Malaysian carrier Batik Air (previously known as Malindo Air), as of May 12th, 2023, resumed daily service from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) to Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This service would be operated using the carrier's brand-new Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The carrier's Boeing 737-800 has two configurations. One is a single-class configuration with an all-economy class cabin with 180 seats in a three-three layout. The second configuration has 12 seats in the business class cabin in a two-two layout and 150 seats in the economy cabin with the typical three-three layout.

Previously this route was operated from 2015 to 2020 when the carrier was still known as Malindo Air. Batik Air's new service, Flight OD-297, has a scheduled departure time from Kuala Lumpur at 17:25 and, after a flight time of three and a half hours, is scheduled to land in Colombo at 18:25. The return service OD-298 is about six hours later; with a departure from Colombo at 00:35 the following day and an arrival time of 06:55 in Kuala Lumpur, with a flight time of nearly four hours.

A dash down to Male

It might sound strange that the return flight to Kuala Lumpur is six hours after it arrives in Colombo, and it has a good reason. Because during the six hours, the aircraft operates a fifth freedom flight, connecting Colombo and Male (MLE).

Flights to Male are a new addition to the airline's network. The onward flight to MLE will use the same flight number OD-297 and depart CMB at 19:25 and land in MLE at 20:30 after a flight time of just over one and a half hours. The return flight OD-298 departs MLE at 21:30 and lands back in CMB at 23:35, giving the aircraft an hour of turnaround time before its flight back to its base at KUL.

As noted by Australian Frequent Flyer, Batik Air Malaysia has fifth freedom rights on a few more routes, namely from Denpasar (DPS) Indonesia, from where the airline flies onwards to the Australian cities of Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. The carrier also operates fifth freedom flights from Taipei (TPE) to Sapporo (seasonal), Osaka, and Nagoya.

Expanding operations

Batik Air Malaysia is a growing airline, and it is expanding operations with new routes and resumptions. The carrier previously announced that starting June 23rd, 2023, the airline will operate three direct flights per week to Male on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The direct flights will be in addition to the daily flights operated by the carrier via Colombo. However, the airline will deploy its Boeing 737 MAX 8 for the services to Male.

The second new service, also commencing on June 23rd, 2023, is a daily service to Seoul Incheon (ICN) in South Korea. The carrier has stated that it would deploy the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft on this route. Service to the city of Hanoi (HAN) in Vietnam is set to resume later this week, on May 26th, 2023. This will be a daily service from Kuala Lumpur, and the airline will be operating its Boeing 737-800 aircraft on this route.

Simple Flying has reached out to Batik Air Malaysia to learn more about their expansions and network growth, and any comment received from the airline will be updated in this article.

Sources: Aviator, Aviation Source, Australian Frequent Flyer

• 

  Kuala Lumpur International Airport

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  KUL/WMKK

  Country:

  Malaysia

  CEO:

  Dato' Mohd Shukrie

  Passenger Count :

  62,336,469 (2019)

  Runways :

  14L/32R - 4,019m (13,186ft) | 14R/32L - 4,000m (13,123ft)) | 15/33 - 3,960m (12,992ft)

  Terminals:

  KLIA | KLIA2