KUALA LUMPUR: Malindo Air, CAPA 2016 Asia Pacific Regional Airline of the Year, launched its daily flight yesterday from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Brisbane International Airport, via Denpasar in Bali. The daily service marks the airline’s second destination in Australia, after Perth, in its expanding international network. Promotional fares for one-way tickets on this new KUL-Brisbane route start from RM1,049 for Economy Class and RM2,369 for Business Class, all inclusive of perks such as free baggage allowance, in-flight entertainment, and meals. Flight OD157 departs KLIA daily at 6.05pm to Brisbane, via Denpasar, Bali, with a flight time of 3 hours and 5 minutes, before arriving at Ngurah Rai Airport, Denpasar, at 9.10pm. The flight then departs Denpasar at 10pm and arrives in Brisbane at 5.40am, a journey that takes 5 hrs and 40 mins. The returning flight, OD158, departs Brisbane at 7.15am and arrives in Denpasar at 11.45am. After a one-hour transit, the flight departs Denpasar at 12.45pm and arrives in KLIA at 3.45pm. The narrow-body Boeing 737NG aircraft, which includes 12 Business Class and 150 Economy Class seats, is being deployed on this new route. CEO of Malindo Air, Chandran Rama Muthy said: “We are delighted to launch the only service between Kuala Lumpur and Brisbane, with a stop on the famous island of Bali. There are immense opportunities for future growth associated with this new connectivity, as Brisbane is a significant commercial business hub and tourism gateway to one of Australia’s Unesco World Heritage Sites, the Great Barrier Reef, and the beautiful Gold Coast. “We will certainly work on building beneficial relationships with Malaysian and Australian tourism players and Brisbane Airport authorities, to ensure the success of this new route,” he said. Chandran also said that this new route will attract business from VFR (visiting family and relatives), the business community, diplomatic services and the tourism industry. “The commencement of this new route underscores the strong and growing economic, business and tourism links between Malaysia and Australia. “It also improves the connectivity of Kuala Lumpur and Brisbane to other destinations in Malindo Air’s growing network, particularly to Indonesia, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Malindo Air is giving our customers more options to choose a flight which suits their travel needs better,” Chandran added. Malindo Air started operating from Kuala Lumpur to Perth on Nov 19, 2015 and currently operates 10 weekly flights to and from the Western Australian city.