Newcomer to Australian airspace Malindo Air is boosting its flights between Perth and Kuala Lumpur just two weeks after launching the route on November 19.
Using a Boeing 737-900 aircraft fitted with business class and economy, Malindo Air will offer an extra flight out of Perth on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, adding to its already-daily OD152/OD151 service between the two cities.
The new OD156 flight provides a morning departure of 7am to reach Kuala Lumpur at 12:55pm, while the OD155 return service is wheels-up at 11:15pm for a 5am arrival into Australia’s mining capital.
Business class provides 12 leather reclining seats in a 2-2 configuration across three rows…
… complete with multi-country AC and USB charging ports for each passenger, an 11.1-inch touchscreen inflight entertainment system…
… complimentary food and beverage and one hour of inflight Internet access with additional usage available for an extra charge.
Passengers at the pointy end also enjoy access to the Malindo Executive Lounge in Kuala Lumpur before their flight home, as do Malindo Miles Platinum members and Malindo Corporate Gold customers stuck in economy.
From Kuala Lumpur Malindo Air offers connections to a number of destinations across Malaysia and to a variety of international cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore and Bangkok, joined by Colombo from December 18 2015.
Qantas partner and Oneworld member Malaysia Airlines also flies non-stop between Perth and Kuala Lumpur, as does low-cost airline AirAsia X.
Also read: Malaysia Airlines cuts flights to Perth, closes Perth lounge
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Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
07 Sep 2013
Total posts 3
I'm surprised this airline is allowed to fly to Australia, given that they're (Lion Air) on the EU blacklist.
04 May 2015
Total posts 262
Malindo isn't on the EU blacklist (although yeah, Lion is)...
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 Oct 2013
Total posts 93
If memory serves me correct, Lion Air is on the blacklist, along with other Indonesian carriers, due to their civil aviation authority not being up to scruff. That said, Malindo is registered as a Malaysian carrier and based out of KL, and from what I've heard from colleagues the operations & service is more of a Malaysian flair...
21 Mar 2014
Total posts 8
Another suspect Airline for my own personal blacklist
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
10 Jan 2012
Total posts 259
Did you find that they weren't as flash as they appear to be when you flew them? Or that the safety wasn't up to scratch?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 Oct 2013
Total posts 702
Any lounge in Perth?
25 Sep 2013
Total posts 1245
Those business class seats look good for a B737.
24 Apr 2014
Total posts 271
I agree and spacious between rows
21 Feb 2015
Total posts 68
Flown all the members of that group a whole bunch of times (yes, the lot - Malindo, Batik, Lionair, Thai Lion, Wings Abadi) - the Malindo one stands out and that operation is a damned sight slicker than the others in the group.
In this instance, tarring them all with the same brush is unfair. The other ones in the group rightly deserve the bashing AusBT readers are giving them, with cancellations and delays left right and center with more incidents than I have frequent flyer miles.
Seat pitch in J looks and feels like about 45 inches. In Y it's 32, so quite comfy in both classes.
Meals look and feel a little disjointed and not well put together sometimes (in Y, i once got an Isotonic drink for breakfast which i thought didn't match), but the crews try really hard and as someone pointed out - they have a malaysian flair which I like.
One thing Chris hasn't noted is that most of the 739 fleet has wifi, and whilst i can't remember the charges - i remember them being very reasonable.
All in all - No hesitation for Malindo... but not necessarily her 4 sisters.
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