Malaysia Airlines this year entered into a partnership with IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, India’s biggest and most successful cricket franchise, becoming both the Associate Sponsor and Official Global Airline Partner of the team. The collaboration marks a step in the airline’s strategy to drive sports-led brand and commercial growth across key global markets, with India at the forefront.
The partnership looks to underscore Malaysia Airlines’ long-term commitment to strengthening its presence in one of its most important growth markets. As part of the association, Malaysia Airlines will feature prominently on the Mumbai Indians jersey, positioned on the right chest. The ceremony was attended by Mumbai Indians Head Coach Mahela Jayawardene, along with senior representatives from the franchise.
Medianews4u.com caught up with Dersenish Aresandiran, Chief Commercial Officer of Airline Business Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG)
Q. The goal is to strengthen brand affinity, support travel demand and drive deeper commercial relevance in India which is a key market for the airline. What is the gameplan going to be to get there?
India remains one of Malaysia Airlines’ most strategic growth markets, and our focus is on strengthening connectivity, deepening cultural relevance and creating more meaningful engagement with Indian travellers. Alongside expanding connectivity into Malaysia and onwards across Asia-Pacific, we are investing in experience-led marketing, premium service enhancements and strategic partnerships such as with the Mumbai Indians to build stronger emotional affinity with Indian consumers.
At the same time, campaigns centred around themes such as the value of memorable travel, quick getaway inspiration and greater booking confidence through Flex Fares are helping us respond more effectively to evolving traveller behaviour. Ultimately, we are positioning Malaysia Airlines not just as an airline, but as a trusted premium travel partner that delivers flexibility, reassurance and Malaysian Hospitality at every stage of the journey via differentiated strategies and experiences.
Q. How is Malaysia Airlines adapting its strategy given the current geopolitical tensions?
Malaysia Airlines’ approach continues to be guided by agility, network resilience and maintaining customer confidence during periods of uncertainty. With safety and reliability as our top priorities, we continuously monitor geopolitical developments and adjust operational planning, schedules and routing, where required.
At the same time, we also recognise that travellers today seek greater reassurance and flexibility when booking and travelling during such periods, which is why our offerings such as Flex Fares have become increasingly important in providing customers with added confidence and peace of mind.
Our broader marketing and customer engagement strategy has also evolved to focus on reassurance, seamless connectivity and the long-term value of meaningful travel experiences, while continuing to deliver the warmth and consistency of Malaysian Hospitality across every journey.
Q. How important is the inflight experience in building brand loyalty?
In today’s highly competitive aviation landscape, consumers increasingly value experience as much as connectivity. The Inflight experience therefore plays a critical role in shaping how travellers remember and connect with a brand.
For Malaysia Airlines, we build loyalty by providing consistent, premium Malaysian Hospitality – from attentive service and comfort to thoughtfully curated meals, family-friendly offerings and a seamless onboard experience that makes the journey feel personal and memorable.
Increasingly, travellers are looking beyond price alone and placing greater value on comfort, reassurance and the quality of the overall travel experience. This is why we continue to invest in product enhancements, fleet modernisation and more flexible offerings that strengthen both customer confidence and long-term brand affinity.
Q. What recent deals have been done with content distributors to boost the inflight experience?
At Malaysia Airlines, we have been focusing on enhancing our inflight experience through a combination of refreshed entertainment content, digital innovation and broader strategic partnerships aimed at creating a more personalised onboard journey.
Through MHstudio, travellers today have access to an expanded library of movies, television, music and lifestyle content tailored to diverse audience preferences. At the same time, the airline has been strengthening collaborations across technology, AI and digital ecosystems to better personalise engagement and elevate the overall customer experience, including partnerships focused on immersive and data-driven travel innovation.
More broadly, our approach is centred around ensuring the inflight experience remains engaging, culturally relevant and aligned with the expectations of today’s premium and digitally connected traveller.
Q. Could you talk about the work being done to analyse passenger data to offer personalised promotions and tailored services?
We are increasingly leveraging advanced analytics and AI-driven systems to better understand evolving traveller behaviour and deliver more personalised engagement across the customer journey. These insights enable us to identify distinct traveller segments and respond more dynamically with tailored promotions, fare offerings and ancillary services based on individual preferences, travel and booking patterns.
This allows us to deliver more timely and relevant offers—for example, targeted fare promotions, personalised upgrade opportunities, and flexible products such as Flex Fares that better align with customer needs at different stages of their journey. The focus is not only on improving commercial relevance, but also on creating a more seamless and intuitive experience for travellers. Importantly, while data enables greater precision, the overall experience remains grounded in the warmth and attentiveness of Malaysian Hospitality.
Q. What is the brand narrative that Malaysia Airlines will look to push through marketing in 2026?
Malaysia Airlines’ brand narrative in 2026 will continue to centre on delivering meaningful, experience-led travel grounded in the warmth of Malaysian Hospitality. As traveller expectations evolve, our marketing focus is also increasingly shifting towards themes of confidence, flexibility and the lasting value of travel experiences, while positioning Malaysia Airlines as a premium yet approachable carrier connecting travellers to Asia and beyond.
Campaigns built around reassurance, memorable journeys and accessible getaway experiences will play an important role in how we engage consumers. At the same time, strategic partnerships such as the Mumbai Indians partnership for Indian Premier League (IPL), personalised consumer engagement and culturally relevant storytelling will remain central to strengthening long-term brand affinity in key growth markets such as India.
