LONDON – Last week, the Indonesian carrier, Batik Air, announced that their Malaysian subsidiary, Batik Air Malaysia, will be restarting their scheduled services to Da Nang in Vietnam.
Restarting Da Nang
Commencing from December 6, Batik Air Malaysia will restart scheduled services between Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, to Da Nang in Vietnam. This service will be operated by the carriers Boeing 737 fleet, of which Batik Air Malaysia currently has 19 Boeing 737’s in its fleet, of which three are Boeing 737-800NG’s (Next Generation) and 16 are Boeing 737 MAX 8’s.
The services will be once again operated on a daily basis between the two cities.
Flight OD502 will depart Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) at 09:35 am and arrive into Da Nang International Airport (DAD) at 11:10 am after a two and a half hour flight. Both times are local.
The return flight OD503 will leave Da Nang International Airport (DAD) at 11:50 am after a 40-minute turnaround and arrive back into Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) at 15:40 pm. Both times are local.
Batik Air fleet
Alongside their Boeing 737’s, Batik Air Malaysia also operates 12 ATR 72-600’s, which are primarily used on domestic services throughout Malaysia. For the mainline Batik Air fleet, they operate 35 Airbus A320ceo’s (Current Engine Option), one Airbus A320neo (New Engine Option), two Airbus A330-300’s and 26 Boeing 737-800NG’s.
The carrier has further orders for five more Airbus A320ceo’s, 125 Airbus A320neo’s, 65 Airbus A321neo’s and 16 Boeing 737-800NG’s which is a backlog of 215 aircraft.
Batik Air itself has been around since May 2013 and is primarily owned by the Lion Air Group, who also run Batik Air Malaysia, previously known as Malindo Air, mainline Lion Air itself, Thai Lion Air, Wings Air and the newest member of the group, Super Air Jet, which only commenced operations in August 2021.
Across the entire group, they have over 300 total aircraft, which is a mix of ATR 72-500’s and 72-600’s, Airbus A320ceo’s and A320neo’s, Airbus A330-300’s and A330-900neo’s and both Boeing 737-800NG’s and Boeing 737 MAX 8’s.
The group also has an extensive order backlog of aircraft consisting of more Boeing 737 MAX 8’s, Airbus A320neo’s, Airbus A321neo’s and few ATR 72-600’s remaining to be delivered in the coming months and years.
Management Comments
Batik Air’s Chief Executive Officer, Captain Mushafiz Bin Mustafa Bakri, has said, “The restart of direct flights to Da Nang from Kuala Lumpur is a strong reflection of Batik Air’s continued efforts to strengthen the airline’s regional foothold.”
“We are offering seamless connectivity via KLIA for travellers from countries such as Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Australia and Malaysia.”
Overall
It is great to see that Batik Air is once again restarting yet another popular route for them between Kuala Lumpur and Da Nang. This is yet another restart – in recent months the carrier has resumed and expanded services in India, as well as restarting Perth in Australia.
The airline will further expand its Australian services with the start of Melbourne flights joining their network of destinations in December.
