This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 18, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: Malindo Airways Sdn Bhd will temporarily suspend all its international operations from today till March 31 in anticipation of a reduced capacity as a result of the nationwide movement control order.

The Malaysian-based airline noted that the Indian authorities have also barred all Malaysian carriers from today until March 31.

“With the enforcement of the movement control order where Malaysians will be barred from leaving the country and restrictions placed on the entry of all tourists and foreign visitors into Malaysia, Malindo Air will cut its flying capacity to all international destinations this month. We will continue to monitor the situation,” it said in a statement yesterday.

“Although we are an essential services provider, we fully support the government’s move to restrict the movement of people so as to be able to contain the [Covid-19] pandemic,” Malindo Air chief executive officer Captain Mushafiz Mustafa Bakri said.

“The drastic cuts in our regular flying schedules are regrettably unavoidable,” he added.

Malindo Air said it will continue to provide critical connectivity by operating domestic flights between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu; Kuala Lumpur and Kuching; Kuala Lumpur and Penang; and Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi.

“Passengers who have booked for travel between [today] and [March] 31 will be given an option to move their travel date within 12 months at no cost, subject to seat availability,” the airline said.

The airline operates over 800 flights weekly across a network of 57 routes in the region. Its fleet comprised 13 ATR 72-600s and 29 Boeing 737s as of October 2018.

Malindo Air recently asked its staff to take an up to 50% pay cut and two weeks’ unpaid leave as the Covid-19 outbreak hit the aviation industry.