Malindo Air (Kuala Lumpur International) chief executive Chandran Rama Muthy has told The Star that the Lion Group joint venture airline in Malaysia now plans to complete its rebranding into Batik Air Malaysia (OD, Kuala Lumpur International) in the second half of the year.

The group hopes to increase connectivity between Batik Air (ID, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) and its Indonesian sister carrier as part of a joint network plan, with Batik Air continuing to focus on the domestic market in Indonesia as a full service carrier and Batik Air Malaysia providing international connectivity via its Kuala Lumpur International hub. As part of its international expansion plans, the Malaysian carrier hopes to also soon sign its first codeshare agreement with a Middle Eastern partner.

Batik Air and Malindo currently serve Kuala Lumpur from Bandung, Batam, Denpasar, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta, Medan Kuala Namu and Pekanbaru in Indonesia.

Malindo currently operates six B737-900(ER)s, 23 B737-800s and 14 ATR72-600s. It is expecting its first B737-8 next week and its first A330-300 widebodies later this year.