The first flight of Turkmenistan Airlines from Ashgabat was greeted with a grand salute from water cannons at Kuala Lumpur airport. Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Malaysia Muhammetniyaz Mashalov and Malaysian Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato' Sri Tiong King Sing graced the occasion by joining the crew and 228 passengers upon arrival.

Since March 15, scheduled flights twice a week have been operated by Boeing 777-200LR/777-300ER aircraft with a capacity of 289 and 368 seats, respectively. Departing from Ashgabat every Wednesday and Thursday, this new service is designed to significantly increase the number of arrivals into Malaysia from Central Asia and Russia. The flight duration from Ashgabat to Kuala Lumpur is 8 hours 10 minutes, providing passengers with fairly quick and convenient access to the bustling capital of Malaysia.

According to the Tourism Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, Malaysia saw a notable surge in tourism arrivals from Central Asia between January and November 2023 with 21,910 tourists, reflecting a significant increase of 196.7% compared to 2022. At the same time, the number of arrivals from Russia has increased sharply, with Malaysia receiving 100,645 Russians during the same period. This represents a staggering 360% increase from 2022 and a remarkable 39.5% increase from pre-pandemic levels in 2019.