Malindo to be Rebranded as Batik Air Malaysia; Moved to MTB; to Partner ex MAS Codeshare Airlines

[jahur 0]

34 minutes ago, flee said:

The problem with MH is that they are opaque and we don't know how much cargo it is carrying and whether the route is profitable and sustainable. 

Remember the days when MH had B777s? Who would have thought that most of their routes were running at a loss? They are flown for reasons other than good business!

TPE is an occasional cargo heavy segment for MH mainly carrying electronics for the A330 and fresh goods for the 738. Once in a while they'll be medical equipment, construction material and agricultural related equipment and livestock feed. There's a report that some of the flights could make profit with just 30% passenger load as long the special cargo consignment is consistently above 9tonnes per flight for widebody and it has still been the case.  Other similar sectors in terms of cargo are NRT, PVG, and PEK. Then there's also then shoopee lazada parcels but those are usually carried by other airlines as well.

The B772's are a fuel gauzzler for todays aviation with the only advantage over the A330 being the range and crew bunk design for long haul or to max out the payload cargo which in today's market not many airlines are willing to do unless they're a dedicated freight operator like fedex dhl. The A359 has a near 17% cost advantage over the b777. Another additional advantage is on the A330 and B789.

The issue back then with old MH via Maskargo, there were not keen to do low volume passenger belly segment frequently on the 734s and old a333s etc. I think it was only 2012 that there were attempts to gradually overhaul to what we got today especially with all the certification and rating. They cant rely solely on assembling up cargo when the volume suffice and then to slot them on the dc10f, b747fs, a300f to do the cargo. Nowadays the volume is smaller but more frequent rarely exceeding 20tonnes on each flights.  Its one of the reasons why there was a downturn where SQ trim out a large number of B747converted freighters while MH disposes the 2 b744fs.

The Covid pandemic also taught many airlines the importance of P2C and certifying large variety of stuff to carry.

Edited September 30, 2023 by jahur

[KK Lee 5]

22 hours ago, flee said:

The problem with MH is that they are opaque and we don't know how much cargo it is carrying and whether the route is profitable and sustainable. 

Remember the days when MH had B777s? Who would have thought that most of their routes were running at a loss? They are flown for reasons other than good business!

MH business model until recently was defying gravity and conventional business practice. From recent brahim fiasco, there are still many incompetent management at the top.

[jahur 0]

Seems like ODs turboprop operations in Subang are no longer active. But they currently still have 5 atr72-600 in posession.

Edit: seems to be very downscaled operations. 

Edited October 13, 2023 by jahur

[JuliusWong 0]

26 minutes ago, jahur said:

Seems like ODs turboprop operations in Subang are no longer active. But they currently still have 5 atr72-600 in posession.

Edit: seems to be very downscaled operations. 

They only have SZB-PEN, SZB-LGK, SZB-KBR and SZB-BTH left for ATR 72 operation. I wonder if they are scaling back ATR 72 operation in anticipation of jet operation soon at SZB?

They are scaling up their jet operation quite considerably. After adding Dubai and Tashkent, they will add Istanbul soon.

Source: https://www.malindoair.com/destinations/route-map

[JuliusWong 0]

Friend received email from Batik Air they are terminating SGN, offers options:

1. Change to earlier date before 16 November. (subject to availability seat)
2. Reroute to/from HAN. (subject to availability seat)
3. Request a full refund for the affected flight or the entire booking.

The restarted this route back in May 2023. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230310-odsgn

BATIK AIR MALAYSIA RESUMES HO CHI MINH CITY SERVICE IN MID-2Q23
NS23
Published at 1400GMT 10MAR23

Batik Air Malaysia in late-May 2023 plans to resume additional service to Vietnam, as the airline schedules Kuala Lumpur – Ho Chi Minh City route from 26MAY23. Upon service resumption, the airline’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft will once again offers 1 daily flight on this route.
 
