BAYAN LEPAS (March 22): AirAsia Bhd supports the idea of a low cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Penang to support additional tourism traffic in the state.

AirAsia chief executive officer Aireen Omar said an LCCT was crucial, as the Penang International Airport "has almost exceeded capacity". Aireen said an expansion from an airport perspective was needed to facilitate the tourism traffic AirAsia was bringing into Penang.

“Hopefully, we can bring an LCCT to Penang, and we will support the terminal like how we did in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu before," she said at a news conference in conjunction with AirAsia’s inaugural flight from Penang to Yangon, Myanmar.

In a separate statement, AirAsia said the Penang-Yangon route would involve thrice-weekly flights every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Yangon is AirAsia's seventh international destination from Penang. AirAsia also operates direct flights to Singapore, Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh, from Penang.

Aireen said in the statement that AirAsia was optimistic it would be able to position Penang as an important global destination.

“We were just here in Penang less than two months ago to celebrate our Penang–Ho Chi Minh City direct flights, and today, we are thrilled to mark another milestone in our commitment to grow Penang as our northern hub.

"We are confident [that] we will be able to further position Penang as a preferred destination through our marketing efforts to promote this route. We would like to thank the government of Penang and Penang Global Tourism for the support given to AirAsia and in making the launch of this route possible,” she said.

At 12:30pm today, AirAsia shares rose four sen or 2% to settle at RM1.79, for a market capitalisation of RM4.95 billion. The stock saw some 11 million shares traded.