Malaysia Airlines to fly to Xian

KUALA LUMPUR: National carrier Malaysia Airlines said it will mount two weekly flights between the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and Xian in China from this month.

Malaysia Airlines in a statement said a two-class configured Airbus A330-200 aircraft would be used on the route, providing a total weekly capacity of 458 seats in each direction, from March 15.

Xian becomes Malaysia Airlines eighth scheduled service destination in China after Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Chengdu and Kunming.

"The new link is in line with Malaysia Airlines' continued effort to strengthen its market presence in China," it said.

With the addition of Xian, the carrier operates 66 weekly flights between Malaysia and China.

Malaysia Airlines on Monday announced its net profit for the nine months to December rose 30.1 percent to 216.90 million ringgit (US$57 million) on higher air traffic demand.

It said short-haul regional travel was likely to gather pace as new low cost carriers expand their operations.-- AFP