AirAsia X sales to Christchurch set global record

The first day of sales for AirAsia X flights between Christchurch and Kuala Lumpur set records for the greatest numbers sold on any launch day for Air Asia X. Fares were as low as $99 one way between Christchurch and Kuala Lumpur, and 17,000 seats were sold in 6 hours.

After 3 days of AirAsia X fares being on sale, 43,592 seats have been sold (for flights from 1 April through to November 2011).

The majority of these seats were purchased by overseas travellers wanting to fly into Christchurch. One third of the sales were from New Zealand, and most of the sales were from various locations in Asia, followed closely by the UK and France.

“These sales are an immediate demonstration of the demand from the Asian and European markets to come to Christchurch,” said Christchurch Airport Chief Executive Jim Boult. “We had expected AirAsia X to bring in thousands of additional tourists – and that expectation was fulfilled on the very first day of sales. It represents a new market of travellers who may not have been able to come to New Zealand without these low fares.”

Darren Wright, the Head of Commercial for AirAsia X, said that the sales show that AirAsia X will bring in a lot of new travellers to New Zealand. “We believe there are many new markets to be tapped, such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, China and the UK, all of whom can hub through Kuala Lumpur to come to Christchurch. The uptake we are seeing from Asia is very positive in this initial period.”