Johor Bahru, the Malaysian city that neighbours Singapore, will get its first direct air link to India later this year.

AirAsia will continue to expand its international network from Johor’s Senai airport with the launch of non-stop services to Kolkata. The route will commence on 28 November 2017 and will run five times a week.

“Since 2010, AirAsia has flown about 11 million guests into Senai International Airport and today we are proud to introduce the first route to Kolkata,” said Spencer Lee, AirAsia’s head of commercial. “We are pleased to introduce more international routes from Johor Bahru… as part of our commitment to provide better connectivity to our guests and further grow the southern hub.

“Besides the new international route, we have also added two domestic routes this year – Johor Bahru-Kuala Terengganu and Johor Bahru-Langkawi – as we believe Johor Bahru has so much to offer from business, leisure, education, sports to medical tourism,” he added.

AirAsia currently operates 150 weekly flights from Johor Bahru, including international services to Bangkok, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta and Surabaya. The new Kolkata will mark the first non-stop flight between Malaysia and India that operates from a city other than Kuala Lumpur.

Flights will depart Johor every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2130 and arrive in Kolkata at 2310. Then return flights will then leave the West Bengal city at 2340 and land back in Johor at 0625 the next morning.