Q. Gen Z is the biggest travel consumer in the country. They value authenticity. How is Malaysia Airlines adapting its communications strategy keeping this in mind
Yes, Gen Z travellers are looking for brands that feel authentic, culturally relevant and experience-led, and this is shaping how Malaysia Airlines approaches communication and engagement today as well.
Our strategy is increasingly focused on storytelling, community-driven content and partnerships that connect naturally with younger audiences through their passions, whether that is sports, travel inspiration or digital-first experiences. At the same time, younger travellers are also prioritising flexibility, value and meaningful experiences over purely transactional travel decisions, which is reflected in our recent campaigns centred around confidence, accessible getaways and the long-term value of memorable travel.
Ultimately, the objective is to engage Gen Z travellers in a way that feels genuine, relatable and aligned with the emotional side of travel, while continuing to deliver the warmth of Malaysian Hospitality across every interaction.
Q. In the travel category, generic messaging that people just scroll through is a big challenge. How does Malaysia Airlines avoid falling into this trap?
In a category where consumers are constantly exposed to transactional travel messaging, differentiation increasingly comes from relevance, emotion and storytelling. That’s why, at Malaysia Airlines, we have made a conscious decision to focus on campaigns that are experience-led and culturally connected, rather than purely promotional. Through strategic partnerships, personalised engagement or narratives centred around the emotional value of travel, we have developed communication strategies keeping these aspects in mind.
We strive to create communication that resonates emotionally, feels authentic to the traveller journey and consistently reinforces the warmth of Malaysian Hospitality.
Q. How is AI reshaping the marketing function at Malaysia Airlines?
AI is increasingly playing a transformative role across Malaysia Airlines’ marketing ecosystem by helping us move from broad-based outreach to more precise, data-led and personalised engagement. Through advanced analytics and AI-driven insights, we are better able to understand traveller behaviour, identify distinct customer segments and deliver more relevant messaging, offers and travel recommendations in real time. This allows us to respond more dynamically to evolving consumer needs, whether around flexibility, premium experiences or short-haul getaway travel.
At the same time, AI is also helping improve operational efficiency and campaign optimisation, enabling our teams to focus more on creativity, storytelling and delivering the human-centric experience that remains at the core of Malaysian Hospitality.
Q. Consumers in the travel category increasingly use LLMs for product discovery. How is Malaysia Airlines leveraging the opportunity?
We acknowledge the way travellers discover and evaluate travel options is evolving rapidly, with AI-powered platforms and large language model (LLMs) increasingly influencing decision-making across inspiration, planning and booking journeys. To stay ahead of the curve, Malaysia Airlines is also adapting to this shift.
From strengthening our digital ecosystem, to investing in data-led personalisation, we are ensuring that our content, product propositions and customer engagement strategies remain relevant in more conversational and intent-driven environments.
Ultimately, the opportunity lies in ensuring Malaysia Airlines remains discoverable, relevant and differentiated in a digital landscape where consumers increasingly expect personalised and intuitive travel recommendations.
Q. How did the partnership with Mumbai Indians come about? How important will sport be as a marketing platform in 2026?
The partnership with Mumbai Indians came from a shared belief in the power of passion-driven communities, strong fan engagement and culturally relevant storytelling. India is one of Malaysia Airlines’ most important growth markets, and cricket provides a unique platform to connect with audiences at both scale and depth in a way that feels authentic and emotionally engaging. We believe Mumbai Indians offers the right combination of reach, cultural influence and long-term engagement potential, making the collaboration strategically aligned with our broader brand and commercial ambitions in India.
Looking ahead, sport will continue to play an increasingly important role within our marketing ecosystem in 2026, particularly as consumers gravitate towards experiences and communities they feel personally connected to. For us, sports partnerships are not just about visibility — they are about building relevance, loyalty and stronger emotional affinity through shared experiences and storytelling.
Q. Bollywood is the other mass marketing platform in India. What plans does Malaysia Airlines have in this area?
Entertainment and culture continue to play a significant role in shaping consumer engagement in India, and Bollywood remains an influential platform with strong emotional and cultural resonance.
For Malaysia Airlines, the broader focus is on partnering with platforms and passion ecosystems that allow us to connect with Indian audiences in a more authentic and experience-led way, whether through sports, entertainment, travel storytelling or digital-first collaborations. While cricket currently provides a strong engagement platform through our partnership with Mumbai Indians, we continue to evaluate opportunities across entertainment and lifestyle spaces that align with our premium positioning, and evolving brand narratives.
Q. Could you shed light on the influencer marketing strategy by working with content creators?
Malaysia Airlines increasingly sees creators and digital storytellers as important partners in building authentic engagement, particularly with younger and experience-led traveller segments.
Our influencer strategy is focussed less on traditional endorsement-led marketing and more on collaborating with creators who can genuinely bring travel experiences, destinations and Malaysian Hospitality to life through relatable storytelling. This includes working across travel, lifestyle, sports and culture-led ecosystems to create content that feels immersive, personal and platform-native rather than overly commercial.
We are also placing greater emphasis on creators who can help communicate evolving traveller priorities such as flexibility, premium experiences, quick getaway inspiration and the emotional value of travel in a way that resonates organically with their communities.
