Malindo Air, a Malaysian-based hybrid airline, has planned to expand its fleet by acquiring 25 more aircraft, including 11 ATR aircraft, within a year.
The joint Malaysia-Indonesia airline, a member of the PT Lion Group, has a fleet of 11 aircraft — six Boeing and five ATR aircraft.
“We are planning to lease 25 more aircraft from our parent Lion Group,” said Chandran Rama Murthy, Chief Executive Officer, Malindo Air.
Speaking to reporters here on the sidelines of the launch of the airline’s daily service on the Kuala Lumpur-Tiruchi-Kuala Lumpur sector on Thursday, Mr. Murthy said the airline would increase the frequency of the flights on the sector to three flights a day by the end of 2014 and the second frequency, an evening service, will be introduced by May.
Asked about the stiff competition on the sector, he said the airline offered a ‘full service product’ at a low cost, which would attract customers.
Besides, its flights were being operated from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and not the Low Cost Carrier Terminal.
It would soon offer connecting flights from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, Bali, Jakarta and Langkawi.
The airline would also soon carry cargo from Tiruchi and was in talks with agents.
The airline will launch services from Mumbai and Ahmedabad to Kuala Lumpur in February and March. It is also planning to introduce services from Kuala Lumpur to Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Cochin, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.
Earlier, passengers on the first flight from and to Kuala Lumpur were accorded a warm reception by Mr. Murthy in the presence of playback singer Mano, brand ambassador of the airline K. Balamurugan, the Regional Passport Officer, and the Airport Director (in-charge) K. Jebaraj.
The Boeing 737-900 ER aircraft with 180 seats operated to 75 per cent load factor on both directions on the first day, airline sources said.
