Malaysia Airlines Doubles Daily Flights To Qatar

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Malaysia Airlines is adding a second daily service to Doha (DOH), saying the route it launched in May has high demand.

The carrier started a daily Airbus A330-300 Kuala Lumpur (KUL)-DOH route in late May, building on an expanded codeshare agreement inked with Qatar Airways–which also operates the route–earlier this year. Both airlines are oneworld members.

The carriers said in a joint statement that their codeshare relationship gives passengers access to 96 destinations.

Malaysia Airlines’ second daily frequency on the DOH-KUL route will commence from Aug. 10 and also be operated by an A330-300 aircraft. “The arrival and departure times of the double daily Malaysia Airlines flights offer customers full access to Qatar Airways’ unrivaled network to the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the US via the world’s best airport, Hamad International Airport, while simultaneously building perfect connectivity to Malaysia Airlines’ network to states within Malaysia, as well as southeast Asia, north Asia and also to Australasia,” the airlines stated.

Malaysia Airlines CEO Izham Ismail said the “successful launch of daily service in May” drove the decision to add another daily flight, adding: “We recognize the importance of collaborating with our partners such as Qatar Airways, more so with travel demand picking up steeply for this route following the easing of border restrictions.”

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said the added capacity on the route is “an impressive example of how our partner airlines can instantly benefit from working with Qatar Airways, both in terms of our growing global route network and our unparalleled service in the air and on the ground at [DOH].”

He added: “We are committed to further expanding our strategic cooperation with Malaysia Airlines and to jointly develop [KUL] as a leading hub in the southeast Asia region in view of the strong rebound in global air travel demand.”

Ismail said Malaysia Airlines expects to operate 70% of its pre-pandemic capacity by the end of 2022.

Aaron Karp

Aaron Karp is a Contributing Editor to the Aviation Week Network.