KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 20): Malaysia Airlines is increasing flight frequencies between KL and Japan in preparation for a surge in travel demand following Japan’s reopening of its international borders.

Starting Nov 1, there will be three flights a week from Tokyo, Japan, instead of two on its new Haneda route, while there will be daily flights along the Narita route, instead of five flights weekly, said the airline in a statement.

Since October 2022, the airline's flight frequency into Osaka (KIX) has increased to five times a week, from three times.

“We are encouraged by the healthy upticks in forward bookings on flights to Haneda after the successful launch of our twice-weekly services in August this year.

“It is timely to increase the frequency to accommodate the surge in passenger demand for travel to Japan for business and leisure travellers,” said Malaysia Airlines group chief executive officer Captain Izham Ismail.

He added that Malaysia Airlines operations in Osaka have also gained traction, with current capacity at 70% of pre-pandemic levels.

“The frequency increase will facilitate the airline’s capacity recovery to more than 70% of pre-pandemic levels alongside the recovery of other top performing international destinations including London, Australia, New Zealand and India,” he said.

He hoped that the additional service on the Japanese routes, namely Haneda, Narita and Osaka, will rebuild traffic between the two nations quickly and spur economic growth.