2 weeks Ago By James Pearson
Over 60 scheduled passenger carriers operate internationally to Australia/New Zealand. They include Malaysia Airlines, which is growing its operation Down Under from 53 to 74 weekly flights , a 40% increase. It will reintroduce Kuala Lumpur to Brisbane flights in late November for the peak summer season Down Under, while increasing service to Auckland, Melbourne, and Sydney.
While unconnected, it came soon after Qantas revealed the reintroduction of two long-haul routes from Perth . Malaysia Airlines Adds 40% More Services Down Under Malaysia Airlines now plans six routes from its Kuala Lumpur hub to Australia and New Zealand. Number six is Brisbane , which Cirium Diio data shows last saw the carrier in March 2023.
Unlike then, when it operated three times weekly, it will be five times weekly when flights return on November 29. While this frequency will not be a record—a daily service existed until 2015—it is a strong return. If there are good celebratory images, they'll be in my jam-packed Weekly Routes article .
Auckland will have a record 10 weekly flights (up from its prior high of eight) while Melbourne and Sydney will return to triple daily. Melbourne had three daily departures at times during 2024, while that number was available to Sydney as recently as early 2025. While neither frequency increase to the two Australian cities was scheduled for late 2025 until now, you could argue they were more of a formality than anything else.
Kuala Lumpur to...
December 2025 (when all the changes will be operational) What was previously scheduled Adelaide Five weekly (A330-300) Five weekly (A330-300) Auckland 10 weekly (A330-200/A330-300) Eight weekly (A330-300) Brisbane Five weekly (A330-300) Zero Melbourne Triple daily (A330-300/A330-900) Double daily (A330-300/A330-900) Perth 12 weekly (A330-300/737 MAX 8) 12 weekly (A330-300/737 MAX 8) Sydney Triple daily (A330-300) Double daily (A330-300) Malaysia Airlines Has Up To 12 Daily Flights The one world member has never exceeded a maximum of 12 daily departures to Australia/New Zealand, and it won't now. However, as it last had that many services in July 2015, it is quite a development. Twelve daily flights will exist on Saturdays , 11 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 10 on Mondays and Sundays, and nine on Wednesdays.
The following table shows all 12 departures from the Malaysian capital on December Saturdays . The entries in bold are the additional services. All will depart between 20:30 and 20:55.
They are well-timed so that one of the carrier's two daily London Heathrow arrivals (at 18:20) will connect seamlessly to them. Until now, the connection time would have been much longer and, therefore, less competitive. In addition to inbound services from Southeast Asia, they will be fed by some arrivals from South and Northeast Asia.
Departure time (from Kuala Lumpur) Destination and equipment 08:30 Auckland (A330-300) 09:10 Sydney (A330-300) 09:15 Perth (737 MAX 8) 09:40 Melbourne (A330-300) 19:50 Perth (A330-300) 20:30 Sydney (A330-300) 20:40 Brisbane (A330-300) 20:50 Melbourne (A330-300) 20:55 Auckland (A330-200) 22:30 Adelaide (A330-300) 22:30 Melbourne (A330-900) 23:00 Sydney (A330-300) There have been huge changes to where it operates. Where Malaysia Airlines' Australia & New Zealand Passengers Went In 2024 According to booking data, Malaysia Airlines transported around 320,000 round-trip local passengers between Kuala Lumpur and the two nations last year. Melbourne, rather than Sydney, was the largest point-to-point market.
But it was massively about connecting traffic, with more than 900,000 people transferring to another flight in Kuala Lumpur. India was overwhelmingly the most popular country market to/from Australia and New Zealand, much more so than the second-ranked UK. Malaysia Airlines has capitalized on the burgeoning Indian traffic.
Nepal was third, Thailand fourth, and wider Malaysia fifth. At the airport level, Sydney-Kathmandu was first, followed by Auckland-Delhi, Sydney-London Heathrow, Perth-London Heathrow, and Melbourne-Colombo..
