KUALA LUMPUR (March 21): The airline industry in Malaysia will see the entry of another new operator — Indonesian airline PT TransNusa Aviation Mandiri — which will launch its inaugural international flight service from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur on April 14, making it the latest operator to join a growing number of airlines, including SKS Airways Sdn Bhd and MYAirline Sdn Bhd, to enter the market following the Covid-19 pandemic.

TransNusa chief executive officer of group aviation Datuk Bernard Francis said the carrier will operate a twice-daily service between Terminal 3 of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) using the Airbus A320 aircraft.

Francis, who has experience in both low-cost carriers (LCC) and full-service airlines, including Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia X Bhd, said air traffic and capacity between Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur have yet to return to their pre-pandemic levels.

“Industry data showed that the annual number of passengers between Jakarta and KL was about 2.4 million before the pandemic, and the average load factor was 77%. Also, there used to be about 35 flights a day between all the carriers in Indonesia and Malaysia before the pandemic. Currently, there are only about 20 flights,” he told a news conference via Zoom on Tuesday (March 21).

“Thus, the market is only back to about 50-55% (of pre-Covid-19 levels). So (the Jakarta-KL route) is not saturated,” he added.

As for the overall domestic market in Indonesia, he said capacity has returned to 60% of its pre-Covid-19 levels; the figure stands at about 70% in Jakarta and Bali.

“Maybe towards the third quarter of this year, the overall market could come back to 80% before Covid-19. And by the middle of next year, when the Chinese market is really back, we will see a full recovery to pre-pandemic figures,” he said.

The 15-year-old airline is 51%-owned by PT Panca Global International Indonesia, which is controlled by Indonesian businessman Leo Budiman. The remaining 49% is held by Singapore-based Linkasia Airlines Group Ltd, in which China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd (CALC) owns 72.82%.

With hubs in Bali and Jakarta in Indonesia, TransNusa currently operates 10 daily flights between Jakarta and Bali, and thrice-a-day flights from Jakarta to Jogjakarta.

According to Francis, TransNusa, which has been operating as an LCC in Indonesia, will be positioned as a premium service carrier in the international market.

“In Indonesia, the domestic market is extremely competitive and price-sensitive, and almost all of the domestic airlines are known as low-cost airlines.

“However, the (past) three years (had given) us the opportunity to relook, reengineer and reinvent ourselves. We looked closely at our passengers' wants and needs, which had changed drastically due to the pandemic, and developed a new business model that sits comfortably between full-fledged commercial airline offerings and above low-cost airlines products. By making things a bit more simple and straightforward in terms of product bundles and pricing (them) reasonably well, we want to position ourselves as a premium service carrier,” he added.

The Jakarta-KL route will be its maiden foray into the international market. Flights are now open for booking and TransNusa is offering promotional one-way fares from RM299 till March 31, in conjunction with the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri travel period.

“(After the promotion, we will price our tickets) somewhere in-between (full-fledged airlines and LCCs). We are not here to create a price war. We want to benchmark ourselves competitively, not to undercut any airlines. I believe our product will sell very well once customers understand the value that we provide... because they now have many travel hassles to deal with,” said Francis.

TransNusa currently owns and operates four A320s, which it expects to increase to six before the end of this year, with three Comac ARJ-21 regional jets.

Francis said TransNusa is set to become China’s ARJ-21s' international launch operator.

“We have completed 100 hours of non-revenue flights last week. We are waiting for the final stages of certification. I hope in two weeks, our aircraft will be commercially certified to fly. We will be the first airline out of China to operate the ARJ-21s.

“Once we understand how the demand pattern is between Malaysia and Jakarta, we could alternatively use (the aircraft) on days when the demand is not high because the ARJ-21s come only with 95 seats,” he said

Francis added that TransNusa is in the midst of getting approvals to fly from Indonesia to Johor Bahru, and expects to start flights in early June.