“Malindo Saved KLIA Three Years Ago”, Says Dpt. Transport Minister

7th Nov 2017

Three years ago, Malaysia Airlines (then MAS) lost two planes in catastrophic accidents. One of them, MH370 was still not found after all these years and the second; MH17 was shot down with a ground-to-air missile over Ukraine. The carrier is just now recovering from the accidents.

But MAB was not the only one affected by the two disasters, as they also heavily impacted Malaysian national aviation industry as well. As a result, MAB embarked on a long reprogramme, which saw it cut 6,000 employees and terminate several of its routes.

This left a void in KLIA’s operation as the main terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport was now without a sufficient number of flights and operators and was losing money. Thankfully, the day was saved by another Malaysian airline – Malindo Air.

According to Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister, Abdul Aziz Kaprawi, the Malindo’s decision to move its operations from KLIA2 to KLIA may have saved the nation’s aviation industry as a whole.

He said:

To fill the void left by MAS, other international airlines had to find other alternatives to ensure seamless travel. They had to find other local airlines to fill the vacuum left by MAS. To save the situation then, Malindo agreed to fill that vacuum.

The government wants to turn KLIA into a transit hub. We want sustainability. Malindo Air’s move to KLIA helped save KLIA’s position as a transit hub. If there are no interlining services, then passengers will instead opt to transit in Singapore and Bangkok before heading off to other destinations. We have to look at the industry holistically. We cannot just look at MAB, as the airline is currently facing constraints, and they cannot meet the needs.

Malindo Air Provides Relief for Penang

Meanwhile, Malindo Air has also announced they will join the Penang flood relief by offering their aid to non-profits in terms of air transport.

Malindo Air’s Chief Executive Officer Chandran Ram Muthy said:

At this critical moment, we would like to offer our helping hand as part of our support to the community. Our thoughts and concerns go to everyone in Penang following this massive flood, and we pledge to support with what we can to help.