Malaysia Airlines looks to expand India network

Malaysia Airlines is open to partnerships with India, citing strong demand for corporate and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) traffic, provided the arrangements benefit both sides, CEO Nasaruddin A. Bakar said.

“Partnership is very important. And we believe partnership is one of the ways moving forward. I'm open to any kind of partnership, but it has to be a win-win situation for both parties,” said Malaysia Airlines Group President and CEO Nasaruddin A. Bakar, as quoted by PTI.

The South-east Asian carrier, which serves 10 destinations in India, also said it aims to expand its network in the country but is restricted by bilateral traffic rights.

As of now, the carrier operates direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Indian destinations such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Amritsar and Thiruvananthapuram.

He said the airline has a strategic codeshare partnership with IndiGo, which has enabled it to connect passengers to six additional destinations in India, including Goa. He added that the partnership also helps improve connectivity and feed traffic from the airline’s Indian destinations to Kuala Lumpur.

Partnerships are part of Malaysia Airlines’ Long-Term Business Plan (LTBP), which focuses on four core areas and is now in its third phase this year, Bakar said.

“Our partnership strategy is very important, and we believe partnerships have helped us grow,” he said. Through codeshare and interline agreements with airlines worldwide, passengers can travel to more than 1,000 destinations with Malaysia Airlines.

However, the CEO said partnerships need not be limited to airlines and could also involve non-airline companies, including those in MRO, technology, digital services and sports.

Malaysia Airlines is the official global airline partner and an associate sponsor of the Mumbai Indians. In April 2026, the airline unveiled a Mumbai Indians-themed livery on one of its Airbus A330 aircraft to mark the partnership with the cricket franchise.

Describing India as a ‘very strong’ market for Malaysia Airlines, Bakar said the carrier recorded 13 per cent year-on-year growth in the first half of 2026.

Passenger traffic to and from India accounted for nearly 10 per cent of the airline’s total traffic of around 10.6 million passengers during the period. He said the airline carried about one million passengers on India routes, with around half a million travelling in each direction.

Malaysia Airlines currently operates 80 weekly flights to India and is looking to add more frequencies and slots, Bakar said.

“I'm seeing a growing leisure market with a 13 per cent incremental growth, along with this corporate and premium market, which has spiked, as well as VFR. We're seeing corporate travel demand grow by about 40 per cent, while VFR demand is up about 24 per cent. So this growth is very important (for the airline), getting the bilateral to be better in terms of getting more slots and more frequency is something that we aspire to have. We have been discussing for quite a while with the government and also the related agencies,” said the CEO.