OD561 KUL1420 – 1525SGN 7M8 D
OD562 SGN1620 – 1925KUL 7M8 D

Edited October 19, 2023 by JuliusWong

[JuliusWong 0]

Emirates, Batik Air in Asean codeshare pact

https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2023/10/970479/emirates-batik-air-asean-codeshare-pact

By BILQIS BAHARI - October 23, 2023 @ 3:48pm

KUALA LUMPUR: Batik Air Malaysia and Emirates have announced a codeshare partnership to offer various travel options to Southeast Asia destinations.

Batik Air group strategic director Datuk Chandran Rama Muthy said the codeshare allows Emirates to access five domestic Malaysian cities and three regional Southeast Asian destinations operated by the airline.

"This initiative not only amplifies Batik Air's network connectivity but also provides Emirates' travellers with the opportunity to explore captivating new destinations in Malaysia and Southeast Asia," Chandran said at the codeshare partnership event here today.

Also present were Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook and Lion Air Group founder Rusdi Kirana.

Emirates will codeshare with Batik Air- operated flights to Penang, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Langkawi, Johor Bahru, Denpasar, Jakarta and Singapore.

Passengers of the Dubai-based carrier will also have an option of a stopover in Kuala Lumpur before flying to their final destinations.

Emirates senior vice president of commercial operations (Far East) Orhan Abbas said it will also offer eight additional destinations operated by Batik Air via Kuala Lumpur for interline transfers.

"Malaysia is an important destination in our Far East network and we're pleased to offer increased connectivity and more options for our customers to new and exciting destinations.

" "Through this partnership, we'll further expand our network reach to more than 1490 cities worldwide," Orhan said.

Chandran said the codeshare partnership will be expanded to more destinations in the future.

Loke said the Batik Air- Emirates partnership positions Malaysia as a central hub for international travel and commerce.

"Although the Transport Ministry doesn't directly oversee business and tourism, it's role as an enabler for three sectors are critical," he said.

He also said the Transport Ministry is committed to facilitate and support initiatives that can grow the these sectors in Malaysia.

Batik Air operates out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1.

Emirates has been flying to Malaysia since October 1996 and currently operates 21 weekly flights to Kuala Lumpur from Dubai using a mix fleet of Boeing B777 and Airbus A380 aircraft.

The carrier currently has 30 codeshare, 11 intermodal and 118 interline partners, including Jakarta-based Lion Air Group and its units Batik Air and Batik Air Indonesia.

[Adam Lawrence 0]

Batik Air Malaysia Adds Dayong Service From mid-Oct 2023

Batik Air Malaysia earlier this month added new route to Mainland China, which saw the airline inaugurated Kuala Lumpur – Dayong route, on 15OCT23. Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft operates this route 3 times weekly.

OD622 KUL0930 – 1425DYG 7M8 357
OD623 DYG1525 – 2005KUL 7M8 357

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/231027-odoct23dyg

Batik Air Malaysia Adds Seasonal A330 Nonstop Melbourne Service in NW23

Batik Air Malaysia during Northern winter 2023/24 season is launching Airbus A330-300 service to Australia, as the airline this week reinstated

Kuala Lumpur – Melbourne nonstop service, between 20DEC23 and 05FEB24 (KUL departure).

The A330-300 aircraft operates this route 4 times weekly, in addition to 1 daily Kuala Lumpur – Denpasar – Melbourne flight with the 737 MAX 8.
OD175 KUL1820 – 0515+1MEL 330 x246
OD176 MEL0645 – 1210KUL 330 x357

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/231027-odnw23mel

Edited October 28, 2023 by Adam Lawrence

[Craig 0]

Did OD downsized their SZB operations significantly? I was looking for flights and it appears that they are quite prone to cancelations (they will sell you a ticket but cancel the flight)? I checked SZB's history and it seems like they only have 2 flights at SZB yesterday. 1 to KBR and BTH each. And today there are only 4 flights (KBR, PEN, LGK, and BTH).

