Malaysian Airline Malindo enter into Indian sky

Malaysia based Malindo Airways Sdn Bhd is set to fly to Indian destinations as early as next month, to get a piece of the market where its peers, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia Bhd, are enjoying reputable load factors.

The barely 200-day old airline is aiming to begin flying daily to New Delhi and Mumbai by end of November, a source close to the airline told The Malaysian Reserve.

Malindo also aims to fly to three other destinations — Kochi, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

Malindo initially aimed to fly to Kochi and Trichy but has decided to drop Trichy from its immediate expansion plan as “AirAsia is already responding in an aggressive way by offering crazy deals to Trichy,” the source said.

“Malindo thinks this is the best time to expand. Competition will be everywhere, but there’s still space to grow,” the source said.

Malaysian based Malindo airline will operate the Indian flights through its fleet of eight Boeing aircraft.

AirAsia Officials  could not be contacted at press time to comment on Malindo move to India.

Malindo Airlines currently flies Malaysian routes and some international flights to Bali and Jakarta in Indonesia and Dhaka, Bangladesh.

AirAsia may get the heat from Malindo’s Indian flights as Chennai, Kochi and Tiruchirappalli are said to be the no-frills airline’s very strongest Indian routes, while the New Delhi and Mumbai routes were dropped by its sister-airline, AirAsia X in early 2011, citing high operational cost.

The average AirAsia load factor to the three destinations is high, averaging 75%-80%.

However, it is widely expected that AirAsia might be looking to revive the axed New Delhi and Mumbai routes, to establish a strong northern domestic feeder connectivity for the yet-to-be operational AirAsia India.

Malaysia Airlines, on the other hand, operates flights to Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore,kolkata and Kochi among them but the national flag carrier’s brand loyalty, comfort and premium airline service is set to save it from the excess capacity to the subcontinent with Malindo’s entry.

Also Malindo Air is an affiliate of fast-growing Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air and since operations — has stirred the much-monopolised Malaysian aviation market, by offering competitive fares on hot routes with lucrative perks such as free snacks, also luggage allowance and enlarged seat pitches.

Its entry into the market and Malaysia Airlines aggressive selling of seats on its flights has sparked a price war between the Malaysian carriers.

The intensifying competition between Malindo and AirAsia is reported to be part of a wider battle for low-cost carrier dominance between AirAsia and privately held Lion Air, which has placed huge new aircraft orders and plans to use its dominance in Indonesia to expand in Asia.