Spreading our wings: (From left) Ahmad Luqman, Izham and Dersenish announcing the new air routes and products services at Mitec, Kuala Lumpur yesterday. — YAP CHEE HONG/ The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines is opening three new routes to India, effectively expanding the airline’s footprint in the country.
Malaysian Aviation Group managing director Datuk Capt Izham Ismail said the three new destinations are Amritsar, Thiruvananthapuram and Ahmedabad.
Their maiden flights are on Nov 8, Nov 9 and Dec 1, respectively.
Flights to both Amritsar and Thiruvananthapuram will have a frequency of twice weekly while flights to Ahmedabad will be four times per week.
“India remains a key market for Malaysia Airlines, so we are delighted to introduce three new routes into our Indian network.
“This provides added convenience for travellers, strengthens our presence in this core market and extends our Malaysian hospitality service even further,” Izham said at a press conference yesterday.
Also present were group chief executive officer Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi and chief commercial officer Dersenish Aresandran.
The three new destinations brings to 55 the total weekly number of Malaysia Airlines flights to India.
“This is close to the number of flights to India in 2019, which if I am not mistaken, was at 60 times weekly,” Izham added.
The new routes will be operated by the Boeing 737-800NG aircraft, equipped with 160 seats, comprising 16 seats in Business Class and 144 seats in Economy Class.
Malaysia Airlines also operates direct flights to New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi.
An all-in promotional fare of RM999 and RM2,999 will also be offered for Economy and Business Class return tickets respectively, with the promotion lasting till Sept 9.
Those who purchase Economy or Business Class tickets will get an additional 20kg baggage or 40kg baggage, respectively.
The travel period lasts from Nov 8, 2023 to March 31, 2024.
On the group’s decision to fly to Amritsar, Thiruvananthapuram and Ahmedabad, Izham said it was to increase Malaysia Airlines’ reach to non-metro cities in India.
“We also want to increase capacity in metro cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.
“I applaud our government which is working very hard to increase capacity (but) we are constrained with the bilateral agreements, so we cannot put in more capacity to metro cities.
“However, that shouldn’t deter the ambition to expand our wings into India.
“We feel very strongly that we should now be operating in non-metro cities, starting with Amritsar, a high demand pilgrimage route, Thiruvananthapuram and Ahmedabad,” he said.
Izham added that Malaysian tourism would benefit from India and that the group would also explore routes to the east coast of India.
In a media statement, the airline announced increased flight frequencies from Australia, China and Asean.
Beginning in December, the airline will boost its weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne and Sydney from 14 flights weekly to 15 and 16 flights weekly, respectively.
Additionally, flights from Kuala Lumpur to Guangzhou will be increased from five to seven flights weekly; Beijing from three to seven flights weekly; Shanghai from nine to 10 flights weekly; Hong Kong from 11 to 14 flights weekly; Jakarta from 28 to 35 flights weekly; Bangkok from 34 to 42 flights weekly and Ho Chi Minh City from 15 to 19 flights weekly.
