The Smart Marty Sky Dispatch
Budget carrier ZIPAIR launches direct Narita-KL flights with Boeing 787 Dreamliners
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Japanese budget carrier ZIPAIR has touched down at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), inaugurating a daily direct service from To
ZIPAIR, the low-cost subsidiary of Japan Airlines, has begun a daily direct service from Tokyo Narita to Kuala Lumpur, marking its entry into the Malaysian market with a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
The inaugural flight, ZG61, operated by ZIPAIR, touched down at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 after leaving Narita at 4:50 pm and arriving at 11:40 pm local time.
Each daily flight uses a wide-body Boeing 787-8 configured with 290 seats, including 18 lie-flat business suites and 272 standard economy seats, adding 2,030 weekly seats between Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur.
A welcome ceremony at KLIA Terminal 1 gathered Tourism Malaysia officials, the Japanese ambassador to Malaysia, ZIPAIR leadership, and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad representatives to celebrate the milestone and its role in the Visit Malaysia 2026-2027 campaign.
Tourism Malaysia aims to leverage the new route to attract higher-yield Japanese travelers, including targets under the MM2H program and Edu+ 2.0 exchanges, as part of broader efforts to boost bilateral tourism and air connectivity.
Prior to the new service, Malaysia–Japan air links operated at 84 weekly frequencies with about 23,682 passenger seats, and ZIPAIR’s arrival is expected to stimulate two-way leisure and student traffic from the Tokyo area.