Malaysia Airlines returns to Brisbane

Malaysia Airlines is returning to Brisbane with four services a week starting June 6 after it axed flights to the Queensland capital in 2015 as part of a network rationalisation. Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) said the new flights provide 120,000 seats to and from the city  using Airbus A330 aircraft. It said the return of the service was the result of the partnership between Brisbane Airport Corporation, Tourism Events Queensland and Tourism Australia, with the support of Queensland State Government’s Attracting Aviation Investment Fund (AAIF). Malaysia first began flying to Brisbane in 1990 but it surprised airport executives with a decision to cut the service from August, 2015. The decision was part of a recovery plan aimed at addressing successive financial losses exacerbated by the downing of MH 17 and the mysterious disappearance of MH 370 in 2014. The airline is now on the comeback trail and flagged last year that it intended to return to Brisbane and increase frequencies to Perth as part of expansion plans. Malaysia Airlines’ new chief executive, Izham Ishmail, said Tuesday the airline was happy to be reconnecting Brisbane to its network. “Brisbane is strategically placed, in close proximity to many of Queensland’s tourist destinations, which will facilitate our growth plans focusing on key business and leisure cities,’’ Ismail  said in a statement. BAC chief executive Julieanne Alroe estimated the new flights would bring more than 60,000 international visitors to Queensland each year.’ Alroe said the flights would further enhance Brisbane’s global reach by providing a convenient, direct connection to Kuala Lumpur. “Via Kuala Lumpur passengers will have access to Malaysia Airlines’ extensive network including India, South East Asia and the UK,’’ she said. Tickets for new services will go on sale from January 9. The eight-hour flight will arrive into Brisbane at 7:55pm on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, departing at 11.20pm the same day.