Thiruvananthapuram | Air Asia Berhad will be operating a direct flight from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, from February 21, an airport statement said.

Air Asia Berhad will be operating the Thiruvananthapuram-Kuala Lumpur service with an Airbus 320 aircraft with a capacity of 180 passengers, it said.

The flight, scheduled to arrive at 11.50 PM and depart at 12.25 AM, will be operated initially on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from Thiruvananthapuram.

This will be Air Asia's first service from Thiruvananthapuram, it said, adding that beyond Kuala Lumpur, the air carrier will provide good connectivity to countries like Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and so on.

More connectivity to East Asian countries has been a demand for a long time, including by IT companies, the statement said, adding this service would boost the travel and tourism sectors of Kerala and south Tamil Nadu.