KUALA LUMPUR, 29 June 2023: Malaysia’s newest low-cost airline MYAirline, launched daily flights to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport this week and expects to introduce daily services to the city’s Don Mueang Airport on 1 July.
The Bangkok flight is the first to an overseas destination since the airline started operations on nine domestic routes in Malaysia last December.
In just six months since it rolled out its first Airbus A320, the airline has increased its fleet to six leased A320 and established a domestic network serving nine destinations in Malaysia from its home base at Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Terminal 2.
Commenting on the launch of the Bangkok flights, the airline’s CEO Rayner Teo told a press briefing in Kuala Lumpur MYAirline would be the first Malaysian airline to fly to both international airports in Bangkok. Ultimately the airline plans to offer four daily flights to Bangkok – two flights to Suvarnabhumi and two to Don Mueang. He claimed the airline was also interested in flying to Phuket and Chiang Mai from Kuala Lumpur, possibly by the end of the year.
The Bangkok Suvarnabhumi flight Z9550 departs Kuala Lumpur at 1020 and arrives in the Thai capital at 1145. Flight time is two hours and 25 minutes. The return flight Z9551 departs Bangkok at 1245 and arrives in Kuala Lumpur at 1615.
The competition will be brutal on the route as the two low-cost airlines MYAirline and AirAsia, engage in a fare war on a route still recovering post-Covid.
MYAirline quotes a one-way fare of MYR169 for the flight to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and Bangkok Don Mueang at MYR139. AirAsia’s lowest one-way fare is MYR149. The roundtrip fare on MYAirlne is around MYR398 compared with MYR345 on AirAsia. Both have similar flight departure times, mid-day, so there is not much between the two airlines regarding the lead-in fares. Both fares streak ahead of Malaysia Airlines and Thai Smile, which have to convince us to part with MYR1,060 round trip for a journey that takes two hours and 15 minutes.
