Malaysia Airlines adds 3rd daily Doha flight as Qatar Airways tie-up reaps results
February 22, 2026
Malaysia Airlines has announced that it will be launching a third daily flight between its hub, Kuala Lumpur, and Doha in Qatar. According to the carrier, the additional daily frequency is a testament to the performance of the route as well as its partnership with Qatar Airways which enables onward connectivity beyond its hub in Doha.
The additional flights will be operated by the carrier’s Airbus A330-300 fleet of planes, complementing existing daily frequencies from an Airbus A350-900 and another A330-300. The route will become the carrier’s third most regular Airbus A330 connection given, behind two core routes to Australia.
Malaysia Airlines grows in Doha, Qatar
Malaysia Airlines’ new flight will depart Kuala Lumpur in the evening, reinforcing connections between the two. It builds on two existing daily flights, and will mean it offers 21 weekly frequencies between the capitals. More importantly perhaps, this means it will add roughly 2,000 weekly seats each way according to information from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
| Direction | Departure time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| KUL-DOH | 02:50* | |
| 20:05 | New frequency | |
| 21:00 | ||
| DOH-KUL | 01:50 | |
| 02:35 | New frequency | |
| 08:05* | ||
| *Departure time varies. |
The additional frequency will begin on 30 June, and reflects what Malaysia Airlines terms “sustained demand for travel between Asia, the Middle East, and beyond.” It offers connections to more than 120 codeshare destinations through Kuala Lumpur and Doha combined.
It adds that the new frequency will improve connectivity for traffic flows from Asia and Australasia to Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North America. Passengers will also benefit from increased frequencies to Australia that “further support seamless westbound and eastbound travel.”
In a statement, the carrier’s Chief Executive Offcer of Airline Business, Bryan Foong, noted that the new frequency “underscores the strong performance of this route and the strategic importance of our partnership with Qatar Airways.”
In May 2022, Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airways announced that they were strengthening their partnership in light of the latter’s new route to Doha that begun at the end of that month.
“By expanding capacity, we are enhancing access to Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Americas via Hamad International Airport, while leveraging our growing Australian network to support more seamless east–west travel.”
Where is Malaysia Airlines growing this year?
Like many airlines in Southeast Asia, Malaysia Airlines operates a strong network of flights to Australia, Asia and Europe, capitalising on connecting demand between them all. Its expanded operation to the Middle East fits into this strategy with traffic to and from Doha, as well as additional cities that might not have nonstop or one-stop flights to some of Malaysia Airlines’ destinations.
The airline’s primary growth this year appears to be to Australia, with around 30% more flights. Services to Europe are up by about 10%, according to information from Cirium. In absolute numbers, growth regionally within Asia is the highest with 422,000 seats (+5%) added year-on-year.
At the end of last year, it resumed service to Brisbane and this year it reintroduced flights to Chengdu, China. Its growth has been driven by additional capacity as it continues its fleet renewal program with the delivery of new Airbus A330neo aircraft. Last year, it doubled its order for the type with Airbus bringing the final order book to 40 (including those already in service).
Featured image: Markus Mainka – stock.adobe.com
