MALAYSIA AIRLINES (MAS) is allotting a minimum of 150,000 seats for Indonesia during its one-month Global Deal, Dream Gateway promotion.

Launched in Jakarta yesterday, an average reduction of up to 65 per cent off the normal price for economy and business class seats is on offer.

The lowest price for Indonesia is the Medan-Kuala Lumpur route, which starts from US$2 for an economy class one-way (fuel surcharge, insurance and airport tax not included), and the highest is US$955 from six Indonesian gateways to Europe.

The promotion is valid for sales between April 25 and May 24, with a travel period until March 31, 2012.

MAS executive vice president sales & marketing, Dato' Bernard Francis, said: "The mega sale is in line with our new products.

"We have done a lot of branding exercises. We have received new aircraft and will have more,” he said. “We are inviting customers to experience the value of our services.”

The promotion is also part of the airline's effort to stimulate the “slight dampening” traffic due to the high fuel price and Japan disaster.

When asked why MAS picked Jakarta over Kuala Lumpur for its promo launch, Francis said: “Indonesia is a very important market for MAS. Business from Indonesia has grown by 15 per cent annually in the last three years.”

MAS is expecting a revenue of US$10 million from the promotion. The airline has 89 flights between Malaysia and Indonesia per week, with a country average load factor of 75 per cent, according to MAS area manager, Indonesia, Roslan Ismail.

MAS regional senior vice president ASEAN region, Muzammil Mohamad, said: “The mega sale is a good opportunity to fly beyond Kuala Lumpur with MAS, as we have convenient connections.”