A large number of choices exist from Australia and New Zealand despite the geographical proximity of Malaysia to this continent. This is due to the fact that Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are two major transit points for flights on the so-called ‘Kangaroo’ route to Europe. Due to this variety available, many airlines are able to offer reasonable fares and onward routes with a stopover in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) offers the widest choice of flights between Australia and Malaysia, with twice daily flights from both Melbourne and Sydney into Kuala Lumpur. MAS also flies up to twice daily from Perth, six times a week from Brisbane and four times a week from Adelaide. Following a wide-ranging code-share agreement signed this year between Garuda Indonesia and MAS, Darwin reappears on MAS' route map with twice weekly via Denpasar-Bali using Garuda metal. Unfortunately, since the demise of Ansett Australia several years ago, MAS has been without a partner for connections from Canberra, Coolangatta, Gold Coast and Hobart for flights into Kuala Lumpur. Please contact Malaysia Airlines for further details.
Virgin Atlantic also code-shares with MAS on MAS' Melbourne and Sydney flights but note that all these 'Virgin Atlantic' flights are operated by MAS. To further complicate matters, all Malaysia Airlines flights from/to Australia and New Zealand are now code-shared with KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines too!
Qantas Airways has had troubled operations into Malaysia for over 20 years and since 1984, Qantas has removed and reinstated services several times. Currently, Qantas remains undecided about its Malaysian operations but continues to concentrate all of its services into Singapore with its partner British Airways, where onward connections to KL have to be made with MAS or SIA. Its latest plan however has seen its subsidiary Australian Airlines (AO) launching flights between Sydney and Kota Kinabalu twice weekly and owing to popular demand, may see Australian Airlines launching new services into Kuala Lumpur in the future.
The only other airline offering direct flights between Australia and Kuala Lumpur is Austrian Airlines (from Melbourne twice weekly and from Sydney five times a week). An important note is that Austrian Airlines times its departure from Kuala Lumpur at 6AM, which is not the most popular hour to travel in.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) provides connnections from Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney via Singapore. Other indirect services are also available with Garuda Indonesia (via Jakarta and Denpasar-Bali), Gulf Air (via Singapore) and Emirates (via Singapore).
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is the only airline offering a direct service into Kuala Lumpur from Auckland, offering four flights a week non-stop for the ten and a half hour journey and a further three flights a week flying via Brisbane. Again, since the demise of Ansett New Zealand, MAS is now without its partner and as a result, flights from Christchurch are no longer available.
Air New Zealand withdrew its Auckland-Kuala Lumpur route many years ago but continues to offer fares to Kuala Lumpur, travelling with its STAR-Alliance partner Singapore Airlines (SIA). Flights leave Christchurch and Auckland bound for Singapore, where passengers then connect on to an SIA service for the 40-minute hop to Kuala Lumpur.
From New Zealand
Airlines operating from Australia and New Zealand
T (NZ) : 0800-737-000. Operates a code-share service with SIA to provide Auckland and Christchurch-KL services via Singapore.
T (Aust) :1-300-767-177. Operates from Perth, Sydney and Melbourne with its partner Qantas into Singapore. Onward connections for KL have to be booked with MAS or SIA.
T (Sydney) :(02)9334-9944. Flies from Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney to Jakarta and Denpasar-Bali with connecting services to KL.
T (Aust) :1-300-303-747. Offers flights from Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Auckland with its partner Malaysia Airlines.
T (Aust) :1-800-642-438. Operates five times a week from Sydney and twice weekly from Melbourne, using its subsidiary Lauda Air's Boeing 777 aircraft.
T (Aust) :13-26-27. T (NZ) : 0800-777-747. Flies twice daily from both Melbourne and Sydney, almost twice daily from Perth, six times a week from Brisbane, daily from Auckland, four times a week from Adelaide and currently twice a week from Darwin via Denpasar-Bali.
T (Aust) :13-13-13. Code-shares with BA to offer services from major Australian cities into Singapore. Onward connections are offered with MAS or SIA. Qantas has unconfirmed plans to return to Kuala Lumpur with its subsidiary Australian Airlines.
T (Brisbane) :07-3017-5000. Flies from Brisbane, Darwin and Perth to KL via Bandar Seri Begawan.
T (Aust) :13-10-11. Flies from Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney several times a day to KL via Singapore.
Offers daily code-share flights on-board Malaysia Airlines services from Melbourne and Sydney.
Specialist and Discount Agencies
