PETALING JAYA, July 19 (Bernama) --  Malindo Air has launched its inaugural flight to the sacred city - Varanasi, India on Thursday evening. Nishit Kumar Ujjwal, Counsellor (Community Affairs, Education & Labour) and Mark Anthony, General Manager of Operations, Malindo Air were present in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to send off flight OD290.
 
Upon its arrival at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, the milestone was celebrated with a water cannon salute, followed by a welcoming ceremony to the passengers at the arrival gate.
 
CEO of Malindo Air, Chandran Rama Muthy said, “India is a significant market to us. Just as its neighbouring cities, the potential is foreseen on both, inbound and outbound travellers on leisure, business, as well as visiting friends & families purposes. However Varanasi may have the added advantage in terms of demand as it is also primarily a sacred pilgrimage destination for Hindus around the world,”
 
"We are honoured to be the only Malaysian carrier operating directly between Kuala Lumpur and Varanasi. I believe our objectives are in line with our government’s Tourism and Economic agenda, which is to entice more visitors into Malaysia hence boosting economic conditions and increasing passengers’ arrivals at KLIA, which is envisioned to be the main regional hub of Asia,” he continued.
 
“Given our wholesome services that cater for passengers’ respective needs, we believe the additional connectivity also creates additional gateway for international travellers to explore beyond Kuala Lumpur,” he added.
 
Group Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Airports, Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin said, “I would like to congratulate our airline partner, Malindo Air on the launch of this new destination, Varanasi. Malindo is the first in Malaysia and the 4th in the Southeast Asia Region to introduce this route. This means that we can expect a further increase in passenger movements at KL International Airport (KUL). Last year, the overall total number of arriving and departing passengers that Malindo served for its India routes via KUL grew by 4.3% from January to June this year as compared to the same period in 2018. Not only that, KUL itself also saw an overall YTD 6.1% increase in passenger movements for the India routes as compared to the previous year. Therefore, I am positive that Malindo Air will do very well with the introduction of this new flight route.”
 
Varanasi is regarded as the spiritual capital of India, located at the banks of the Ganges River in Northern India. The sacred water of Ganges River attracts Hindu pilgrims to bath and perform funerals rites.
 
It is the tenth city that Malindo Air flies to, after Amritsar, New Delhi, Kochi, Mumbai, Tiruchirappali, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai (code share with Batik Air).
 
For updates on Malindo Air’s latest activities and promotions, please connect with us via Twitter (https://twitter.com/malindoair), Facebook (facebook.com/MalindoAirMalaysia) or Instagram (instagram.com/malindoair). 



About Malindo Air

Malindo Air is a Malaysian airline with main hubs at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and the convenient KL downtown city airport Subang Skypark in Selangor, Malaysia. The airline took to the skies in March 2013 with domestic flights and has since grown to operate routes to all major airports in Malaysia and across the continents of Asia and Australia. The fleet itself has grown exponentially to 13 ATR72-600 and 29 Boeing 737 as of July 2019. The airline also obtained the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA).
 
Today, the airline operates over 800 flights weekly across a continuously growing network of about 55 routes in the region. Also an IATA airline member, Malindo Air codeshare with Turkish Airline, Lion Air, Batik Air, as well as an interlining partner to Xiamen Air, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Turkish Airline, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Oman Air.
 
Malindo Air has recently won Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) 2019 and Best International Flight Ad of “The Exquisite Pic Award” by Thomas Edison Advertisement (TEA) Awards. Previous awards included Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) 2018 Four Star Major Regional Airline Recognition and Malaysia Best Employer Brand Awards 2018, CAPA’s 2016 Asia Pacific Regional Airline of the Year, New Comer of the Year, Australia 2016/17 by Expedia.com., TOP Recognition - Malaysia SME® Preferred Airline Partner, Airline of the Year (Passenger) at the KLIA Awards 2014 and Top Performing Airline 2015 by Travelport.

Source: Malindo Air

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: 
Name: Andrea Liong 
Head of PR & Communications
Malindo Air
Tel: +603 2035 6699 ext. 1312 
Email: andrea.liong@malindoair.com

--BERNAMA