May 10, 2013 – More than a week ago, I got a call that made my day. I was invited to be part of a team of bloggers to join Zest Air’s inaugural flight from Manila to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
My excitement stemmed from the fact that I’ll be returning to the beautiful city I have just visited a few months ago with another group of media friends. I was hoping to see more of KL when I was there last time and it was such a treat to be doing that much sooner than I thought possible.
Hubby went with me to NAIA Terminal 4 to drop me off at 4:30AM. Together with a bunch of happy bloggers and teams from both Zest Air and AirAsia, we boarded flight Z9248, the very first flight out of Manila bound for Kuala Lumpur at 6:45AM.
Due to being awake the whole night before, many of us immediately fell asleep during the comfortable and uneventful flight that took around 3 hours and a half. We arrived at Malaysia’s Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at 10:25AM where we were met with Marie Teo of Tourism Malaysia.
On the other hand, Zest Air flight Z2501 bound for Kota Kinabalu left NAIA T4 at 9:35AM. It carried another set of bloggers, guests, and passengers including celebrity singer and songwriter Jim Paredes who will be visiting the Malaysian city, known for its tropical islands and rainforest, for the first time.
In 2012, there were more than half a million Filipinos who visited Malaysia for work, business, and tourism and the number is expected to rise this year as per Director Fazdila Mansor of Tourism Malaysia Philippines. “Last year, the country welcomed 508,744 Filipino tourists, which was a growth of 40.5% compared to 362,101 in 2011.”
She affirmed how delighted they are that Zest Air is launching its maiden flights to the two cities in Malaysia. “This initiative certainly comes at the perfect time since Malaysia will be celebrating its fourth Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) in 2014 and this year has been designated as the VMY promotional campaign year,” she expressed. “I am confident that this enhanced connectivity will be able to boost tourist arrivals from the Philippines to Malaysia.”
Zest Air’s daily service to Kuala Lumpur provides accessibility to the famous Petronas Towers, Batu Caves, Genting Highlights, Kuala Lumpur Museum, and a lot more shops, theme parks, and art galleries.
For the adventurous ones, you may want to explore Kota Kinabalu’s lush jungles, wildlife, and other natural resources including Mount Kota Kinabalu, one of the most accessible mountains in the world and the highest peak in South East Asia. Zest Air flies to Kota Kinabalu every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
Butch Rodriguez, SVP for Zest Air Commercial and External Affairs, said, “The launch of these three new routes in one day affirms our commitment to provide passengers across the region with great value and refreshing travel experience.”
For the complete schedule details, please read my other blog post here. One-peso promo fares from Manila to KL, Kota Kinabalu, Shanghai, Cebu, Davao, Puerto Princesa, Kalibo (Boracay), Iloilo, Tagbilaran, Tacloban, Bacolod, Davao, Cebu, and CDO are still up for grabs until May 12, 2013 via www.flyzest.com and www.airasia.com. Travel period for this promo is extended from May 10, 2013 to April 30, 2014.
To be updated on more promos, follow @flyzest and @airasia on Twitter. Stay tuned for more blog posts about Malaysia in the coming days :)
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