Mumbai: Malaysian flag carrier Malaysian Airlines is open to any partnership with India, where it sees strong demand for corporate and VFR traffic, as long as it is a "win-win" for both the partners, its chief executive officer, Nasaruddin A Bakar, has said.
The South-east Asian carrier, which flies to and from 10 destinations in India, also said that it aspires to expand its network here but bilateral traffic rights restrict it from doing so.
It also said that the Gulf war has pushed the fuel cost to 55 per cent from 40 per cent in the overall operating cost earlier, forcing it to put in place certain mitigating efforts, including cutting capacity by 5 per cent and hiking airfares by 20 per cent, besides hedging 36 per cent of its fuel for 2026, among other steps.
"Partnership is very important. And we believe partnership is one of the ways moving forward. I'm open to any kind of partnership, but it has to be a win-win situation for both parties," Malaysian Airlines Group President and CEO Nasruddin A Bakar told PTI in an interaction.
He said that his airline has a strategic codeshare partnership with IndiGo, which has helped it operate to an additional six destinations in India, including Goa, adding, "It (also) helps in terms of our connectivity and flow to feed from all stations that we fly into Kuala Lumpur."
Partnership is a part of the Malaysian Airlines' Long-Term Business Plan (LTBP) strategy, which has four core focused areas and is now in the third phase this year, he said.
"Our strategy of partnership is super important. And we believe with partnership we have been able to grow," he said, emphasising that one can fly with Malaysian Airlines to more than 1,000 destinations today with its codeshare and interline partnerships with various airlines globally.
However, he said, forming an alliance does not necessarily mean with an airline only; it could be with non-airline companies as well, such as an MRO, technology, digital or sports company.
Malaysia Airlines serves as the official global airline partner and associate sponsor of the Mumbai Indians.
Saying India is currently "very strong" for Malaysia Airlines, he said the carrier saw 13 per cent year-on-year growth in the first half of this calendar year.
India passenger traffic accounted for nearly 10 per cent of the airline's total passenger traffic of around 10.6 million in the first half of 2026. "For India, we have carried about 1 million passengers, half a million each way," he said.
"I'm seeing a growing leisure market with a 13 per cent incremental growth, along with this corporate and premium market, which has spiked, as well as VFR (visiting family, friends and relatives). We're seeing corporate travel demand grow by about 40 per cent, while VFR demand is up about 24 per cent. So this growth is very important (for the airline)," he added.
Malaysian Airlines currently operates 80 weekly flights and is looking at additional frequencies and more slots, he said.
Malaysia-India relations are very strong, and they also help passenger travel demand, "and I'm seeing that through our growth. Of course, we can do better," he said.
Stating that the airline is seeing a very high load factor at an average of 91 per cent on its India network, which means there are opportunities for the airline to grow more.
"So hence, getting the bilateral to be better in terms of getting more slots and more frequency is something that we aspire to have. We have been discussing for quite a while with the government and also the related agencies," he said.