KUALA LUMPUR (April 27): AirAsia Bhd is now the first international airline in the world to operate direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Bhubaneswar, India.

It has launched its four times weekly direct flight — on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday — to the capital of India's Odisha state, the airline said in a statement today.

The launch was marked by the arrival of its inaugural flight, AK31, which flew using an Airbus A320, in Bhubaneswar last night.

“India is an important market to us at AirAsia and this new unique route is a reflection of our commitment towards enhancing our connectivity in the country,” said AirAsia chief executive officer Aireen Omar.

“Our plans and commitment to grow in the Indian market is in line with the governments’ recent announcement to expand the number of slots for Malaysian carriers to operate between the two countries.

"Through this, we hope to help boost the tourism and trade in India and Malaysia while continuing to provide our guests with better connectivity as well as offering them the best services in and out of India,” she added.

Guests can opt for the Fly-Thru service to connect to flights with their baggage checked-through to the final destination, without the hassle of immigration clearance at the transit hub, the company said.

This will allow guests to travel seamlessly to Bhubaneswar from most cities in Asia and Australia, like Melbourne, Auckland, Bali, Bangkok or Haneda, via Kuala Lumupr, it added.

Besides Bhubaneswar, AirAsia Group's other direct flights to India from Kuala Lumpur are: Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata, Kochi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Tiruchirappalli and New Delhi.

It also flies directly to Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi and Kolkata from Bangkok, Thailand.

AirAsia shares closed one sen or 0.3% lower at RM3.32 today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM11.06 billion.