LONDON – In response to the high demand to connect to Indian cities, one of the Lion Air Group airlines, Batik Air, will reinstate direct services from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Mumbai, Kochi, and Bangalore from August 2022.
The airline said in a statement that the first of four weekly flights to Mumbai, OD215, will depart KLIA on August 1 at 7:15 p.m. and arrive in Mumbai at 10:25 p.m.
“Flight No. OD231 will leave KLIA for Kochi on August 1 at 9:35 p.m. and arrive at 11:10 p.m., and the first flight will depart on August 1,” adding that flight frequencies to Kochi will be four times per week too.
“Our services to Bangalore will operate twice a week every Thursday and Sunday, with the first flight commencing on August 4,” Captain Mushafiz bin Mustafa Bakri, CEO of Batik Air, said in the same statement, adding that “India is an important market in our Indian subcontinent network. We are improving our services in response to the high demand for air transport to Indian cities.”
Bakri noted that by October, the number of flights to the three cities will increase.
“In addition, we are looking to expand our reach to more cities in this key market. This will provide our customers with more flexibility and options in their travel plans, with promotional one-way fares on new routes. he said.
Batik Air is a subsidiary of Lion Air Group, which started operations in 2013. Other airlines under its stable are Super Jet, Wings Air, Batik Air Indonesia, Biz Jet, Thai Lion Air, and Lion Air.
Expansion with the MAX…
Earlier this month, Batik Air, the new rebranded name of Malaysian Low-Cost Carrier Malindo Air celebrated its new name and logo launching at a ceremony held at Sama Sama Hotel at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.
Along with the rebranding, the company had another glorious reason for the celebration, as they welcomed the addition of another 17 new Boeing 737-8 aircraft to its fleets of Boeing 737-NG and ATR 72-600 turbo-props with a newly rebranded name and logo that will be distinguishingly evident at the KLIA from now on.
Batik Air’s predecessor Malindo Air was the first operator around the globe to operate Boeing 737MAX8 in early 2017, with the possibility of fleet revival of the complete Boeing 737 MAX 8 configuration.
However, the plans were brought to stall when the global grounding of Boeing 737 MAX8 was issued due to fatal accidents involving Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, forcing the airline back to its original configuration of Boeing 737 NG and ATR turbo-props.
With the Boeing 737MAX 8 once again cleared by the authorities to operate flights after rectification, the carrier is once again looking for a promising relationship with the Boeing aircraft, where future generation fleets can elevate Batik Air’s plans to establish as the medium-haul carrier with focus countries around the region.
