AirAsia flights


KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia said on Tuesday it will launch flights from Malaysia to five major Indian cities in 2010, with plans to carry two million passengers a year. The new cities are Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Mumbai. AirAsia already flies from its Kuala Lumpur base to Indian destinations Kochi, Kolkata, Trichy and Trivandrum. AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes said the carrier and its Kuala Lumpur hub was being positioned as a gateway between India and the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat said the route expansion would help fuel tourism to Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country that is also home to ethnic Indians and Chinese.