Malaysia Airways is witnessing a surge in passenger site visitors from India, with its attain going past metros to tier-two cities. The airline at the moment operates over 76 weekly flights throughout 10 cities. In an interplay with businessline, Dersenish Aresandiran, Chief Industrial Officer of Airways at Malaysia Aviation Group, says the passenger site visitors is up by 30 per cent, with wholesome load components pushed by enterprise and leisure journey.
How do you see the expansion within the Indian market? What are your expectations this 12 months?
We stay dedicated to increasing our footprint, significantly in rising tier-two markets. The swift launch of Kolkata, following the approval of bilateral rights, underscores our agility and dedication to progress. Moreover, our code-share with IndiGo can be instrumental in enhancing attain throughout 16 further cities, providing Indian travellers better alternative and seamless connectivity than ever earlier than.
From Kerala, Malaysia Airways at the moment operates 11 weekly flights to Kuala Lumpur—seven from Kochi and 4 from Thiruvananthapuram. Beginning June 6, we’ll enhance the frequency from Thiruvananthapuram– marking a major ramp-up because the resumption of companies post-pandemic.
The Kuala Lumpur frequency from Thiruvananthapuram will enhance to 5 occasions weekly, providing better flexibility and extra choices for each leisure and enterprise travellers. This brings our complete weekly operations from Kerala to 12 flights.
India continues to be a key progress marketplace for us, particularly as we strengthen journey flows between South Asia and the Australia–New Zealand area. We’re considerably growing connectivity to key Australian cities—Melbourne and Sydney will go as much as 21x weekly every, and Auckland to 10x weekly from October, and we’re additionally launching new flights to Brisbane as much as 5x weekly from November. Travellers from Kerala, together with Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram can conveniently join to those locations by way of Kuala Lumpur.
We’re additionally increasing attain throughout India by our code-share partnership with IndiGo — rising from 10 to 16 cities and including key feeder factors equivalent to Goa, Varanasi, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, and Tiruchirappalli.
What’s Malaysia Airways progress in passenger site visitors from the Indian market, and what are your projections?
India continues to be a standout progress marketplace for Malaysia Airways as passenger site visitors has already surpassed the pre-pandemic ranges by 30 per cent. For FY25, we’re concentrating on 1.3 million passengers — a projected 14 per cent year-on-year enhance. Load components stay constantly sturdy, averaging 88 per cent in metro cities and 86 per cent in tier-two markets.
This momentum is pushed by the addition of 4 new routes post-pandemic, the strategic partnership with IndiGo, and steady enhancements to the on-board expertise — such because the introduction of the A330 neo and 737-8 plane that includes complimentary Wi-Fi and elevated eating curated by The Oberoi Group.
What’s your progress within the Kerala market?
Kerala stays a strategically essential market with strong and sustained demand throughout the VFR (visiting associates and family members), leisure, and religious journey segments. Our routes to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram proceed to carry out strongly, with common load components round 85 per cent, peaking at as much as 95 per cent throughout excessive seasons — a transparent testomony to the area’s rising potential.
Past the numbers, Kerala gives an unmatched tourism expertise — its cultural richness, wellness choices, and scenic retreats align completely with what travellers from Asia and the Pacific are more and more looking for. We’re working carefully with key journey companions throughout our community to place Kerala as a must-visit vacation spot and to drive stronger inbound flows from the East.
Are you able to touch upon Kerala’s Look East coverage?
The Look East initiativeby the Kerala Authorities is designed to deepen regional tourism hyperlinks, particularly between Kerala and key East Asia-Pacific markets. This aligns nicely with our community technique, as we function a gateway to Asia and past, connecting passengers from throughout the area to Kerala by way of our Kuala Lumpur hub.
By connecting Kerala to our intensive Asia-Pacific community, we help the State’s ambition to draw high-value vacationers looking for wellness, cultural, and MICE experiences. The Look East coverage enhances our progress technique for the route, positioning Kerala as a premium vacation spot within the area.
Any plans for a tie up with Kerala Tourism?
Sure, we have now not too long ago partnered with Kerala Tourism underneath the Look East marketing campaign to spice up inbound tourism from East Asia. We launched a high-impact Mega FAM journey, bringing almost 100 journey brokers and influencers from eight key markets — together with China, Japan, Australia, Vietnam, and Malaysia — to expertise Kerala’s distinctive cultural and pure choices first hand.
That is just the start. We see important long-term potential in strengthening this partnership and are at the moment exploring future initiatives equivalent to joint digital campaigns, co-branded content material, and curated wellness packages to additional place Kerala as a prime vacation spot throughout our community.
Any plans to cater to rising pilgrim journey to India from Malaysia?
We perceive the deep cultural and religious ties between Malaysia and South India. To raised serve this section, we provide direct connectivity to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram — each key gateways to Sabarimala. Our flight schedules and on-board choices, together with vegetarian meal choices and accessibility help, are thoughtfully tailor-made to fulfill the wants of religious travellers.
Past Sabarimala, we additionally recognise the religious significance of different locations throughout Kerala — from the revered Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple to Guruvayur, Aranmula, Attukal, Chottanikkara, and the Jewish Synagogue in Kochi. Our aim is to help and simplify religious journeys for all travellers by offering consolation, comfort, and seamless service.
