Kate Holsgrove, Acting CEO of Perth Airport, said the new service is a “significant step forward” in Perth’s international recovery.

“Malaysia is Western Australia’s fifth biggest international visitor market, injecting $88 million into the WA economy in visitor expenditure for the year ending in June,” she said.

“Malaysia is also a popular holiday destination and, combined with a large number of passengers also visiting friends and relatives, will continue to be an important market for outbound visitation.

“We’ve got strong business, education, trade and tourism links with Malaysia and this new non-stop service provides further opportunities.”

AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat has called the Perth route – which is the airline’s first foray into Australia – a new milestone in AK’s expansion strategy.

“Perth has consistently been one of AirAsia’s most popular destinations, attracting travellers for leisure, tourism, education, as well as for visiting family and friends due to its close proximity to Southeast Asia,” he said.

“From 1 January to 30 October 2023, approximately 30,000 guests flew from Malaysia to Perth, with the top five nationalities being Australians, Malaysians, Indians, Chinese, and New Zealanders.

“Based on increasing demand, we believe now is the right time to expand our network into this new market in West Australia. We also anticipate introducing more routes in the region in the near future.”

Between AK and AirAsia X, the AirAsia group will offer 14 return flights between Perth and Kuala Lumpur each week.