Malaysia Airlines says it’s ‘cautious’ on China but finds India growth ‘exciting’
- Malaysia Airlines will operate 60 flights a week to South Asia this year, compared with just 27 services to China as it takes a ‘cautious approach’
- That assessment tallies with AirAsia X, which has also said ‘a lot of people are still uncertain’ about travel to and from Asia’s biggest economy
“For now, our key emphasis is on the Indian network,” the carrier’s Chief Strategy Officer Bryan Foong told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. “For us, the emphasis of growth in India is exciting and it helps with our overall network flow as it feeds into other parts of our network.”
Malaysia Airlines will operate 60 flights a week to South Asia this year, compared with just 27 services to China. It intends to explore new opportunities in China, but is taking a “cautious approach”, Foong said.
China may take at least a year to get back to the air travel levels seen in pre-pandemic days as lingering testing requirements put off visitors, an airline lobby group in Asia said in February. Malaysia’s AirAsia X Bhd. meanwhile has said “a lot of people are still uncertain” about travel to and from Asia’s biggest economy.
Malaysia Airlines is also focusing on shifting passenger capacity from domestic to international markets amid concerns of overcapacity among carriers at home, and keeping in mind other challenges like high fuel prices, rising interest rates and a strong dollar, Chief Executive Officer Izham Ismail said in November.
Malaysia Airlines plans to take deliveries of four of its 25 Boeing Co 737 MAX jets on order starting from the third quarter of this year, according to a statement released Tuesday in conjunction with Foong’s media briefing.