[Pall 0]

2 hours ago, Craig said:

Did OD downsized their SZB operations significantly? I was looking for flights and it appears that they are quite prone to cancelations (they will sell you a ticket but cancel the flight)? I checked SZB's history and it seems like they only have 2 flights at SZB yesterday. 1 to KBR and BTH each. And today there are only 4 flights (KBR, PEN, LGK, and BTH).

I heard OD is only operating 1 ATR in SZB right now. Sounds like they are making an exit soon, or rather just keeping their slot in the event of resumption later on.

[JuliusWong 0]

20 hours ago, Pall said:

I heard OD is only operating 1 ATR in SZB right now. Sounds like they are making an exit soon, or rather just keeping their slot in the event of resumption later on.

 

23 hours ago, Craig said:

Did OD downsized their SZB operations significantly? I was looking for flights and it appears that they are quite prone to cancelations (they will sell you a ticket but cancel the flight)? I checked SZB's history and it seems like they only have 2 flights at SZB yesterday. 1 to KBR and BTH each. And today there are only 4 flights (KBR, PEN, LGK, and BTH).

Chandra did an interview last week stating they will wind up the ATR operation in SZB soon as the Malaysia gomen is planning to allow jet commercial operation in SZB, they won't be able to compete with jet operation with ATR 72. Those ATR 72 will be reassign to Wings Air, sister company in Indonesia. They are also adding two more A330-300 and one additional B737-8 MAX by the end of 2023 in ramping their services in KUL. Currently, Batik Air has a fleet size of 16 B737 MAX 8, 10 B737-800 and two A330s.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2023/10/971775/batik-air-malaysia-add-three-more-aircraft-year-end-expansion-asia

 

[Craig 0]

48 minutes ago, JuliusWong said:

Chandra did an interview last week stating they will wind up the ATR operation in SZB soon as the Malaysia gomen is planning to allow jet commercial operation in SZB, they won't be able to compete with jet operation with ATR 72. T

I don't know if jet operations at SZB T3 is happening anytime soon. The ramp area seems very small and I don't know if it can accommodate OD 737, FY ATR/737, soon-ish SKS' E2, and possibly MH and AK narrow bodies at the same time. I thought the plan was to build a new terminal for jet operations.

[jahur 0]

1 hour ago, Craig said:

I don't know if jet operations at SZB T3 is happening anytime soon. The ramp area seems very small and I don't know if it can accommodate OD 737, FY ATR/737, soon-ish SKS' E2, and possibly MH and AK narrow bodies at the same time. I thought the plan was to build a new terminal for jet operations.

If SZB is to take full regionals the 10 atr bay would have to reduced to 8 bays to cater the wingspan requirement. If it is the 737/a320 again even further reduction and adjacent buildings needs some removal. Not only that the ramp strength and type may need some check. From the looks of it 1 bay has already been modified and redrawn apron to handle the E2 likely for the Embraer Demo flight.

Malindo exiting SZB is not directly tied to competition issue. Malindo and Thai Lion Air was envisioned as a market disruptor on behalf of lion group for the thai and malaysia market and i personally think Malindo now called Batik Malaysia is tired of doing it and is going for sensible commercial operations(central asia, south asia feeder to aussie).

Edited November 3, 2023 by jahur

[Craig 0]

2 hours ago, jahur said:

If SZB is to take full regionals the 10 atr bay would have to reduced to 8 bays to cater the wingspan requirement. If it is the 737/a320 again even further reduction and adjacent buildings needs some removal. Not only that the ramp strength and type may need some check. From the looks of it 1 bay has already been modified and redrawn apron to handle the E2 likely for the Embraer Demo flight.

That's where a new terminal comes in? I thought I read somewhere that a new terminal will be built by WCT to accommodate jets up to 320/737.

[JuliusWong 0]

Batik Air has quietly suspended Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month. Revised route map published recently.

