21 June 2012 - The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur welcomed the entry of two new airlines plying the Philippines-Malaysia route, which will further boost two-way tourism between the two countries.

AirPhilExpress, which commences flights on June 21, will fly the Kuala Lumpur-Manila route every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 to the Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) and back.

Earlier, AirAsia Philippines launched its inaugural flight from the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark Airport, Pampanga to the LCCT last June 9, and now flies daily.

"The entry of these two airlines creates more opportunities for Filipinos and Malaysians to visit each other's country and discover the beauty and richness of the other's tourism destinations, cuisine, culture, shopping and the innate hospitality of our two peoples. For the Philippines, it is another avenue for our Malaysian neighbors and friends to discover why, as our tourism slogan would say, 'it's more fun in the Philippines'," Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia J. Eduardo Malaya said.

Philippine tourism destinations include the world-famous beaches of Boracay, Palawan and the Caramoan peninsula in the Bicol region, unique indigenous people's culture of Sagada, the Chocolate Hills in Bohol, and world-class shopping in Manila.

AirPhilExpress (APX) is the new low-cost carrier of the Lucio Tan Group of companies, which also operates Philippine Airlines.

AirAsia Philippines is a 60-40 joint venture between Filipino investors Antonio O. Cojuangco, Michael L. Romero and Marianne "Maan" B. Hontiveros, and Malaysia's AirAsia International Ltd.

For its inaugural flight, AirPhilExpress offers an introductory one-way fare of RM49, including a 10-kilogram check in allowance, and exclusive of travel tax and other charges. The sale is ongoing until July 15, and travel period is from June 21 to September 30.

The new Clark-Kuala Lumpur route compliments AirAsia's Manila-Kuala Lumpur route, which flies twice a day.

Two other airlines ply the Philippines-Malaysia route: Cebu Pacific Air, which flies twice a day from Manila to Kuala Lumpur and also Manila to Kota Kinabalu once a day, and Malaysia Airlines, which flies to Manila to Kuala Lumpur twice a day.

The entry of AirPhilExpress and AirAsia Philippines brings to four the number of airlines directly servicing the Philippine-Malaysia route.

Some 80,000 Malaysian tourists visited the Philippines in 2010, while 486,790 Filipino tourists visited Malaysia during the same period.