Malindo Air to start flights to India and Singapore after August

Going places: Capt Zokri Abd Manaf (right) posing with Malindo Air crew before the inaugural flight from the SkyPark Terminal in Subang to Kota Baru, Kelantan. The hybrid airline will have four ATR72-600 propeller aircraft and 10 B737-900ER planes by the end of the year.

KOTA BARU: More than two months after starting its operations, Malindo Air is already talking about expansion to India and Singapore.

After August, the hybrid airline will start operating flights to India and Singapore. It will fly to three destinations in India New Delhi, Trichy and Cochin.
To support its expansion, it will add aircraft to its fleet and by year-end, its fleet will consist of 14 aircraft, four ATR72-600 propeller aircraft and 10 B737-900ER planes.

Head of corporate sales and governmental relations Raja Sa'adi Raja Amrin said that Malindo planned to add four new ATR72-600 planes from Toulouse, France next year, bringing its total short-haul fleet to eight planes.

“We are using the latest of the ATR series to service destinations in Peninsular Malaysia where jet operations are not that practical,” he said after the inaugural flight from SkyPark Terminal in Subang to Kota Baru, Kelantan yesterday.

Malindo started operations in Malaysia on March 23. With the ATR72-600 propeller planes, it currently flies to Penang and Kota Baru. Meanwhile, the two B747-900ER planes it has, service flights to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.

Raja Sa'adi said that by the end of this month, Malindo would operate flights to Johor, Sibu, Miri and Tawau. The airline is also looking to add Langkawi and Terengganu to its destinations list.

“Our emergence from Subang SkyPark has been well received by the public. The great response since the launch of our ATR72-600 ticket sales on May 17 is so encouraging, and we are very pleased with a 100% passenger capacity from Kota Baru to Subang,” chief executive officer Chandran Rama Muthy said in a statement.

Raja Sa'adi said Malindo was a hybrid airline because its services were akin to full-serviced airlines while the fares it offered were lower than budget airlines.
Its all-inclusive fares include in-flight entertainment, food as well as baggage allowance. In August, the airline will offer in-flight WiFi services to passengers for a small fee, Raja Sa'adi said.

He added that it was possible for the airline to reach the million-passengers mark by year end, following addition of aircraft as well as upcoming Hari Raya celebrations.

In May, the airline recorded 100,000 passengers, double the number of passengers in the previous month. The airline will induct 100 aircraft in the next 10 years and will initially serve routes with distances of up to five hours from Malaysia. Malindo is a 51:49 joint venture between Malaysia's National Aerospace and Defence Industries Sdn Bhd and Indonesian's PT Lion Group, which owns Lion Air and Wings Air.
-thestar online.