AirAsia grasps stronger foothold in China with entry into Nanning

AirAsia, the world's best low cost airline is strengthening its route network and connectivity in the world's most populated country, China with the announcement of its newest route from Kuala Lumpur - Nanning, which is available for booking from today until 16 September 2012.

This new route is the only direct flight available from Kuala Lumpur - Nanning and will commence operations with 3x weekly flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays beginning 11 December 2012 and will complement the AirAsia Group's network connectivity from Asean to China, especially with the recent announcement of Bangkok - Wuhan flights operated by Thai AirAsia. Kuala Lumpur - Nanning will be AirAsia Group's 22nd route to China.

AirAsia is offering a special all-in-fare from as low as RM99 one way in conjunction with the announcement of Kuala Lumpur - Nanning, and guests will be able to grab these fares exclusively online at www.airasia.com from 12 - 16 September 2012, and travel from 11 December 2012 - 22 May 2013.

Kathleen Tan, AirAsia's Group Head of Commercial commented, "China is a great market for us to explore and expand our route network and connectivity. We are seeing a greater demand between both ends especially for business travel, and we hope to showcase what Nanning has to offer to the average of 30million guests that fly through our network every year; as well as for the Chinese to use our Kuala Lumpur hub to connect to more than 75 destinations that AirAsia flies to. We are glad to be able to provide the only direct flight from Kuala Lumpur - Nanning and we are confident that flight loads will pick-up once we open this new destination for sale, especially with the importance of Nanning as a city that works closely with the ASEAN countries to promote investment and trade between China and ASEAN."

The city of Nanning is also known as the 'green city' due to its abundance of greenery and natural landscape, and is the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. Nanning is situated about 160km from the border of Vietnam and sits beside the Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong and Hunan provinces.

This green city with approximately 6.7million population offers an array of must-see natural wonders such as the Qingxiu Mountain Scenic Area, which is rated 4As and was given the title of Nanning's 'green lung'. Qingxiu Mountain Scenic Area is one of Nanning's eight famous scenes, and boasts of the view of 18 mountains and housing relics such as Dong Spring, carvings on the Jieqing Cliff and the Shixiang Shrine. This scenic area also contains a cultural project between Nanning City and Khon Kaen City in Thailand, called the Thai Park, which is designed by architects from Thailand.

Another popular scenic spot is the Daming Mountain, Guangxi's highest mountain and offers four famous sights at the change of every season with mists in the spring, waterfall in the summer, clouds in the autumn and snow in the winter at this mountain.

Nanning also has the world's fourth and Asia's largest transnational waterfall, known as the Detian Waterfall. The three layers this waterfall is divided into makes it extremely unique as the view changes every season. Apart from the magnificent view, visitors to Detian Waterfall can also enjoy boating or fishing at the foot of the mountain.

A trip to Nanning will not be complete without a visit to the million year old Yiliang Cave, which got its name from the Yiliang Village. This cave is also known as 'Gan Palace' and is formed by karst and visitors will walk through the cave mesmerized by the various stalactites and stalagmites that are shaped like whelks, stone flowers and many more. The Yiliang Cave also acts as a cultural corridor to the Zhuang minority tribe.

It is not just the natural wonders of Nanning that will keep you hooked to this latest AirAsia destination, the abundance of great local cuisine will also keep you coming back for more. Nanning cuisine bears a resemblance to the Canton style however contain characteristics of its own. Some of the must-tries in Nanning are the Old Friend Noodles, Nanning Lemon Duck and the Bazhen Rice Noodles.

Every AirAsia destination is also a great shopping destination, and Nanning will keep the shopaholics busy with the Chaoyang Road shopping center that houses various departmental stores, supermarkets, plazas and an ocean of retail stores; Qixing shopping street, where you can buy anything and everything; and Xining Street where you can buy gold and silver jewelry made by expert craftsmen. There is also an array of nightlife spots to keep you occupied in Nanning.

Apart from sightseeing, shopping, and trying local delicacies, Nanning also plays an important part in the economy development and trade between China and the ten ASEAN countries, with the annual CHINA-ASEAN Exposition (CAEXPO), which is a collaboration between the ASEAN Secretariat and the Chinese Premier targeting as a platform for China and ASEAN to enlarge their trade cooperation especially in commodity trade, investment and cooperation and service trade.

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Kuala Lumpur (KUL) - Nanning (NNG) Flight Frequencies: