AirAsia X restarts flights to Jeddah

The Malaysian long-haul budget airline AirAsia X resumed flight operations to Jeddah as its Airbus A-330 flight departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport on a nine-hour flight to Saudi Arabia on November 16. 
It was the first for an AirAsia X aircraft on the route since March 2020, but it will now be served six times a week.
     This also kicks off AAX's partnership with IKHLAS (Capital A’s Muslim-friendly travel and lifestyle platform) to offer affordable ‘Umrah with IKHLAS’ packages.
AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said: “We are extremely pleased to return to Jeddah, a gateway to the holy cities of Madinah and Makkah for Muslims. 
With the resumption of six-weekly flights, we are so blessed the airline is back providing affordable travel for our guests and pilgrims in Malaysia and the region to perform the holy pilgrimage of hajj and umrah. 
This route has always been our success story in the past due to the substantial traffic between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, as well as the consistently high demand for Umrah services not only from Malaysia but also Indonesia, making Kuala Lumpur an important Umrah hub for the region. 
Pilgrims from other countries can also conveniently connect to Jeddah via AAX while Saudi visitors can connect to 130 other AirAsia destinations via Kuala Lumpur.
“We are also proud to be partnering with IKHLAS as they not only offer affordable umrah packages with AAX but will also provide flexible, Do-It-Yourself (DIY) travel and umrah options soon. We believe we can leverage this opportunity to expand our frequency and network in the future and also continue to provide affordable fares and packages to our pilgrims.”
    IKHLAS CEO Ikhlas Kamarudin said: “We have waited  two years for the reopening of Saudi Arabia’s travel sectors to make it more convenient for the guests of Allah to perform umrah or Muslim travelers explore other attractive destinations nearby.
“Our goal is to develop a comprehensive travel and lifestyle product to provide albeit low-cost, yet full service to guests to the Holy Land by introducing new ways of Umrah bookings through our innovative system and one-stop platform.”

-B