By D. Arul Rajoo

BANGKOK, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- With the regional economy slowly picking up and leisure travel on the rise, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is seeing a positive growth for the highly competitive Indochina market.

Vijayakumaran Avili, MAS area manager for Indochina, said there has been steady improvement in the number of passengers flying with the airline, which offers 75 weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, Phuket, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Yangon, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

"The market rebounded fast after the economic crisis. It's a growing economy with big potential for us," he said after hosting a Hari Raya open house here Wednesday.

Malaysian ambassador to Thailand, Datuk Husni Zai Yaacob, and Malaysia-Thai Chamber of Commerce president, Yeap Swee Chuan, were among those present.

Vijayakumaran, who is based in Bangkok and had previously led the Vietnam operation, said Vietnam and Cambodia are among the key focus areas due to the fast-growing business and tourism sectors.

"Even Myanmar is doing well, with good load in our five weekly flights there. So, we are positioning ourselves to tap the growing demand, with ongoing promotional activities and new offers on the card," he said.

Among the popular ones is the Asean Pass, which consists of four pre-paid ticket vouchers from as low of 8,015 baht (US$229) for economy, to US$729 (business), and has received good support among frequent travellers, especially businessmen, Vijayakumaran said.

"Travellers concerned with pricing and flexibility are snapping up the offer. They just need to pay extra for airport taxes, and can decide when to use the vouchers," he said.

Vijayakumaran said the popularity of the Asean Pass and the growing number of passengers travelling to Malaysia augered well for efforts to beef up the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as a hub.

"Soon we will launch the MAS Holidays where travellers can book hotels online, with immediate confirmation. Besides Malaysia as a popular destination, many of our passengers from Indochina uses KLIA to travel to Australia and various cities in Europe," he said.

He also said that the Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur route was almost back to normal, with MAS planning to increase its daily flights to four, similar to before the airport closure by anti-government protesters in November last year.

The route has at least 13 daily flights operated by more than three airlines.

-- BERNAMA