Skip to content

Malindo Air cancels some Australian flights

April 3, 20202 minute read
Adelaide Airport,Australian flights

UPDATE 5th June 2020: Malindo Air has confirmed the cancellation of their Australian flights to Sydney and Adelaide. While the rerouting option offered as below, is still available, the airline has indicated that cancellations with full refund will now be processed through their agents in Australia.

Please contact Malindo Air Reservations (02) 8073 0133 (in Australia) or email customercare.au@malindoair.com.

Please also check their updated Covid-10 policy here. The airline has also announced that international services will be reinstated in stages ad the border control situation eases. Limited domestic services resumed on 12th June 2020.

The original article:

Malindo Air has announced the withdrawal of some Australian flights in response to low demand in the current pandemic conditions. the routes affected are those between Kuala Lumpur and Sydney, via Denpasar which ceases at the end of May 2020. Adelaide comes off the route map from the start of September.

Australian flights affected

The date of cessation of services for the respective routes are as follows:

Kuala Lumpur-Denpasar-Sydney – with effect from 30th May 2020

[table]
Route Flight No Departure Arrival Status
KUL-DPS-SYD OD 171 1825 (6.25pm) 0640+1 (6.40am) next day Cancelled
SYD-DPS-KUL OD 172 1030 (10.30am) 2110 (9.10om) Cancelled
[/table]

Kuala Lumpur-Denpasar-Adelaide – with effect from 1st Sep 2020

[table]
Route Flight No Departure Arrival Status
KUL-DPS-ADL OD 173 1955 (5.55pm) 0640+1 (6.40am) next day Cancelled
ADL-DPS-KUL OD 174 0740 (7.40am) 1550 (3.50pm) Cancelled
[/table]

Ticket options

Passengers with existing bookings affected by the cessation of these routes have the following options:

  • REROUTE:
    • Reroute via Melbourne or Brisbane
      • domestic flight at passengers expense.
  • Contact Malindo Air customer care to re-book the flights and reissue the tickets.
  • FULL REFUND:
    • Cancellation of tickets is available without any cancellation penalty.
  • Australian passengers:
    • For more information and assistance contact Malindo Air Reservations (02) 8073 0133 (in Australia)
    • or email [email protected]

Flight change fee waivers for Covid-19 affected flights

Malindo Air has also announced fee waivers for cancellations and flight changes resulting from the pandemic. The situation is fluid and may change depending on any extension of travel restrictions in various countries. This page has information about the current situation and how to change your plans. It also has information on how the aircraft are prepared for passengers.

# Adelaide, flight changes, flight cut, Malindo Air, route cancellation, Sydney
Share this Article
Further Reading
Trending Articles

51 Comments

This Post Has 51 Comments

  1. Malindo air is only offering travel vouchers for travel in the next 6-12 months. Many Australians are requesting refunds back to original form of payment as a voucher is useless considering they will be suspending Flights from major cities in Australia.

    1. Most airlines are offering credit vouchers in some form or another. This may either be a change of date on the same route or a credit that can be used for a different route. Qantas is also offering a similar arrangement. At the moment Malindo is not cutting all their routes but if a route is cancelled and you have no opportunity to use the voucher, you certainly have a case to request a refund. We have also been monitoring what different airlines are offering their passengers and have noticed that as the situation develops, many arrangements have been modified to assist the passenger with more choices.

      1. Some time in March 2020 they sneakily changed their Terms and Conditions without notification, from refund to original form of payment for involuntary & voluntary refund requests to Malindo Travel Voucher and removed clause 16 which states to provide bank or credit cards for ‘smooth’ refund process. Their denying many who purchased airfares prior to the change and their lack of communication & transparency is non existence.

        1. I have there original Terms and Conditions that were attached to my e-ticket booking in February 2020

          1. I have an e-ticket but it won’t allow me to open the old T&Cs page that is attached…… not happy! the vouchers are useless to us.

          2. Please contact the airline directly. Also check your e-ticket, the T&C may be part of the ticket in a separate page. Some airlines do this.

