The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) has granted air traffic rights to Batik Air Malaysia and AirAsia X, enabling them to expand their networks into Central Asia.
Under these newly awarded rights, Batik Air has received approval to initiate scheduled flights linking Kuala Lumpur and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Concurrently, AirAsia X has been given the go-ahead to inaugurate a route connecting Kuala Lumpur with Almaty, Kazakhstan. The move paves the way for both Batik Air and AirAsia X to launch their first flights to Central Asia.
According to data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser, Batik Air has already scheduled the launch of the Tashkent service, with flights set to operate twice a week from Nov. 1 using Airbus A330 aircraft. The carrier will compete on the sector with Uzbekistan Airways, which resumed the route in November 2022 after a hiatus of more than two years because of the pandemic. It currently provides a 2X-weekly service aboard A321neos.
In the Kuala Lumpur-Almaty market, AirAsia X will be the sole operator of nonstop flights between the cities if the route launches as planned. Air Astana previously provided a direct link, but last operated the flights in October 2020.
Alongside awarding the traffic rights for Kuala Lumpur-Tashkent and Kuala Lumpur-Almaty, MAVCOM says it approved 55 other requests between April and June 2023, consisting of 43 international and 12 domestic routes. The total represented an 87.5% increase year-on-year, signalling “an invigorated momentum within the aviation sector.” The number of air traffic applications during the second quarter of 2023 was also 5.3% higher than during the same period in 2019.
“As part of the commission’s continued efforts to ensure that Malaysia’s aviation industry remains dynamic and responsive to global travel trends, we have approved [air traffic rights] for various new destinations as well as to establish new hub connections,” says MAVCOM Executive Chairman Datuk Seri Hj. Saripuddin Hj. Kasim.
“These decisive measures are specifically tailored to enhance connectivity, spur economic growth and catalyse the recovery of the aviation sector. We are particularly encouraged to see airlines seizing these opportunities for expansion.”
In addition to securing permission to fly to Tashkent, Batik Air also gained rights to serve Okinawa, Japan. The airline intends to open a Kuala Lumpur-Taipei, Taiwan-Okinawa route on Aug. 16, operating four times per week using Boeing 737-800s.
Elsewhere, Malaysia Airlines’ LCC subsidiary Firefly has been approved to launch flights from Kota Kinabalu, on the island of Borneo, to Tokyo Narita and Taipei, while AirAsia has been awarded a host of rights, including a routing from Kuala Lumpur to Jaipur, India, and from the northwestern Malaysian state of Penang to Hong Kong.
MYAirline has also been cleared to serve several destinations in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam from Kuala Lumpur. These include Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, Vietnam; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Krabi, Thailand. Airlines are required to utilize the air traffic rights allocated within six months from the approved date.