August 10, 2025

MUMBAI: Ready for some sky-high news? Malaysia Airlines has India firmly in its sights as the star market! This airline giant now runs a whopping 77 flights every week to 10 Indian cities. Can you believe it? In just the first half of this year, a stunning 13 lakh people hopped on their planes to and from India. And that's not all — come December, they will lift flights to 80 weekly and plan to add even more next year. "India is the top market for us in terms of both revenue and passenger numbers among the 24 countries and 67 territories that we fly to," said Izham bin Ismail, the Group MD of Malaysia Aviation Group Berhad, in an exclusive chat with TOI. "Australia and Europe are the second and third biggest markets for us after India." Why this love affair with India? For one, Malaysia Airlines has already squeezed out all flying rights to India’s big metro cities under the current agreements. So, guess what? They are eyeing the fast-growing non-metro cities next year to catch even more travelers buzzing in. "India is a very important market to us. And we intend to grow (in) India in the future. We are evaluating other non-metro cities where we could deploy. We have also been increasing frequency on some India routes. We have a code share with IndiGo that helps passengers connect to their domestic network," shared Ismail, who started flying planes himself back in 1979 before climbing to the very top of the airline. He described India as a "very promising" market buzzing with travel needs—from fun vacations and luxury trips to visits with friends and family. Plus, India's booming economy and rising middle class with stable income make it a golden spot. "Indian economy is growing at a truly impressive pace. Urbanisation here is on the rise. Indian carriers have over 2,000 aircraft on order. Middle class income here is growing. We see the Indian population predominantly has very stable disposable income," he explained. To grab this golden chance, Malaysia Airlines made a bold move to shift plane capacity from its Asean and Malaysian domestic routes straight over to India. "So, we put more capacity into India by sacrificing our capacity into Asean & domestic Malaysia. We redirected those capacities to India. I am glad we took a bet on India at the right time," Ismail said proudly. So, India is soaring high with Malaysia Airlines opening new routes and packing planes. The sky is not the limit—it’s just the beginning!

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Tags: Malaysia airlines, India market, Air travel, Aviation growth, Izham bin ismail, India-malaysia flights,