langkawi magazine
Archives SECTION
Malaysia Airlines to launch direct flights from Ahmedabad
Malaysia Airlines announced Thursday plans to introduce direct flights between Ahmedabad and Kuala Lumpur.
With the new flight beginning from Dec 16, the national carrier of Malaysia will have direct connectivity to six sectors in India.
It currently offers direct flights to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
`Gujarat plays a significant role in the Indian outbound air traffic. Gujaratis are known to be a travelling community and we want to service them right from their doorstep,` said Zainal Abidin Sulaiman, the airlines area manager.
`The people of Gujarat travel to the Southeast Asian region in significant numbers and, therefore, we thought of Ahmedabad first, while we have plans for other destinations too,` Sonia Dutt, the airlines marketing manager (south Asia), told mediapersons.
`We expect the new route to attract the primary market to Malaysia and beyond, especially Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the US,` she added.
The flights will leave the city at 11.25 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and reach Kuala Lumpur at 07.05 a.m. (local time), taking five hours and five minutes. The return flight will start from Kuala Lumpur at 7.30 p.m.
The new operation increases the airline's seat capacity in the Indian region to 8,128 from 5,844 and number of flights to 28 from 26 every week.
Dutt said that the airline would soon announce an attractive introductory fare. `There will be special packages in association with Malaysia Tourism.`
Ahmedabad 18/11/04