      1. All Malaysian airlines, just like Australian airlines, are currently not flying any scheduled international services. Their citizens are not allowed to leave the country and foreign visitors are currently not allowed entry. As a result, most are offering credit vouchers as expectations are that flights will resume once the controls are lifted.

  2. Is there an official press release from Malindo confirming these cancellations that you can point me to? I’ve been trying to obtain a refund from them for cancelled flights however they keep trying to get me to accept a voucher and will not address the issue of suspended routes.

    1. It wasn’t an official press release as such. However, they have flagged more changes and I’ve sought clarification from a contact in the airline. The controlling body in Malaysia MAVCOM, has directed Malaysian airlines to either repay all cancelled tickets in full or give vouchers with a longer validity period. It is possible they are trying to stop a ‘run on the banks’ which benefits nobody.

  3. Malindo is secretive and sneaky! They do not want to admit or verify that they are terminating many routes especially now. I asked several times in Dec/Jan pre-coronavirus. They only want to say “suspending” as if they will resume in a few months. This was BEFORE coronavirus!
    This the case also in India where someone started a petition against terminating their route from Trivandrum to KL. Feel free to Google it.

    Since they are terminating routes – they best give full refunds on flights THEY CANCELED or suffer by the angry masses. Especially now people are out of work & locked down & need their refunds.

  4. Hi Lesley, thanks for the blog & info.
    I am sure I remember reading on Malindo’s “news” blog (2 months ago when searching for info) that they acknowledged they were no longer going to service TRIVANDRUM. When I looked yesterday… I do not see an entry. Do you remember reading/seeing it.
    I’m suspecting they deleted it along with anything else that distracts from their #1 scapegoat (covid-19). They are trying to use covid19 as the only resson for canceling routes, when we know it’s not.

    MAVCOM is wanting as much info as we can give them. I sent them links of 3 websites including an aviation website reporting that Malindo is ceasing servicing Trivandrum –
    written Jan. 18.

    Did any news outlet/websites report ceasing services to Adelaide? I know you mentioned there was no press conference.
    Malindo is looking more & more devious by the day.
    After some good searching, I realize they
    have been canceling flights for some time due to lack of filled seats, way before covid19 & not refunding.

    TripAdvisor has some interesting reviews.
    A few reviews there & other websites mention initiative towards a class action suit.
    Refunding would be cheaper for Malindo.

    Thanks again.

    1. This is what I got from Malindo on March 11th via messenger.

      Hi Brett,

      Good day!

      Sincere apologies for the delayed response.

      Regretfully to inform you that Malindo Air to/ from Adelaide will be suspended effective on 02 Sep 2020.

      Thank you.

      1. Hmmm, thanks Brett! Interesting that they were up front about it regarding Adelaide. They will not yet admit to permanently “suspending” service to TRV due to pressings for refunds.

        The funny thing is that several sources have covered that announcement including the Times Of India newspaper & aviation websites. I have these bookmarked as proof.
        Malindo even told the M. P. of Trivandrum that.. .. (get this!) ” REVISED this route due to operational reasons”.

        This is all public. I have an active case with MAVCOM. Thanks again for your update Brett!

  5. I was able to book directly from the Malindo website on 26 Feb 2020 – 6 return flights from Sydney to Bali for a family 2020 Christmas trip. Flights booked are from 23 Dec 2020 to 2 Jan 2021.

    I believe it is illegal for Malindo to sell flights on the Sydney to Bali route if they planned on ceasing this route from 31 May 2020. This has nothing to do with COVID-19 cancelled flights.

    Malindo Air shouldn’t have offered flights for sale that they knew were never going to take off from Sydney.

    1. I’m sorry for your cancelled flights. I have no connection with Malindo Air and can’t speak for them, but based on their press release the flights were only cancelled end March/early April. You should have a solid case for a full refund, if your service is no longer available.

  6. I too am chasing a refund not voucher. Our return flight Adelaide to Bali was cancelled Feb 27th. In the last 6 weeks the whole booking was cancelled by Malindo. Issued with useless vouchers. Call Centre is trying to tell me the flights are only temporarily suspended.
    Voucher only good for 6 months. What rubbish

    1. All Malaysian airlines, just like Australian airlines, are currently not flying scheduled services and their citizens are not allowed to leave the country and foreign visitors are currently not allowed entry. As a result, most are offering credit vouchers as expectations are that flights will resume once the controls are lifted. As this is currently not known, it is likely that Malindo Air will extend the credit validity as other airlines have done. In the case of Adelaide, flights have been suspended until at least 30th June. If they are not reinstated, you should have a good case for a full refund.

