AirAsia partners with Turkish Airlines to sell tickets

AirAsia Group has announced a new partnership with Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul New), wherein the Malaysian group will “virtually interline” with the Turkish carrier and sell combined tickets via its online distribution channels. “We welcome our partnership with Turkish Airlines, and the opportunity to promote Turkey as a major gateway to Europe, which will prepare us for the rebound in travel that we expect to happen once borders gradually reopen next year… We will continue to collaborate creatively with other industry players to stimulate travel demand and complete our product offering as the one-stop platform for all our customer’s travel and lifestyle needs,” Group Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said. Fernandes has long touted virtual partnerships with other airlines and combined ticket sales via AirAsia’s app and website as a strategy going forward. Currently, the low-cost group has no existing code-share partnerships. AirAsia X never operated to Turkey prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Turkish Airlines continues to serve Kuala Lumpur Int’l from Istanbul New, albeit at a much-reduced frequency. Meanwhile, the Malaysian government has announced a new domestic tourism support package dubbed Cuti-Cuti Malaysia. Eligible residents can obtain a MYR50 ringgit (USD12.2) discount for each leg of their domestic journey, which will be funded by the authorities. Both AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines are participating in the programme.