New Zealand boosts defence spend to US$6.6 billion and vows increased closeness with Australia
This budget will be spent over the next four years and nearly doubles the country’s defence spending as part of GDP to 2%.
AirAsia inaugurates Kota Kinabalu?Taipei service
AirAsia has celebrated its maiden flight to Kota Kinabalu from Taipei with a celebration at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, making the airport its second largest hub in Malaysia with a total of seven international and nine domestic destinations.
Chairman of AirAsia, Dato’ Aziz Bakar commented, “We are confident that this new route will stimulate more travel between these two destinations and enhance tourism activities. We are optimistic that our low fares and world class services will continue to induce more travel demand and in turn enrich and galvanise the economies of both nations.
“Nothing speaks better than the current statistics, and the numbers tell me that the response from the public is very encouraging for all three cities from our hubs in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Kota Kinabalu to Taipei, operated by AirAsia and AirAsia X. To date, we have carried 129, 000 guests both inbound and outbound from Taipei since April 2009 and the numbers are still growing. I believe we have successfully established an important ‘bridge’ between Kota Kinabalu and Taipei and have made air travel more accessible for both leisure and business travellers.”
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