According to the airline’s website, Malindo Air Flight OD 541 will depart Phuket International Airport at 3:55pm on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Wednesdays.
The flight will touch down at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 6:25pm Malaysian time.
Return flights from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket operate the same days, with Malindo Air Flight OD 540 departing Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 2:45pm Malaysian time and arriving in Phuket at 3:10pm Phuket time.
The airline is 51-per-cent owned by the National Aerospace & Defence Industries Sdn Bhd of Malaysia and 49% by Indonesia’s Lion Group.
The launch of the flights to Phuket comes on the heels of the airline’s second route to Thailand, Kuala Lumpur-Chiang Mai, which took off on October 30 with a daily flight, reported the Bangkok Post.
Malindo Air’s launch of flights to Phuket and Chiang Mai form part of its accelerated expansion into Thailand from its Malaysian base, complementing its initial sole route: Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok.
Malindo commenced flying to Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport in April 2014, offering as many as 17 flights a week.
The airline will deploy a Boeing 737-800 narrow-body jet with 162 seats, including 12 in business class, on the Phuket flights, the same arrangement used on its flights to Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
Malindo will compete head-to-head with Malaysia AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines, which are already operating on the Kuala Lumpur-Phuket route. The airline aims to fly mostly tourists from Malaysia and possibly Indonesia to the Phuket.
Malindo has been ratcheting up its international expansion as it moves towards becoming a full-service airline with a closer association with the Lion Group.
Read original Bangkok Post story here.