KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 13): Datuk Chandran Rama Muthy has returned as the chief executive officer (CEO) of full service carrier Batik Air Malaysia, effective Feb 1.

He replaces Captain Mushafiz Mustafa Bakri, who has been promoted as the safety director of Batik Air Malaysia's parent company Lion Air Group of Indonesia. Mushafiz has been at the helm of Batik Air Malaysia since Sept 23, 2019.

Chandran was the first CEO of Batik Air Malaysia, formerly known as Malindo Air, from its inception in 2013 to August 2019. He was then promoted to the position of group strategy director at Lion Air Group.

"Under Chandran’s leadership, Batik Air Malaysia has made rapid progress on the execution of its strategy, while reporting a strong network expansion and improved service performance. This has created a solid foundation for the long-term expansion of Batik Air Malaysia and sustainable value creation for industry partners, customers and stakeholders," said the carrier in a statement on Tuesday.

Batik Air Malaysia operates a mixed fleet of three Airbus A330-300s, 27 Boeing 737-8/800 NG aircraft, and five ATR72-600s. The airline will be adding an additional three A330-300s and six 737s.

The carrier carried a total of 4.5 million passengers in 2023. It operates 800 weekly flights across 57 routes in the region.

It is a member of the Lion Air Group, which includes Batik Air Indonesia, Super Air Jet, Lion Air, Wings Air, Biz Jet and Thai Lion Air.