According to Amit Mehta, Country Manager – South Asia, Malaysia Airlines says that the airline will ramp up the capacity on a gradual basis by analysing the demand trends on the route
Malaysia Airlines used to operate 60 weekly frequencies connecting 6 Indian cities before the pandemic. On restarting its scheduled operations, the airline will be at 25 weekly frequencies to 5 cities. According to Amit Mehta, Country Manager – South Asia, Malaysia Airlines says that the airline will ramp up the capacity on a gradual basis by analysing the demand trends on the route.
After India opened borders on March 27, Malaysia Airlines was the first to launch a special ‘travel fair’ for the India market with discounts up to 25 per cent for booking done between March 25 and April 10, 2022, for travel till the November 30. The objective of the Malaysia Airlines Travel Fair (MATF) was to boost travel demand once again.
Malaysia Airlines has resumed its operations with a curtailed capacity. “In early 2020 we were flying to six destinations (including Kochi) with 60 weekly flights. Effective March 27, 2022, Malaysia Airlines operates 25 weekly flights from India. Moving forward, we intend to ramp up the capacity in line with borders reopening and demand forecasts,” Mehta was quoted saying.
Malaysia Airlines was expecting closer or short-haul destinations such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore to see a strong uptick in the next few quarters, among the first-time international leisure travellers. “We are also seeing a lot of demand coming in for Australia, Indonesia, and other Asia Pacific destinations on our network from India
Mehta believes that it will take quite a while for aviation to get back to pre-pandemic levels. “Internationally, we noticed that while air travel demand remains well below pre-pandemic levels, flight bookings have improved rapidly over the past few months as many countries have eased travel restrictions and opened their borders. We aim to operate 70 per cent of pre-pandemic capacity by the end of the year with a gradual increase in flight. We will ramp up capacity based on the demand trends,” Mehta said. He highlighted the fact that “there is a strong pent up demand” among Indians for international travel after being “cooped up inside homes” for two years. He expects that demand to work in favour of closer or short-haul destinations in the first couple of quarters. He said Malaysia Airlines was expecting closer or short-haul destinations such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore to see a strong uptick in the next few quarters, among the first-time international leisure travellers. “We are also seeing a lot of demand coming in for Australia, Indonesia, and other Asia Pacific destinations on our network from India,” Mehra said.
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