Malindo Air to start Kuala Lumpur to Lahore service

[AM Kay]

AOA. This is my first post to any forum. I hope it is relevant.

Received the info from the travel department of my organization. Malindo Air to start 4 weekly service on KUL-LHE-KUL route with their B 737.



According to Wikipedia, Malindo Air is a JV of Malaysia and Lion AIr, Indonesia. It will be their first route in Pakistan where they will face competition from PIA with twice weekly flights. Malindo Air is already operating to 7 cities in India. Being a frequent traveler on KUL-KHI-KUL, I really wish if they can start KUL-KHI route as well.

Mueed

[Abbas Ali]

Interesting news!

Let's see when Malindo Air announces it on its website and makes seat bookings available.

Abbas

[CoyBoy]

Thats quite far with 737, always expected AirAsia X to fly there if not Malaysian. It means Singapore based LCCs can fly to KHI if they will to, Tigerair A320, Jetstar Asia A320 or full service Silk Air A320, 738, more so when they get 73max.

[mac777]

thats great news. i didnt expect this! although i did wonder "why not lahore if they r flying to amristar?"
and 4 flights a week is ambitious!
it will be a serious competitor to PIA and even to mihin lanka.
i expect introductory fares of RM 400-500 one way ex-KUL. with exciting fares/offers for business (eg buy 1 free 1)
low-cost and low-fare airlines tend to do well from KUL due to its low taxes.(unfortunately already high taxes keep rising ex-PAK)

Thats quite far with 737, always expected AirAsia X to fly there if not Malaysian. It means Singapore based LCCs can fly to KHI if they will to, Tigerair A320, Jetstar Asia A320 or full service Silk Air A320, 738, more so when they get 73max.

air asia tend to avoid places with high taxes/cost( thats the reason they claim they pulled out of bombay,delhi,london and paris) and and flying A333 to lahore will not be that profitable.
malindo b737-900ER has 162 eco and 16 business class seats.
some members thinks flying in a narrow body for 5-6 hours is a torture but malindo is flying to delhi,amristar and perth with these b737-900ER.
hopefully they succeed.

[mac777]

i travelled by malindo in their early days(sep 13) for a short trip kuala lumpur to penang. i paid rM 35 for the hour-long flight which was full.
sorry for the poor quality of the pics
malindo economy cabin-b737-900ER by mac-ali, on Flickr
20130913_210731 by mac-ali, on Flickr
20130913_195914 by mac-ali, on Flickr
malindo-business class seat by mac-ali, on Flickr
20130913_195006 by mac-ali, on Flickr
20130913_184834 by mac-ali, on Flickr
in the background there 2 of those 747 freighters that were recently in the news( the airport authorities were looking for the owners) and ex-malaysian airlines b737 with orange tails (for the failed attempt to launch fireflys jet ops to east malaysia)

[CoyBoy]

mac AirAsia X are returning to Delhi from February as well, even though taxes there have increased since when they quit.

[AM Kay]

If the introductory fare is the same as expected, I believe they can get a good passenger load, provided current fare for PIA is approx. RM 2200-2400 and Srilankan Airlines (Mihin Air code share) is approx. 2100 - 2200 for a return ticket. It can be a good connection for Singapore and Australia or even for local tourists destinations like Lagkawai/Penang etc.

[cpt_747]

They've just confirmed to me that they are starting flights to Pakistan.

[Omairi7]

One of our old member Behram jee shared on airliners.net that LHE-KUL pax load was 52000 includes round trips last year and KHI-KUL was 51000. TG and MIhin Lanka enjoys healthy loads apart from single weekly flight from PIA so we can safely assume that healthy competition will be expected on this route after Malindo Air operations at Lhe.

[AM Kay]

One of our old member Behram jee shared on airliners.net that LHE-KUL pax load was 52000 includes round trips last year and KHI-KUL was 51000. TG and MIhin Lanka enjoys healthy loads apart from single weekly flight from PIA so we can safely assume that healthy competition will be expected on this route after Malindo Air operations at Lhe.

PIA has doubled its frequency and upgraded the equipment to 777 for one flight, otherone is operating with 310. I don't know if it is a temporary move or a long term plan but they should think about it as nobody would prefer to have a connection for a merely 6 hour travel.

[CoyBoy]

Its temporary according to schedule reverts to A310 with summer.

[behramjee]

FYI Malindo Air of Malaysia (owned by Indonesia's Lion Air group) have disclosed that they will be launching new nonstop KUL-LHE flights using a Boeing 737-900ER effective 02MAR16.

All seats have wifi and ptvs on board. The cabin configuration is 12J + 168Y.

Flying time KUL-LHE-KUL is 6 hours nonstop in each direction. Their GSA in PAK is Kashmirwala Group!

The schedule is as follows:

Days: 1/2/4/6

OD 131 Dep KUL 1730 Arr LHE 2015
OD 132 Dep LHE 2105 Arr KUL 0550+1

Schedule available on GDS systems.

[Abbas Ali]

Lahore is now appearing on Malindo Air website http://www.malindoair.com/

Abbas

[CoyBoy]

This shuld make Malaysia airlines think about returning to KHI with 738, even air asia with A320, this also makes it possible for airlines from Thailand to look at flying here with small aircraft, Bangkok Airways, Nok Air, Thai Air Asia or even Thai Smile could start direct from Phuket.

[AM Kay]

Introductory fare is almost same as PIA and Srilanka Airlines, not attractive enough. I hope they will come up with some promo to attract the pax.