  7. I am hoping to get a full refund in cash if Malindo air is no longer available in Adelaide as I will not go around the Australia to catch the Malindo’s aircraft. I requested a refund in April still no response from them.

    1. It may take a while and you may have to continue contacting them, but you should be entitled to a full refund if they are no longer offering your route.

    2. Please check our story updated 5th June. The airline has stated that all refunds will be processed through their Australian agents. Please contact Malindo Air Reservations (02) 8073 0133 (in Australia).

        1. Please try contacting them here:

          Customer Care Centre Australia

          phone +603 7841 5388 (Malaysia) The Australian number seems to be no longer available. It has been removed from their contact details.
          General Enquiries Email: [email protected]
          Group Enquiries Email: [email protected]
          Operating Hours: Mon to Fri : 0900 – 1800 hours (AWST) (GMT +8)
          1100 – 2000 hours (AEST) (GMT +10)

          1. Hi Lesley
            I refer to your update “UPDATE 5th June 2020: Malindo Air has confirmed the cancellation of their Australian flights to Sydney and Adelaide. While the rerouting option offered as below, is still available, the airline has indicated that cancellations with full refund will now be processed through their agents in Australia.”
            Could you please confirm the source of this information – I am endeavour to obtain a refund however Malindo Air is telling us this is only a temporary cancellation and not therefore offering refunds other than vouchers

          2. I received this information as an internal memo. The flights are cancelled and there are no plans to reinstate them, given the current situation.The agent in Australia must process the refund to passengers who elect to cancel their tickets. They are not allowed to charge any cancellation penalty. If you continue to have problems, please contact the regulator in Australia. We have had a number of reports, including from family members, who have had to take this route. The airlines approve the refund, but the agents refuse to process it. You have the right to your refund.

          3. Hi Lesley,

            I have contacted the Malaysian number and also email the Malaysian office. I demanded by phone and email that I wanted a senior customer service consultant to handle my enquiries after sending more than 15 emails and calling the office a number of times. This has not helped either so when I saw you had a Australian contact I was feeling hopeful so now disappointed that they have disconnected the number. I have a hard copy and digital copies of the original T & C’s attached to our tickets. We booked tickets in Feb 2020 for Sept 2020 these flights have now been cancelled due to Covid.

          4. Hi Grace, My contacts in Malindo Air are currently working from home as far as I can tell. I will try and find someone who can assist you, but no promises. I will be out of the office for a few days, but I’ll ask around before I go. May I give them your email address as per your comment, so they can contact you directly for your booking number etc?

  8. Hi Lesley, whicu agent do you refer to? We booked directly through malindo airs website. Does this still entitle us to a full cash refund if they cancelled our flights for December of this year?

  9. Hi Tracey, in the T&C, does it say anything about how refunds would happen. I doubt that. I will be happy to show that to the consumer forum. An again I think the airline states that these T&C are subject to change\, though I am not sure if they are liable to inform about those changes

  10. Hi Lesley, I see Malindo has been very, very quiet lately. Social media is now few and far between.

    I am planning my evacuation flight from India within the next two weeks. I need a connection flight to a larger hub.

    I notice that Malindo is not serving India at all now.
    I can’t find a single Malindo flight anywhere in India.

    I wanted to bring it to everyone’s attention.
    Are they folding & bailing behind our backs – soon to disappear with everyone’s money and sham vouchers?

    1. All Malaysian airlines are badly affected by the closing of the Malaysian border and those in a number of other countries they service. Like the others, Malindo Air has removed a large number of aircraft from service and cut their routes and fights. From my checks on flightradar24, I can see that their aircraft 9M-LNL flew Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Tiruchirapalli (TRZ) and Chennai (MAA) and back to KUL, on 9th July, so they are doing some limited flights. This is just one example, using one aircraft to check. Most are probably the type of flight you are looking for, evacuation flights. If you have a phone number for them, keep trying.
      The airline is a subsidiary of Indonesia’s Lion Air.

