Malindo Air will transition its name and branding to Batik Malaysia in the second half of this year.
Lion Air Group founder Rusdi Kirana says that aligning the Malaysian affiliate with its full-service Batik brand will allow the two carriers to jointly sell tickets, and will open up potential commercial and network synergies.
He stresses however that the two carriers will continue to retain their own management.
Malindo operated the world's first commercial service with a Boeing 737 Max 8 on 22 May. The aircraft was delivered in Batik Malaysia livery, although the airline continues to operate under the Malindo brand for now.
Speaking to FlightGlobal during the inaugural service, Malindo's chief executive Chandran Rama Muthy adds that the Batik brand will also help to reduce confusion by passengers, and allow for more transfers from the Indonesian's Batik Air through Kuala Lumpur International airport (KLIA).
"The idea is to use KLIA as a transit hub. Batik will feed to us, and we'll bring the passengers out and vice-versa," says Muthy.
He also explained that configuring its first four 737 Max jets in an 180 all economy layout will enable the airline to deploy the right product type on flights with low business class demand, as well as on charter services.
This, stresses Muthy, will have no impact on Malindo as it will retain its full-service carrier model.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
