{"id":32637,"date":"2019-12-12T00:12:37","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T14:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=32637"},"modified":"2019-12-11T14:22:58","modified_gmt":"2019-12-11T04:22:58","slug":"airasia-avalon-first-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"AirAsia celebrates first birthday at Avalon"},"content":{"rendered":"

AIRASIA has celebrated its first birthday flying between Avalon Airport and Kuala Lumpur, and the international airline has flagged more destinations will be coming.<\/p>\n

In its first year after moving to Geelong from Melbourne\u2019s Tullamarine Airport, AirAsia X has carried about half a million passengers \u2013 in line with its projections \u2013 and maintained its loading of 82 per cent capacity.<\/p>\n

AirAsia X chief executive officer Benyamin Ismail and Avalon chief executive officer Justin Giddings celebrated the occasion with cake on Thursday last week.<\/p>\n

Mr Ismail said it had been an excellent first year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe success, for me, is trying to get people to buy in to this airport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big gamble for us to move from Tullamarine but I believed in the Avalon team to make sure that it is a success.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally, we\u2019ve been working around the clock trying to educate people about Avalon, the Geelong area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe perception is that it\u2019s an hour and a half to get here (from Melbourne), but in general, the average is about 31 minutes, so that has been a success.\u201d<\/p>\n

AirAsia X presently flies twice daily to and from Kuala Lumpur, and Mr Ismail said the airline was actively looking to connect other markets to Avalon.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally, we want to have some connectivity to Bali, some connectivity to Bangkok or some other parts of Thailand, Indonesia… so if we can have that, it\u2019ll be massive.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market was particularly strong for both inbound and outbound passengers, especially passengers travelling to India via Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n

Thursday also saw the launch of AirAsia\u2019s Fast Airport Clearance Experience System (FACES)<\/a> at Avalon, which uses facial recognition technology to make boarding faster and easier for Passengers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AIRASIA has celebrated its first birthday flying between Avalon Airport and Kuala Lumpur, and the international airline has flagged more destinations will be coming. In its first year after moving to Geelong from Melbourne\u2019s Tullamarine Airport, AirAsia X has carried about half a million passengers \u2013 in line with its projections \u2013 and maintained its […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":32639,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-32637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAirAsia celebrates first birthday at Avalon - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AirAsia celebrates first birthday at Avalon - Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AIRASIA has celebrated its first birthday flying between Avalon Airport and Kuala Lumpur, and the international airline has flagged more destinations will be coming. In its first year after moving to Geelong from Melbourne\u2019s Tullamarine Airport, AirAsia X has carried about half a million passengers \u2013 in line with its projections \u2013 and maintained its [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-11T14:12:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/DSC_2913.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"James Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45\"},\"headline\":\"AirAsia celebrates first birthday at Avalon\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-11T14:12:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":297,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/DSC_2913.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/\",\"name\":\"AirAsia celebrates first birthday at Avalon - Surf Coast Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/DSC_2913.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-11T14:12:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/DSC_2913.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/DSC_2913.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"Avalon Airport chief executive officer Justin Giddings and AirAsia X chief executive officer Benyamin Ismail cut the first birthday cake with AirAsia staff at Avalon. Photo: JAMES TAYLOR\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AirAsia celebrates first birthday at Avalon\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Surf Coast Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Surf Coast Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"width\":350,\"height\":38,\"caption\":\"Surf Coast Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45\",\"name\":\"James Taylor\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/author\\\/james\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"AirAsia celebrates first birthday at Avalon - Surf Coast Times","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"AirAsia celebrates first birthday at Avalon - Surf Coast Times","og_description":"AIRASIA has celebrated its first birthday flying between Avalon Airport and Kuala Lumpur, and the international airline has flagged more destinations will be coming. In its first year after moving to Geelong from Melbourne\u2019s Tullamarine Airport, AirAsia X has carried about half a million passengers \u2013 in line with its projections \u2013 and maintained its [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/","og_site_name":"Surf Coast Times","article_published_time":"2019-12-11T14:12:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/DSC_2913.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"James Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Taylor","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/"},"author":{"name":"James Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/person\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45"},"headline":"AirAsia celebrates first birthday at Avalon","datePublished":"2019-12-11T14:12:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/"},"wordCount":297,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/DSC_2913.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/","name":"AirAsia celebrates first birthday at Avalon - Surf Coast Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/DSC_2913.jpg","datePublished":"2019-12-11T14:12:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/DSC_2913.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/DSC_2913.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"Avalon Airport chief executive officer Justin Giddings and AirAsia X chief executive officer Benyamin Ismail cut the first birthday cake with AirAsia staff at Avalon. Photo: JAMES TAYLOR"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/airasia-avalon-first-birthday\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AirAsia celebrates first birthday at Avalon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/","name":"Surf Coast Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization","name":"Surf Coast Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/cropped-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/cropped-logo.png","width":350,"height":38,"caption":"Surf Coast Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/person\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45","name":"James Taylor","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/author\/james\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32637"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=32637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}