Malindo Air to commence flights to Brisbane

Malindo Air will launch daily services – utilising a Boeing B737-800 – from Kuala Lumpur to Brisbane via Denpasar on March 31. It will be the only Malaysian carrier plying this route.

An inbound agent, Nigel Wong, director, Urban Rhythms Tour Adventures & Travel, said: “This flight will help the tourism industry as Australia is a key market for Malaysia. Australians are avid outdoor enthusiasts who love soft adventure and eco-tourism products which Malaysia has a lot of. For this leisure segment, we will promote our national parks and islands in east and west Malaysia.”

Statistics from Tourism Malaysia revealed that the per diem expenditure of Australian tourists in Malaysia averaged RM773 (US$174) in 2015 and they spent an average of 5.8 nights in the country. Last year, arrivals from Australia totalled 377,727 tourists, a decline of 22.4 per cent over 2015.

An outbound agent, Desmond Lee, group managing director of Apple Vacations & Conventions, said: “Brisbane is not really a tourist attraction for Malaysians. They prefer holidaying in Gold Coast, which is about a 1.5-hour drive away.”

Lee added that as AirAsia currently flies daily from Kuala Lumpur to Gold Coast, he “may consider using” Malindo’s flights if the airfares are “very attractive”, which can translate into savings for customers. From Brisbane, the travellers can then transfer to Gold Coast by land.

-TTG Asia.