KUALA LUMPUR: In a further sign of confidence in the outbound travel sector, Batik Air (formerly known as Malindo Air) has reinstated direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia's holiday destination Denpasar, Bali from today.
This marks the airline's second destination in Indonesia after the reopening of international borders.
"With flights to Denpasar now being reinstated, Batik Air's capacity to Indonesia will increase as we already resumed our twice daily services to Jakarta since March 27," the airline said in a statement.
Flight OD306 departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 09:10 am today and scheduled to land at Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar at 12.15 pm.
Batik Air said it will initially be offering four weekly services, between today and June 24.
"The services will then increase to twice daily (14 times weekly) from June 25, onwards," it added.
"Bali has always been the airline's hit market before the pandemic and we are hoping that this newly-reinstated route will provide convenient connections for the gradual hike in the number of holiday makers travelling to Bali, therefore enhancing the airline's capture of the regional market," Batik Air's chief executive officer Captain Mushafiz Mustafa Bakri said.
"Additionally, with the reopening of international borders amidst the lifting of travel restrictions, Batik Air will continue to adjust our capacity to match the demand for international air travel."
"This route," Mushafiz added, "is the latest addition to Batik Air's plan to provide convenient connectivity for passengers from India, Nepal and Bangladesh, as well as passengers connecting from other destinations enroute to Bali and beyond to Australia.
"Batik Air," he noted, "is steadily gaining international momentum in rebuilding our capacity and routes.
We are continuing to set the pace in terms of recovery. We have been able to resume a significant part of our international network."
Apart from Denpasar, Bali, the other Batik Air's reinstated scheduled international services include destinations like Jakarta in Indonesia Kathmandu (Nepal), Dhaka (Bangladesh) Lahore (Pakistan) Trichy (India), Bangkok (Thailand) and Singapore.
