarawak, in particular Manila and Miri.
“We hope by working closely together, more Filipinos will travel to Miri and discover what this city has to offer and to also experience the adventure in the rest of Sarawak and Borneo with the connectivity (now) available in Miri,” Rashid said.
Assistant Minister of Tourism Sarawak Datuk Talib Zulpilip officiated at the launching of the inaugural flight of AirAsia Zest upon its landing and welcomed the passengers.
Assistant Minister of Communications Datuk Lee Kim Shin, and Miri Mayor Lawrence Lai and AirAsia Berhad chief executive officer Aireen Omar were also present.
To celebrate the new route, AirAsia Zest is offering promotional all-in-fares from Miri-Manila from as low as RM199 for one way, available for booking online from Dec 9-15 at www.airasia.com, for the travel period from Dec 20 to Jan 31 next year.
The promotion is available for booking via AirAsia’s mobile apps on iPhone, Android devices and Blackberry 10, as well as AirAsia’s mobile site at mobile.airasia.com.