LANGKAWI, 25 July 2023: Chinese tourists on a Batik Air charter flight from Chengdu to Langkawi last week signalled the return of Chinese tour groups to the popular island destination in north Malaysia.
The Batik Air weekly charter from Chengdu, China, was welcomed by the Langkawi Development Authority (LADA), Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Airports executives.
It’s the first direct flight from a Chinese city to Langkawi since the Covid-19 pandemic. The charter on Batik Air (formerly Malindo Air) uses a Boeing 737-800 with 180 seats for the three-hour and 35-minute flight from Chengdu. Ten charter flights are scheduled until October, with around 1,800 passengers booked on holiday packages sold by Sichuan Global Travel Service Company, China.
LADA executives are hopeful the charters will encourage more direct flights between Chinese cities and Langkawi.
Flight OD611 departs weekly from Tianfu International Airport (TFU), Chengdu, at 0310 (Saturday) and arrives at Langkawi International Airport at 0725.
The outbound flight OD610 departs Langkawi at 2155 (Friday) and arrives in Chengdu at 0210.
Langkawi is campaigning to increase direct flights to and from the island to tap significant source markets such as Indonesia, India and China. According to flight tracker data, seven airlines have flights to and from Langkawi: AirAsia, Bek Air (Z9, seasonal charters from Kazakhstan), Firefly, Malaysia Airlines, MYAirline, Malindo Airways and Scoot.
