By Asia Samachar | Malaysia |
Malaysia Airlines will start direct flights to Amritsar starting Nov 10, offering two roundtrips per week aboard Boeing 737-800 equipment, reports the Aviation Week.
Amritsar will become the Oneworld alliance member’s seventh Indian destination alongside Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi, the report added.
The KL-Amritsar route, connecting Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) with Amritsar’s Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport (ATQ), is currently served by Batik Air Malaysia, operating three direct flights per week.
AirAsia X is set to join the route starting Sept 3. The low cost airline will deploy its Airbus A330-300 aircraft for the scheduled four weekly flights. The long-haul LCC last served this route in April 2020.
As a result, the capacity provided through AirAsia X’s resumption and Malaysia Airline’s entrance to the market will swell the number of two-way seats between Kuala Lumpur and Amritsar from around 970 to more than 5,000 per week, the aviation portal reported.
Amritsar, the Panjab city famous for the Darbar Sahib, popularly known as the Golden Temple, is linked nonstop to nine international destinations at present — Birmingham, Doha, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, London Gatwick, Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino, Sharjah and Singapore Changi — up from six points at this time in 2019.
Figures provided by Sabre Market Intelligence show that the United Arab Emirates was Amritsar’s largest overseas market in 2022, accounting for about 350,000 two-way O&D passengers. The UK was second on 136,000 passengers, followed by the U.S. on 47,500 passengers, according to the report.
Malaysia Airlines’ flights will operate from KUL on Mondays and Fridays, departing at 11:00 p.m. and arriving at 2:30 a.m. the next day, the report quoted data from OAG Schedules Analyser. The return service from ATQ leaves on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 3:30 a.m. and arrives in Malaysia’s capital at 11:45 a.m.
Reservations for the route are as yet unavailable. The airline’s only service to Amritsar currently is through a codeshare with Vistara via New Delhi.
Malaysia is targeting 16.1 million international tourist arrivals with RM49.3 billion in tourism receipts, with India among the top countries to contribute tourist arrivals to Malaysia.
In 2022, Malaysia welcomed a total of 324,548 Indian tourists, while in the first quarter of 2023, Malaysia received as many as 164,566 Indian tourists compared to 13,370 in the same period last year, according to a statement from Tourism Malaysia.
It noted that there are currently 158 flights with 30,032 seats offered weekly between India and Malaysia through Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, AirAsia and IndiGo. Indian tourists can now apply for Malaysia’s eVISA Multiple Entry Visa (MEV).
RELATED STORY:
AirAsia X to resume Amritsar flights from September 2023 – Report (Asia Samachar, 13 June 2023)
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. When you leave a comment at the bottom of this article, it takes time to appear as it is moderated by human being. Unless it is offensive or libelous, it should appear. You can also comment at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here