New flight routes
THE first quarter of the year is getting off to a good start for Malaysia Airports with new routes launched by partner airlines. These routes will increase connectivity for business travellers as well as provide more options for holidaygoers.
On the international front, Citilink Indonesia started operating its Surabaya (SUB)-Kuala Lumpur (KUL) route in January this year. The daily service is operated via flight QG522 that departs Surabaya at 11.55am. Its return flight QG523 leaves KL at 4.45pm.
Earlier in the year, Citilink also launched its four-time weekly Jakarta (CGK)-KL route in February. For the CGK-KUL route, QG528 flies from Jakarta at 11am whereas for the KUL-CGK route, flight QG529 departs from KL at 3.20pm.
AirAsia Thailand got the momentum rolling by introducing the KL-Chiang Rai (CEI) route in January that is operated four times weekly. Flight FD830 leaves from Chiang Rai at 3.15pm whereas flight FD831 leaves from KL at 7.50pm.
In the same month, AirAsia also launched the Kota Kinabalu (BKI)-Brunei (BWN) route with daily flights operated by AK214 that leaves BKI at 7.35am and departs from BWN via flight AK215 at 8.50am.
In February, AirAsia X started the KL– Fukuoka (FUK) route in February. Fukuoka in Japan, joins an ever-growing list of longhaul destinations for AirAsia, with the airline announcing it would operate four times a week between KL and Kyushu’s largest city.
Departure from KL is at 11.50pm and 8.00am from Fukuoka.
More recently, Malindo Air commenced its new routes from Malacca (MKZ) to Langkawi (LGK) and Kota Baru (KBR) respectively beginning March 1. These new routes will entice travellers to discover local destinations during the upcoming school holidays.
For the MKZ-LGK route connecting the twin tourism cities, flight OD1350 departs from Malacca at 2.05pm whereas flight OD1351 departs from Langkawi at 12.05pm. The KBR-MKZ is operated via flight OD1300 departing from Sultan Ismail Petra Airport at 11.55am and flight OD1301 departing from Malacca at 1.50pm. Both routes are scheduled three times weekly.
Come March 31, Malindo Air will be launching its new Langkawi (LGK)-Phuket (HKT) route that will be operated three times a week. Holidaymakers can look forward to island-hopping of a different kind by catching flight OD1720 that departs from Langkawi at 10.15am whereas flight OD1721 departs at 11.35am from Phuket.
National carrier Malaysia Airlines is also scheduled to begin its KL-Kochi (COK) route on March 31 as well. Kochi is a city in Kerala, India. It was the centre of the world spice trade for many centuries.
Malaysia Airlines will be flying daily to Kochi via flight MH108 from KL at 10.40pm. The return flight, MH109 departs from Kochi at 1am.
Malaysia Airports is one of the world’s largest airport operator groups in terms of number of passengers handled. It manages and operates 39 airports in Malaysia.
The airports in Malaysia comprise five international airports, 16 domestic airports and 18 Short Take-Off and Landing Ports (STOLports). –