Malindo Air positioning economy class as an LCC style offering, to charge for meals and blankets

Malindo Air outlined (Sep-2019) the following changes to its economy class F&B product, effective 15-Oct-2019:

• All complimentary meals and snacks for economy class passengers across all flights to be discontinued;
• Malindo Air will honour the complimentary meals and snacks entitlements of passengers travelling after 14-Oct-2019 whose tickets were issued before 06-Sep-2019;
• A new F&B selection includes 10 meal choices of East Asian, Indian, Western and local cuisine at a pre-purchase price of USD2.4 (onboard price at USD3.6) per meal;
• A range of snacks have also been introduced for both pre-purchase and onboard purchase, while alcoholic beverages will be available for sale on international routes;
• All meals will be produced at Malindo's own in-house catering facility;
• In tandem with the F&B change, Malindo will also introduce an enhanced 'Comfy Kit' from 01-Oct-2019. The kit is available for both pre-purchase and onboard purchase, and consists of a fleece blanket, stereo earphones, neck pillow, earplugs and eye mask. [more - original PR]