Malaysia Airlines is planning to introduce 6 additional flights to India. The airline is also set to announce several categories of promotional fares and holiday packages, which would be up to 30 per cent cheaper than current rates.

The airline currently operates 18 flights per week between India and Malaysia.

Ammad Fuaad Dahlan, senior general manager (sales, distribution and marketing) of Malaysia Airline, said: "We plan to increase our flight frequency from four to six out of Mumbai, from two to three out of Bangalore, and from one to three out of Hyderabad."

"We have also asked the Indian government to grant flight rights out of Kolkata, and are planning to deploy a B747 on the Chennai sector," he added.

The outbreak of Sars has dealt a heavy blow to the south-east Asian airline, which is gearing up to launch 'Golden Holiday Packages' for the holiday season -- May to June.

The new packages would be priced around 20-30 per cent cheaper than the current packages, which are available at around Rs 21,000 per person for a 5-day stay in Malaysia (inclusive of the airfare) on a twin-sharing basis.

Senior officials also said the airline is planning to offer tourists a discount of around 50 per cent for air travel within the country.

During January-March 2003, tourist arrivals to Malaysia from India stood at 38,488, as compared with 33,616 last year.

"India is one of the largest developing markets for Malaysian outbound tourism. We offer value for money deals, which attract the Indians to our country," Dato Paduka Abdul Kadir Bin Haji Sheikh Fadzir, Malaysian minister for culture art and tourism, said.