AirAsia Group’s affiliate carrier, AirAsia Indonesia, has announced it will launch additional frequencies on its routes from the northwestern Indonesian city of Medan to Bangkok and Penang before the end of the year further enhancing international connectivity from the capital of the North Sumatra province.

The budget carrier says that with effect from December 1, 2012 it will introduce a single additional frequency to Penang in Malaysia, increasing weekly services to 24, while an additional three weekly rotations will be provided to the Thai capital, Bangkok, increasing from a four times weekly to daily schedule.

“As the capital of North Sumatra Province and the third largest city in Indonesia, Medan has a lot to offer for business and leisure travellers alike,” said Dharmadi, Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia Indonesia. “The demand for both Medan-Penang and Medan-Bangkok routes have grown steadily every year since we first launched them, and we are delighted to introduce additional frequencies to meet the robust demand in both sectors.”

AirAsia Indonesia launched flights from Medan to Penang in March 2006 and to Bangkok in January 2011. It currently competes with Firefly, Sriwijaya Air and Wings Air (flying for Lion Air) on the Penang route, which is also served by its Malaysian sister carrier AirAsia. On the Medan – Bangkok route, AirAsia Indonesia recently transferred it services to Don Muang in the Thai capital and remains the sole provider of non-stop flights on this route.

Alongside these two routes, AirAsia Indonesia also provides international flights from Medan to Kuala Lumpur and domestic air services to Banda Aceh, Bandung, Pekanbaru and Surabaya. The airline this month has a 9.1 per cent share of departures from Medan’s Polonia International Airport and a 9.8 per cent of the seat capacity, ranking it as the third largest operator from the market behind Lion Air and Garuda Indonesia.

AirAsia Indonesia says it has been the leading airline in Indonesia in terms of number of international passengers carried for two consecutive years, in 2010 and 2011, with over a 42 per cent market share. “We are committed to maintain this achievement while developing our domestic connectivity. Passengers from our five hubs in Indonesia, including Medan, are now able to connect conveniently to several domestic as well as international destinations,” added Dharmadi.