Aviation market: India is ‘interesting’ and key to growth, says Malaysia Airlines; aims to be core service link without domestic JV

Malaysia Airlines Berhad sees India as an “interesting” and high-potential market and wants to be accepted as one of the country’s core service providers connecting it to the rest of the world, Group Managing Director of Malaysia Aviation Group Berhad, Izham bin Ismail has said.The Southeast Asian premium carrier, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, operates 77 flights per week across 10 Indian destinations and counts India as its top revenue generator, ahead of Australia and the UK. It carried 1.3 million inbound and outbound passengers in the first half of 2025, contributing about 11 per cent to its revenue and 20 per cent of its passenger volumes.“I see the urbanisation rate of India at 40 per cent, with middle-class income earners rising, comfortable disposable incomes, a GDP of 6.5 per cent, 1.4 billion people and nearly 100 airports. India is a really interesting market,” Ismail told PTI. “We wish to capitalise on the rapid economic growth of India, but we are not an India-based airline. We wish that India accepts us as one of the core service providers that connects India to the rest of the world.”He indicated that Malaysia Airlines intends to remain a foreign airline in the Indian market rather than forming a joint venture or becoming an Indian carrier. “Why should I go to somebody’s home and create havoc? I would rather visit from time to time and be friends than try to build a house in your compound. While some companies expand that way, we believe in deep partnerships,” he said.Stating that his airline is not evaluating any new destinations this year in India, he said there might be some in 2026, adding that “predominantly our target 2026-2027 onwards is seats capacity. ““We are watching the marketplaces like Jaipur and all that. The team is evaluating. So the strategy now is increasing frequency. A lot of airlines have products in food, cabin, in-flight entertainment and many others, but the other product that we must really not forget is frequency and connectivity,” he said.Malaysia Airlines, which collaborates with codeshare partners including IndiGo, operates across 900 destinations in 170 territories worldwide. IndiGo remains its strongest partner in India, though the carrier also works with Air India. Ismail said Malaysia Airlines is strong in connecting India with Australia and New Zealand and offers a hub through Kuala Lumpur to China, which currently lacks direct air connectivity with India.The carrier plans to increase flights to 80 per week from December 1. Its focus for 2026–2027 will be on seat capacity growth rather than adding new Indian destinations this year, though markets like Jaipur are under evaluation. “The strategy now is increasing frequency. A lot of airlines have products in food, cabin and in-flight entertainment, but we must not forget frequency and connectivity,” he said, quoted PTI.Ismail also stressed that Malaysia Airlines balances fleet expansion with customer experience investment. “We have invested a lot in food, cabin services and ordering new planes. You don’t splash money to buy aeroplanes — you invest where it matters most, which is our customer,” he said.