Malindo Air which is supposed to start flying May this year (year 2013) has brought forward the launch date to mid-March.
PT Lion Grup chief Rusdi Kirana said that Malindo Air will begin with domestic flights, and a month later it will expand to offer international flights with India being its first stop.
The decision to bring forward operations date is because the aircraft meant for Batik Air will now be allocated to Malindo. Instead, Batik Air launch will be delayed.
Rusdi said the first two aircraft will be used to fly the Kuala Lumpur-Sabah and Sarawak routes.
The next two will be used for flights to India, and its first stop will be Trichy but New Dehli will be added to its network.
“In May we will fly to China and are looking at cities such as Canton and Shenzhen, and will also add Hong Kong”, Rusdi said.
Malindo Air is a joint venture (JV) between Malaysia's National Aerospace and Defence Industries Sdn. Bhd. (NADI), and Indonesia's PT Lion Mentari (Lion Air).