AirAsia will introduce an Airbus A330 aircraft on two routes this month, marking the first time the short-haul low-cost carrier has utilised large, twin-aisle large aircraft.

From 19 April to 18 May 2017, the airline will deploy a 377-seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft on routes from Kuala Lumpur to the Maldives and Macau. These large jets will more than double the usual capacity of 180 seats offered by AirAsia’s traditional fleet of single-aisle A320s. The A330s are usually operated by long-haul unit AirAsia X.

The new aircraft will also see AirAsia offer its first premium cabins, with each A330 aircraft providing 12 flat-bed seats.

“Our flights to Maldives and Macau are strong performers and we are pleased to increase the capacity by deploying our Airbus A330 for the period of one month,” Spencer Lee, AirAsia’s head of commercial. “AirAsia as a group is serious about providing the best connectivity to our guests and we are able to make such changes by simply using the group’s assets better.

“This Airbus A330 will provide an increase of 197 seats per flight. We urge guests to use this opportunity to grab the hot deals with more seats, greater values and more services offered,” he added.

In addition to increasing capacity on routes to the Maldives and Macau, AirAsia is planning to add more flights to other popular short-haul destinations. Services from KL to Kaohsiung, Pontianak and Semarang will all increase to daily, while Danang will rise to 10 flights per week, Hanoi to 11 per week and Siem Reap to two flights per day.

Finally, the Malaysian LCC has started taking reservations for four brand new routes: KL-Bhubaneswar, Johor Bahru-Tawau, Johor Bahru-Langkawi and Kuching-Pontianak.