Malaysia-based Malindo Air is betting big on the increasing number of Indian tourists visiting the South-East Asian country.

The full-service carrier, which began operations in India in 2013, launched direct flights from Kolkata on October 22. Malindo will be the second airline to have direct flights between Kolkata and Kuala Lumpur after Air Asia.

Apart from Kolkata, it operates from seven Indian cities – Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchi, Kochi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Amritsar and Delhi. Its group airline, Batik Air, has operations from Chennai. The Kolkata-Kuala Lumpur route will have a frequency of five flights a week. It offers 12 business class and 150 economy class seats.

“We are hopeful of having more passengers. Our peak season occupancy is expected to be 90-95 per cent,” said Ramdas Shivram, General Manager – Sales and Business Development, Malindo Air.

Indian tourist arrivals in Malaysia registered nearly 15 per cent jump to over 307,000 in the first six months of this calender year.

With the availability of more flights, Malaysia aspires to welcome one million Indians tourists by 2020.