Spread the love

Malaysia Airlines Berhard (MAB) and Singapore Airlines (SIA) are set to become closer than ever, confirming that they had yesterday signed a wide-ranging commercial agreement that would “significantly strengthen the long-standing partnership between the two airline groups”.

“Subject to regulatory approvals from the relevant competition authorities, the national carriers propose to share revenue on flights between Singapore and Malaysia, expand codeshare routes, and participate in joint marketing activities to develop tourism,” an issued statement said.

The new agreement also includes SIA’s subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot, as well as Firefly, the sister airline of MAB. It follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding in June 2019, which aimed to provide new customer benefits as well as new business opportunities.

Flights between Singapore and Malaysia will operate under a joint business arrangement; MAB and SIA intend to coordinate flight schedules to provide customers with more flight choices and frequencies for passenger convenience.

As part of the agreement, the two airline groups also plan to offer joint fare products, align corporate programs to enhance the value proposition to customers and explore tie-ups between their frequent-flyer programs.

The two airline groups will also expand their codeshare arrangements to include more destinations on each other’s networks. Currently, the airlines codeshare on flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Penang.

Following the expansion, SIA and SilkAir plan to codeshare on MAB’s domestic flights and as such, serve a total of 16 destinations in Malaysia.

In turn, MAB will progressively codeshare on flights between Singapore and Malaysia, Europe, South Africa and other destinations, implemented in phases, once necessary approvals are granted. It represents a significant expansion of the existing codeshare agreement and will provide MAB with more opportunities to expand connectivity to and from Malaysia.

In addition, MAB and SIA have agreed to work on joint marketing activities to boost long-haul tourism to Malaysia and Singapore. Both airlines will also explore the potential development of air passes. These will enable customers travelling to Malaysia through the Kuala Lumpur and Singapore hubs more choices to visit other parts of the country, such as Kuantan, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, on a single ticket. Travellers can expect a seamless experience, enjoying the convenience and flexibility of these multi-stop itineraries.

“We are very pleased to take our partnership with Malaysia Airlines to a new level,” said SIA chief executive, Goh Choon Phong.

“This will be a win-win for both our airline groups and provide new benefits for our customers. In particular, the expanded scope of our partnership has the potential to provide a significant boost to the tourism industries in both Malaysia and Singapore, as well as the wider Southeast Asia region.”

MAB chief executive, Captain Izham Ismail said MAB was “honoured to collaborate with SIA to provide our customers with a more competitive product between Malaysia and Singapore and the opportunity to travel to more global destinations.

“This is in line with Malaysia Airlines’ long-term business plan goal, of engaging in deep partnerships to extend our reach and presence globally. This partnership is more than a conventional partnership and we believe in the mutual benefits for both airline groups and countries.”

Subject to regulatory approvals, the codeshare flights will be made available for sale in phases through the airlines’ respective booking channels in key markets around the world.