Bangkok and Singapore have long been the main aviation hubs in Southeast Asia, with the Thai capital being the main entry point to one of the most visited countries in the world and the city-state a hub for global companies with regional investments.
But Kuala Lumpur has emerged as a rival, especially when it comes to international travel within Southeast Asia, with AirAsia, the region’s ubiquitous budget airline, headquartered in Malaysia’s largest city and commercial capital.
The airline recently launched or resumed flights from KL, as it is often called, to Chiang Rai, the northern Thai city and site of the White Temple; and Vietnam’s Dalat, a mountain town known for its temperate climate and mountain scenery.
Malaysia’s official tourism body said the routes “demonstrate the continued collaboration between AirAsia and Tourism Malaysia in promoting Malaysia as a major travel destination within the ASEAN region,” referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, an intergovernmental body that consists of 10 of the 11 organizations in the region. countries, while East Timor awaits its turn to join.
Aviation industry analytics firm OAG said in August that Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was the second most connected airport in the world after London Heathrow, with Tokyo Haneda, Amsterdam Schiphol and Seoul Incheon in the rest of the top five.
OAG said the rankings were based on “comparing the number of scheduled connections to and from international flights with the number of destinations served from the airport.”
AirAsia was listed as the “dominant airline” at KLIA, operating 35% of flights to and from the two-terminal hub.
The rankings show that KLIA’s 137 destinations are slightly behind Bangkok Suvarnabhumi’s 154 at 12th and Singapore’s 150 Changi at 14th, but measured by connections within the Southeast Asia region.
The three airports are also common stopovers for travelers flying from Europe and the Middle East to Australia and the Pacific.
A fourth Southeast Asian airport was among the 25 most connected in the world: Soekarno-Hatta on the outskirts of Jakarta, the largest city in the region’s largest country, with Manila airport in the top 50.
The Batu Caves in the north of Kuala Lumpur. Verena Wolff/dpa