  11. I have contacted Malindo Air by email more than 15 times and also called at 4 times. I continue to email as I want evidence of my communications. I booked our flights in Feb 2020 from Melb to Denpasar for Sept 2020 these were cancelled due to Covid-19. My terms and conditions attached to our tickets state that refund will be in currency paid, in my case AUD. There is no mention of travel vouchers. Malindo Air can change their T & C’s but these can not be applied to tickets purchased prior to the change. The form of refund they are offering is travel voucher which as other previous comments state are useless to Australian residents. The suggestion from Malindo Air that they are transferable to other family members and friends or other routes is also useless. My family and friends live mostly in Victoria and currently we are in another lockdown.

    1. Hi Grace,
      Are you able to forward me a copy of the terms and conditions you have? I booked flights for our family in Sep 2019 Perth to KL. Malindo cancelled the flights due to Covid but have stated we can only get a travel credit for use within a year.
      They didn’t attach the terms and conditions to our e-tickets so I can’t prove that we should be eligible for a cash refund.
      Thank you.

    2. Hi Grace, we are in the same situation as you. Booked Feb for August flights. Can you send me a copy of the terms and conditions please?

    3. Just wondering if I could I could please have a copy of the original T&C’s. I purchased return flights for 3 in August 2019! I only have the link on my e tickets which go straight to their amended T&C’s

    4. We Booked Sept. 2019 for a march departure to Bali from Adelaide.
      I have only been given vouchers which expire soon and emails falling on deaf ears demanding a refund.
      My credit company denied my claim.
      I’m also after a a copy of the early terms & conditions.
      No terms or condition were with our e-tickets just only a link which of course is not the original.
      Any help in getting a refund will be appreciated.

    5. Hello Grace,
      Are you able to provide a copy of the T&Cs as they were not attached to my ticket either? I still have travel vouchers for tickets I purchased in February last year.

    1. Hi, After many months of emails and sending out emails to find a lawyer, they fnally said they would refund me but came back to say they couldnt refund to my bank card. There is no issue with my card or account. I asked Malindo to redund by Paypal, cheque or x,y,z. They came back each time with an excuse. It has now been many months and they will not respond to my emails. This is flat out robbery! Everyone needs to band together for one large, class action lawsuit. There are too many of us to sue one by one.

    1. If the policy you have shown here was in place when you made your booking I suggest you use that information in your claim. Please also check if your e-ticket also had the cancellation clause included. This should be a .pdf format you received with your ticket. However, you’ll need to check who owns this page, it does not look like the Malindo Air format, but rather a third party site.

  12. Has anybody received a full refund as yet?
    I have only been given vouchers which expire soon and emails falling on deaf ears.
    I’m also after a a copy of the early terms & conditions for we bought our Adelaide to Bali Tickets September last year.
    No terms or condition were with our e-tickets just only a link which of course is not the original.
    Any help in getting a refund will be appreciated

  13. Sneaky swift used links in the emails sent me, linking back to their website, which they could manipulate… ermmm… I mean, update without informing. The T&C are in a link.However…T&C can be found in other website predating their changes & thru internet archive.
    I don’t see a way to upload images here.
    “airlinesmap” is one such website.

  14. Does anyone managed to obtain the old T&Cs from February last year? If so, I would really appreciate a copy.
    Has anyone had any success obtaining a refund for their ticket?
    I booked business class tickets last year February 2020 and cancelled due to COVID. When I booked the tickets, I confirmed I would be able to cancel prior to departure if needed, they reassured me I would get a full refund back to the method of payment. When I phoned to cancel the ticket, I asked the same question and again they confirmed the same and said I would receive a refund within a month. After multiple phone calls and emails, I finally was told I would receive a travel voucher, which keeps getting extended.

    1. If you purchased your tickets through an agent, you will need to deal directly with the agent. This is the practice regardless of airline. Your ticket, if bought directly from the airline, should, when you check the whole .pdf file, have the T&C on the second or third pages.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back To Top