[Craig 0]

8 hours ago, JuliusWong said:

Batik Air has quietly suspended Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month. Revised route map published recently.

Their route map looks very impressive for a "regional" carrier but they do have a habit of selling flights and then canceling them too. I am curious who their target market is because I've rarely seen any billboards or advertisements from them in Malaysia. Flights are cheap and comparable to Air Asia but somehow inflight drinks/meals are missing but includes 20kg luggage on their cheapest tickets. Even MH doesn't offer 20kg on their cheapest ticket.

[flee 5]

1 hour ago, Craig said:

Their route map looks very impressive for a "regional" carrier but they do have a habit of selling flights and then canceling them too. I am curious who their target market is because I've rarely seen any billboards or advertisements from them in Malaysia. Flights are cheap and comparable to Air Asia but somehow inflight drinks/meals are missing but includes 20kg luggage on their cheapest tickets. Even MH doesn't offer 20kg on their cheapest ticket.

Most of Batik Air Malaysia's fleet of B737NGs and B737Maxs are in LCC configuration - so comfort is, at best, at the LCC level. As such, longer flights may be quite uncomfortable.

[JuliusWong 0]

3 hours ago, Craig said:

Their route map looks very impressive for a "regional" carrier but they do have a habit of selling flights and then canceling them too. I am curious who their target market is because I've rarely seen any billboards or advertisements from them in Malaysia. Flights are cheap and comparable to Air Asia but somehow inflight drinks/meals are missing but includes 20kg luggage on their cheapest tickets. Even MH doesn't offer 20kg on their cheapest ticket.

Yes, they will cancel your flight a week before the actual date due to low load and offer you option to either move the flight a day earlier to next available flight. Or you can opt for not-to-seen again refund.

Their target markets are often those pissed off at MH for being too expensive "but-soon-no-more-IFE, horrible-plastic-meal and only-10kg-for-cheapest fare" and AK for always nickel-and-dime and  "cancelling and delaying" but yet want cheap ticket with maximum benefit. LOL. I am joking. They know they can be cheap as AK, but network is not as wide with high frequency as AK, and they can't fight with premium airline MH. So their selling point is cheapest fare with free 20kg luggage, sort of like Southwest in the US. Best of both worlds I guess. Their inflight meal ain't cheap cost an eye watering RM25 for a nasi lemak! 

 

Their Taiwan-Japan vv are mainly tour groups from Taiwan and Japan. Denpasar to Australian routes obviously to target the Aussies going to Denpasar for weekend getaway. Pakistan route cause no one else from Malaysia dare to do it due to safety reason........Istanbul and Uzbekistan they will have the first mover advantage. Istanbul will be a hit with Muslim community especially. 

As for advertisement, yes we rarely see one within Malaysia. The only one I can remember was the one after toll at ELITE highway heading to the airport. The ad is no longer there now. They have a huge billboard in AKL though.

1 hour ago, flee said:

Most of Batik Air Malaysia's fleet of B737NGs and B737Maxs are in LCC configuration - so comfort is, at best, at the LCC level. As such, longer flights may be quite uncomfortable.

For those B737 without proper J class seat, they will block the middle seat to be quasi J class like those European airlines. Tough luck you paid RM2000 for J class but get a Y class seat. Batik Air is low cost value airline...LOL, not sure what that means.

Edited November 27, 2023 by JuliusWong

[JuliusWong 0]

12 hours ago, JuliusWong said:

Batik Air has quietly suspended Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month. Revised route map published recently.

Addition: They will add Shanghai from December 8, 2023 onwards. Same day as they launch Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Edited November 27, 2023 by JuliusWong

[jahur 0]

39 minutes ago, JuliusWong said:

Yes, they will cancel your flight a week before the actual date due to low load and offer you option to either move the flight a day earlier to next available flight. Or you can opt for not-to-seen again refund.

