Malaysia Airlines has planned a major expansion on its routes to Japan. The airline will now operate three weekly flights on its new Haneda route from twice weekly and daily services on Narita route from November 1, 2022. The airline has also increased the frequency of Osaka route from thrice to five times weekly since October 2022.
This comes in anticipation of a surge in travel demand following the reopening of Japan’s borders to international travelers, the airline said in a statement.
The airline plans to serve these newly added routes on its flagship A350 or A330 aircraft.
Group chief executive officer Izham Ismail said: “The airline is encouraged by the uptick in forward bookings on flights to Haneda after the recent launch of its twice-weekly service in August this year. It is time to increase the frequency now to accommodate the surge in passenger demand for travel to Japan, following the opening of the country’s border to business and leisure travelers.”
Malaysian Airlines have achieved about 70% of the pre-pandemic level on Osaka route. “We hope our additional service on the Japanese routes namely Haneda, Narita and Osaka will rebuild traffic between the two nations quickly and spur growth in business and trade,” Ismail added.
The airline believes that this frequency increase will facilitate the airline’s capacity recovery to more than 70% of pre-pandemic levels alongside the recovery of other top-performing international destinations including London, Australia, New Zealand, and India.