On Tuesday, Malaysia's long-haul, low-cost airline AirAsia was more than happy as its first flight landed in Abu Dhabi, thus marking the commencement of commercial flights on the Kuala Lumpur-Abu Dhabi route.

As per the reports, Air Asia is mulling to use Abu Dhabi as a gateway to the Middle East and will fly the route five times a week.

AirAsia's Chief Executive Azran Osman-Rani explained that a very important role will be played by Abu Dhabi in serving as a hub for AirAsia in connecting Asia with Europe.

He informed that approximately 30% of the seats on the route are being sold at promotional prices, beginning at an all-inclusive one-way ticket as low as Dh99.

Osman-Rani explained that an aircraft dubbed Airbus A340-300 will be operating on the Kuala Lampur-Abu Dhabi route. The aircraft has been configured for 256 seats in economy and 30 premium seats on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Furthermore, Terminal 1A of Abu Dhabi international airport will be used by AirAsia. Osman-Rani said, "We have comparatively lower operational costs due to better utilization of our aircraft which on average fly 18 hours per day."

Having over 80 aircraft in its fleet, Air Asia makes sure that they fly to more than 70 destinations.

Ahmad Hussain, Deputy Director General of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) concluded, "With a flying time of only around six hours to Singapore and Malaysia the market has much to offer us."