Malaysia Airlines plans expansion in India

New Delhi: Bullish on the ‘important’ Indian aviation market, Malaysia Airlines will soon have a deep codeshare partnership with an Indian carrier as well as further expand its operations to the north east and southern destinations in the country, according to a top official. Malaysia Airlines, the national carrier that is part of the Malaysia Aviation Group, operates a total of 69 weekly flights to nine Indian cities. In an interview, Captain Izham Ismail, Group Managing Director of Malaysia Aviation Group, said, "India is an important market for us and we want to be part of the success story of India as a country". The airline, which has implemented a financial restructuring and is on the revival path, connects nine Indian destinations to Malaysia. The cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Amritsar, Ahmedabad and Thiruvananthapuram.

Apart from crossing its pre-pandemic levels of operations in the Indian market, the carrier, this month, increased its frequency on the Amritsar-Kuala Lumpur route from two to four weekly flights. Currently, the airline has an interline partnership with Vistara. An interline arrangement refers to a pact to issue and accept tickets for flights that are operated by the partner airline. When selling an interline ticket, the operating airlines' own flight numbers are used. "We are at the tail-end of negotiations with one particular airline... Malaysia Airlines is working on having a deep codeshare with an Indian airline," Ismail, who was on a visit to India last week, said. However, specific details were not disclosed. Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to various destinations.

Talking about the future plans for the Indian market, Ismail said that in the next two to three years, Malaysia Airlines will be looking at the north east, with flights to Guwahati and Kolkata. The carrier used to fly to Kolkata but stopped the services in 2015. "We are also looking at south India (places) like Trichy and Vizag. Another western destination we are looking at is Goa," he said. The airline is hopeful of expanding to these regions, once it takes deliveries of new Boeing 737-8s and Airbus 330 neos. It has a fleet of 100 planes and the number is expected to rise to 170 by 2030. "We believe very strongly that where possible we want to upgrade our services to India using wide-bodies," he said, adding that his ambition for the group is to treat customers with empathy, humility and respect. Ismail also emphasised that cabin services as well as market share are important.