A Malaysian airline will soon compete with Air New Zealand offering non-stop flights between Perth and Auckland.

From 24 August 2023, Batik Air Malaysia (formerly Malindo Air) will operate six weekly services from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland via Perth. Seats are available to passengers flying all the way through from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland, as well as the individual Kuala Lumpur-Perth and Perth-Auckland legs.

Batik Air Malaysia will use a Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft for the Kuala Lumpur-Perth-Auckland route. The airline already flies between Kuala Lumpur and Perth, with the Auckland leg becoming a fifth-freedom extension of this service.

At first glance, Perth may not seem like a logical stopover point between Malaysia and New Zealand. But the Perth stop only adds 8.8% of flying distance between Kuala Lumpur and Auckland, while also allowing Batik Air Malaysia to tap into the underserved Perth-Auckland market.

Batik’s Perth-Auckland schedule is similar to Air New Zealand, with a redeye from Perth to Auckland and a morning departure in the opposite direction. Here’s the schedule:

• OD195 Perth 18:05 – Auckland 04:45 (+1 day) – flight time of 6 hours, 40 minutes
• OD196 Auckland 07:00 – Perth 10:40 – flight time of 7 hours, 40 minutes

Seats are already available for sale on malindoair.com. Fares currently start from $1,078 return in Economy or $3,328 return in Business, which is similar pricing to Air New Zealand. However, as the flights have only just been loaded for sale, it is quite likely that cheaper sale fares will be made available closer to the route’s launch in August.

Batik Air Malaysia offers good legroom in Economy and reclining Business Class seating. Meals and a basic selection of in-flight entertainment are provided on board. However, unlike Air New Zealand, the Business Class product is not lie-flat – it’s closer to Premium Economy.

Air New Zealand normally flies a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on the Perth-Auckland route, but is currently using a wet-leased Wamos Air Airbus A330-200 for this service. This is a temporary measure until 28 October 2023.

The last airline to provide non-stop competition to Air New Zealand on the Perth-Auckland route was Qantas. From 2013 until 2015, Qantas flew a limited seasonal Airbus A330-200 service on weekends. Over those years, that route ran for a couple of months over the summer.

Batik Air Malaysia also operates flights from Kuala Lumpur and Bali to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Note that it’s a different airline to Batik Air Indonesia, although both airlines are part of the Lion Air Group.

Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia X currently also flies from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland, although that service stops in Sydney.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.