Their target markets are often those pissed off at MH for being too expensive "but-soon-no-more-IFE, horrible-plastic-meal and only-10kg-for-cheapest fare" and AK for always nickel-and-dime and  "cancelling and delaying" but yet want cheap ticket with maximum benefit. LOL. I am joking. They know they can be cheap as AK, but network is not as wide with high frequency as AK, and they can't fight with premium airline MH. So their selling point is cheapest fare with free 20kg luggage, sort of like Southwest in the US. Best of both worlds I guess. Their inflight meal ain't cheap cost an eye watering RM25 for a nasi lemak!

Their Taiwan-Japan vv are mainly tour groups from Taiwan and Japan. Denpasar to Australian routes obviously to target the Aussies going to Denpasar for weekend getaway. Pakistan route cause no one else from Malaysia dare to do it due to safety reason........Istanbul and Uzbekistan they will have the first mover advantage. Istanbul will be a hit with Muslim community especially. 

As for advertisement, yes we rarely see one within Malaysia. The only one I can remember was the one after toll at ELITE highway heading to the airport. The ad is no longer there now. They have a huge billboard in AKL though.

 

For those B737 without proper J class seat, they will block the middle seat to be quasi J class like those European airlines. Tough luck you paid RM2000 for J class but get a Y class seat. Batik Air is low cost value airline...LOL, not sure what that means.

MAG and AAGB would also cancel flights or reschedule a lot nowadays. It aint like it used to be before.

OD's IFE content is also only 20-30% in entertainment content volume compared to other asean peers. Licensing for movie content from multiple studios is pricey. Also more than half of the 737s delivered are without IFE or with IFE but no contents installed. The pissed off MH crowd probably is not OD's main appetite as well the main appetite is the south asian transit market some small splinter aussies which the carrier is leveraging on now since no one else bothers about it.

The only plus side i can see they probably will be the only 738/737-8 carrier(shared with batik indonesia) in asean to have an advantage in more legroom.

All in all its a give take in most carriers. Same same but diff diff.

[JuliusWong 0]

46 minutes ago, jahur said:

MAG and AAGB would also cancel flights or reschedule a lot nowadays. It aint like it used to be before.

OD's IFE content is also only 20-30% in entertainment content volume compared to other asean peers. Licensing for movie content from multiple studios is pricey. Also more than half of the 737s delivered are without IFE or with IFE but no contents installed. The pissed off MH crowd probably is not OD's main appetite as well the main appetite is the south asian transit market some small splinter aussies which the carrier is leveraging on now since no one else bothers about it.

The only plus side i can see they probably will be the only 738/737-8 carrier(shared with batik indonesia) in asean to have an advantage in more legroom.

All in all its a give take in most carriers. Same same but diff diff.

Yes, indeed. MAG and AAGB cancel flight, so does OD. They would have thought moving to OD those pax won't get the same bad experience they have encountered with the other two airlines. 'Til the reality hits them. LOL! 

As for the IFE, I think Lion Air Group stopped providing it after their OEM Lumexis Corporation in the US went out of business in 2016. Recalling back then in 2016 some of their B737-800NG were delivered from the factory without the IFE. Used to get it done at AIROD hangar in SZB. Since then they have not have any IFE. During the days which they had it, the content was crappy any way. The irony is the ditch Panasonic IFE cause it was too pricey and went with Lumexis only to have the whole thing fell apart. Lion Air Indonesia earlier this year introduced a new third party app called Tripper. Not sure if it will be rolled out to Malaysia.

AFAIK, AirAsia X has also abandoned its Samsung Tab handheld device offering. They do not offer WIFI as well. Now the remaining will be MH long haul flight with actual IFE system and some B737-800 flight. 

