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SEPANG: Low-cost carrier AirAsia expects the border reopening to be a boost as it targets to record 95 per cent load factor by the end of this year.

“Malaysia is taking a huge step ahead by the border reopening. People want to come to Malaysia as we can see it through encouraging ticket sales in the coming weeks,” said AirAsia Malaysia chief executive officer Riad Asmat.

Riad said there were 12 AirAsia international flights scheduled to arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) Friday with about 60 per cent of passengers in the planes, an indication of encouraging interest.

“Today marks an important milestone in the long journey towards the recovery of the travel industry in the region. We are given the chance now to reconnect and re-establish the network that we had before,” he told reporters after welcoming the AK381 AirAsia flight with 140 passengers from Jakarta at klia2 here Friday.

On March 8, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the country’s borders would be reopened from April 1 in line with the country’s plan to enter the transition period to the endemic phase of Covid-19.