Malindo Air is adding another port to its roster of Australian destinations with daily flights to Melbourne.
The Malaysian-based full-service carrier already flies to Perth and Brisbane from Kuala Lumpur and it will start daily non-stop Melbourne-Bali flights in June that will add 118,260 seats both ways on an annualized basis.
A joint venture between Indonesia’s Lion Air and National Aerospace and Defence Industries of Malaysia, Malindo has a strong network in Indonesia flying to major cities such as Bali, Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and Medan.
“Since the 2014 financial year Indonesia has been one of the top three international destinations for Victorian holidaymakers and demand to visit Bali has proven to be strong and resilient over time,” Melbourne Airport chief of aviation Simon Gandy said.
Victorian Tourism Minister John Eren said the new service would benefit jobs and business by boosting access to Indonesia and Malaysia.
“It’s a great opportunity to grow our tourism and trade links with Asia and attract more visitors to our state,” he said.
Launched in 2013, Malindo flies a fleet of Boeing 737-900ER, 737-800 and ATR72-600 aircraft on more than 800 weekly flights to 40 destinations.
It operates scheduled passenger services throughout Malaysia as well as to popular regional destinations in countries such as Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Singapore, Nepal and Pakistan.
The carrier’s s two-class Boeing jets feature a 32-inch seat pitch in economy and 42 inches in business class with in-seat entertainment and wi-fi connectivity on the 737-900ERs.
Passengers flying on the Boeing jets get an included checked baggage allowance of 25kg in economy and 40kg in business. Economy passengers can also take 7kg of cabin baggage while those in the business cabin are allowed 10kg.
Meals and refreshments are also included.
Malindo’s website is advertising Melbourne-Bali flights starting at $A589 return in economy and $A1699 in business class.
Separately, Boeing confirmed that Malindo part owner Lion Air had ordered 50 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft with a list price of $US6.24 billion.
The manufacturer said it was the largest incremental order to date for the MAX 10 variant, which can seat up to 230 passengers and is touted by Boeing as offering the lowest seat-mile cost ever in a single-aisle aircraft.
Lion Air already flies the 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9.
