AIRASIA CONCLUDES EVACUATION FLIGHTS WITH 129 MALAYSIANS ONBOARD

SEPANG, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- AirAsia Tuesday concluded its evacuation flights
under Ops Pyramid , bringing home a group of 129 Malaysians from Jeddah.

The flight, using Airbus A320, landed at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal
(LCCT) about 2.30pm and present to welcome the group were Deputy Foreign
Minister Richard Riot Jaem and AirAsia chief executive officer Tony
Fernandes.

AirAsia Group deputy chief executive officer, Kamarudin Meranum, who
heads the AirAsia delegation in bringing home the Malaysian citizens from Egypt,
said the evacuation mission, which started on Feb 3, went smoothly.

He said AirAsia would assist if there were requests for it to continue with
the evacuation flights.

AirAsia provided three aircraft, a A340, A330 and A320, to bring home the
Malaysian citizens from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.


"Each aircraft can carry about 300 passengers at one time and during the
operation, we were able bring home almost 3,000 Malaysian citizens," he told
Bernama here.

Meanwhile, Umi Kalsom Rosli, a student at Al-Azhar University, said she
decided to return home with her husband because of the situation in Egypt and
due to her parents insistence.

"Our parents feared for our safety. So we decide to come home. There are
some students who refused to come home. Perhaps, because they do not want to
miss their examinations," she said.

Umi, 23, is a third year Usuluddin student, while husband, Mohd Nazrul Abdul
Nasir, 27, is a fourth year student at the same university.

"My husband and I are renting a house in Sabek. The situation there was
quite tense and we could only be out of the house from 11am to 3pm to buy
essential items," she added.