MH -

1. WIFI - Yes (except selected B737-800NG, A330-200, A330-300) - installation on A330 fleet happening progressively.
2. IFE - Yes (except selected B737-800NG)

AAGB -

1. WIFI - Yes (only for selected A320)
2. IFE - Not available

Batik Air Malaysia -

1. WIFI- No (on their website they stated wifi is offered, but based on my few travels with them, it was not available)
2. IFE - No

[Craig 0]

8 hours ago, JuliusWong said:

Their Taiwan-Japan vv are mainly tour groups from Taiwan and Japan. Denpasar to Australian routes obviously to target the Aussies going to Denpasar for weekend getaway. Pakistan route cause no one else from Malaysia dare to do it due to safety reason........Istanbul and Uzbekistan they will have the first mover advantage. Istanbul will be a hit with Muslim community especially. 

Maybe SAW might work them, maybe it won't. TK is flying twice daily and they are now dumping fares for KUL-IST (never in recent years, it's always cheaper to fly beyond to Europe and a stopover in IST instead of terminating in IST). And not only that, they are using 77W twice daily. Very odd to compete with each other since TK and OD code-shares between KUL-IST and beyond at both stations. TK doesn't operate out of SAW, so OD pax are either terminating at SAW (long trek to Istanbul city) or they have to self transfer to Andalou or Pegasus.

Good luck with PVG. MH can't even maintain 1 daily A333 over winter and it appears that OD's flight is not even listed on the GDS anymore. 

Not sure how the visa free for Chinese and Indian tourists is going to help our 3 carriers tho. Both citizens can get a Malaysian e-visa pretty easily nowadays. Just like Malaysians applying for a Chinese/Indian visa, it's troublesome but it's almost guaranteed anyone will get it unless you have some are/were a journalist for example. 

Thailand's visa free for Chinese tourists have been lackluster so far. Doesn't help that there are few incidents of kidnapping around Thailand and trafficked over to Cambodia and Myanmar.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Craig

[Craig 0]

delete

Edited November 27, 2023 by Craig

[kandiah k 0]

22 hours ago, JuliusWong said:

Batik Air has quietly suspended Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month. Revised route map published recently.

KUA is also secretly gone as expected. Such a shame!

[Adam Lawrence 0]

Batik Air Malaysia Istanbul Frequency Increase From Feb 2024

Batik Air Malaysia recently filed frequency changes to its planned Kuala Lumpur – Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen route, set to commence on 09FEB24. The airline originally filed 3 weekly flights with Airbus A330-300 aircraft, this has been increased to 4 weekly.

OD723 KUL1650 – 2245SAW 330 135
OD723 KUL1825 – 0020+1SAW 330 7

OD724 SAW0005 – 1555KUL 330 246
OD724 SAW0135 – 1725KUL 330 1

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/231215-odfeb24saw

[Adam Lawrence 0]

Batik Air Malaysia Additional Routes Launch in Feb 2024

Batik Air Malaysia during the month of February 2024 continues network expansion, with new service to Batam, Dayong and Kunming.

Kuala Lumpur – Batam eff 16FEB24 4 weekly 737 MAX 8 (This route is in addition to Kuala Lumpur Subang – Batam 1 daily ATR72 flight)
OD356 KUL1510 – 1520BTH 7M8 x146
OD357 BTH1450 – 1700KUL 7M8 x257

Kuala Lumpur – Dayong eff 09FEB24 3 weekly 737 MAX 8
OD622 KUL0930 – 1425DYG 7M8 357
OD623 DYG1525 – 2005KUL 7M8 357

Kuala Lumpur – Kunming eff 08FEB24 4 weekly 737 MAX 8
OD670 KUL2150 – 0135+1KMG 7M8 x135
OD671 KMG0235 – 0635KUL 7M8 x246

Previously reported routes addition in Feb 2024 as follows:
Kuala Lumpur – Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen eff 09FEB24 4 weekly A330-300 (Previous: 3 weekly)
Kuala Lumpur – Kaohsiung – Nagoya eff 07FEB24 3 weekly 737 MAX 8 (Nagoya overall service increases from 3 to 6 weekly)