By NNN-Bernama,
Dubai : Malaysia Airlines is mounting an additional six flights which will transit in Dubai to cater for the increased demand from West Asian tourists wanting to holiday in Malaysia from July to August this year.
MAS’s Regional Vice President for the Middle East and Africa, Halimy Mahmood, said the demand for flights to Kuala Lumpur was expected to increase as July-August was the peak summer holiday period.
“Most West Asians holiday during these two months,” he told reporters recently when asked about the role played by the airlines to boost tourist arrivals from the region into Malaysia.
He was met on the sidelines of the ongoing Arabian Travel Mart to which Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor led a 150-member strong delegation from 91 organisations to boost tourist arrivals into Malaysia from the Middle East.
The additional flights comprised three weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur-Dubai-Kuwait and three weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur-Dubai-Bahrain, all using Boeing 777s with a total of 1,680 seats.
At the moment, Malaysia Airlines mounts three weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur-Dubai-Beirut using Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 681 seats and two weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur-Karachi-Dubai using an Airbus A330-300 with 584 seats which works out to a 1,256 seats.
With the six additional flights, Halimy said there would be 2,945 seats available for West Asian tourists who want to spend their holidays in Malaysia.
From past experience, he said the demand for flights to Kuala Lumpur during the two months was high and the seat occupancy rate for Malaysia Airlines flights was almost full at 90 percent per flight.
At the moment, he said Malaysia Airlines commanded a 40 percent market share for Kuala Lumpur bound flights from Dubai.