Malaysia Airlines, Malaysia's national carrier, has launched its global promotional offer in India wherein passengers can get up to 80 per cent discounts on fares to 14 destinations.
The fares are comparable to low-cost carrier AirAsia, one of the pioneers of low-cost international travel in South-East Asia.
The booking period to avail of the offer runs from May 16-31 for the travel period June 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012. As part of the offer, Malaysia Airlines has 68,800 seats on for all-inclusive return fares as low as Rs 12,231 from Chennai to Kuala Lampur and Rs 12,711 from Mumbai to Kuala Lampur.
Thus, Malaysia Airlines, a full service carrier, will offer fares as low as AirAsia, the low-cost carrier to Malaysia. Normal return fares on AirAsia to Kuala Lampur range between Rs 13,000-15,000. However, being a low-cost carrier, AirAsia does not offer food and beverages on board as part of these return fares.
Indian passengers travelling to South-East Asia have seen a marked increase of close to 40 per cent this year, according to travel agents. The low air fares to the region are one of the prime reasons for this increase in travel activity.
Discounts
“We are offering discounts up to 80 per cent off the normal market fares during this promotion covering all travel segments for economy and business travels,” said Mr Dato' Bernard Francis, Executive Vice- President, Sales and Marketing, Malaysia Airlines.
He added that globally six million seats are on offer as part of the promotion and Indian passengers can avail themselves of offers on those seats for bookings outbound from Malaysia.
“So, in a sense, passengers can choose to avail themselves of the offer to almost all destinations in our network,” said Mr Francis. For South-East Asia, a total of 100,000 seats are on offer.
Return fare to Australia is Rs 34,514, while to Auckland, New Zealand it is Rs 36,514.
Business Class
The airline has also included business class seats under the ambit of the promotional offer. Business Class return fares under the offer would be as low as Rs 26,584 from Chennai to Kuala Lampur and Rs 42,172 from Bangalore to Singapore.