PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA: Some 20,000 seats were sold within 12 hours of AirAsia opening its new Kuala Lumpur-Taipei route.

The budget carrier's regional head of commercial Kathleen Tan described the response as "fantastic."

"This is by far the most successful route launch this year," she said in a statement yesterday.

She said this was a clear sign of a strong demand for the Kuala Lumpur-Taipei route and a positive indication that regional markets were "starving for low fares."

Tan said all promotional fare seats at RM101 (S$42) have been snapped up but gave an assurance that passengers would still be able to enjoy low fares.

The new promotional fares for the Kuala Lumpur-Taipei route, which will begin on July 1, will now be RM139.

There will be five direct flights weekly.

Meanwhile, another AirAsia passenger has won the RM10,000 cash prize from the budget airline's "Fly and Win" campaign.

Lucky draw winner Siti Fatimah Lahatta, 38, said she would use part of her cash prize to give her entire family an overseas holiday treat.

"I have arranged for a trip to Kuala Lumpur and Makassar next month with my husband, eldest daughter and my parents," said the Sabahan, adding that another trip was being planned which would include her three younger children during the long school break.

Fatimah added she was astonished when informed about the win since she had not submitted any contest forms.

The "Fly and Win" campaign is AirAsia's way of thanking customers after being voted the World's Best Low Cost Airline in the latest Skytrax survey.

The first contest winner was insurance claims manager Alan Ho from Kuala Lumpur.

The contest is valid for all AirAsia customers in Malaysia and Singapore who book seats via www.airasia.com and mobile.airasia.com between April 6 and April 26, for travel between May 5 next year and July 31, 2010.

Passengers stand to win RM10,000 or S$5,000 during weekly draws on April 13, 20 and 27. Visit AirAsia's website for more information.

-The Star/Asia News Network