It was a red letter day for the Sri Lankans and Malaysians at the celebrations of the success of Air Asia direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo and Colombo to Kuala Lumpur.

Skytrax ‘World’s Best Low-Cost Airline’, AirAsia officially celebrated its daily direct flights between the two capital cities of Colombo – Kuala Lumpur both inbound and outbound from these two destinations. The Sri Lankan people could also take advantage of Kuala Lumpur as the connecting gateway to over 130 routes in Asia and beyond.

The momentous event was witnessed by Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia Berhad, High Commissioner of Malaysia to Sri Lanka H.E. Rosli Ismail, Hussein A.Bhaila, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sri Lanka, Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism, Bernard Goonetilleke joined by the senior management from AirAsia Berhad.

This colourful event at the Hilton Colombo kicked off with a Malaysian cultural dance, followed by a show by the popular drummers of Sri Lanka "Saranga".

Air Asia CEO, Tony Fernandez, who flew in from Malaysia for the press conference was jubilant to know there were many tourists who graced the inaugural flight from USA, UK, Germany, Indonesia, Bangkok and Malaysia. This will stimulate more air travel both inbound and outbound from both these destinations

He even smattered in halting Sinhala "now everybody can fly"

"We have been promoting Colombo aggressively to Malaysians, across Asean region and even beyond to destinations such as Australia and United Kingdom, in fact we have also included Colombo in our recent ‘Big Sale’ campaign and cross sell it to other destinations. We are also promoting Colombo on our website, AirAsia.com. We are certain that Colombo will definitely leverage from the huge exposure gained from these initiatives. Our current network already covers Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, China, India, Australia and United Kingdom." concluded Tony

He mentioned that with cheap airfares not only will many tourists fly to Sri Lanka but also help many people of the low income group travel by air.

He pointed out that there was a Sri Lankan in the flight who flew to Sri Lanka from Malaysia after 27 years.

Tony Fernandez witty and humorous person was impressed with Sri Lankan hospitality and warmth.

He said that Sri Lanka is a beautiful place with a lot of greenery and he has no regrets to introduce a new budget airline to Sri Lanka.

Speaking at the event, Malaysian High Commissioner Rosli Ismail said the Air Asia’s entry to Sri Lanka will change the face of Sri Lankan tourism with greater connectivity within the two regions. Mr. Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau said, "Today’s launch signifies an important milestone in the field of aviation and tourism to Malaysia as well as Sri Lanka. The launch of daily flights to Colombo from Kuala Lumpur will be mutually beneficial to both Air Asia and Sri Lanka Tourism, as we can expect a considerable increase in both inbound and outbound travel to both destinations, which bodes well for tourism in both Malaysia and Sri Lanka."

In his message, Ports and Aviation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa who coud’nt attend due to some urgent business in Parliament said that quick, reliable and affordable transportation is becoming a necessity as Sri Lanka develops in its post war era, and that Air Asia fulfills this need by increasing accessibility and connectivity to the country.