KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to significantly step up co-operative and strategic tie-ups by building on existing codeshare agreement that covers flights between Singapore and Malaysia.
In a statement today, MAB said the enhanced ties could include a significant expansion of codeshare flights beyond Singapore-Malaysia routes, as well as enhancements on the frequent flyer programme.
Other potential co-operation could involve cargo as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul services.
All these are subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals, it said.
“A formal agreement is intended to be finalised in the coming months and will also include SIA subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot, as well as Firefly, the sister airline of MAB,” said the statement.
Malaysia Airlines’ group chief executive officer Captain Izham Ismail said the national carrier has always historically had strong commercial and cultural links with Singapore Airlines.
“The agreement will also, for the first time, involve all five airlines in total including subsidiaries, Firefly, SilkAir and Scoot. Via this partnership, we look forward to adding more value to the customer proposition,” he added.
Meanwhile, SIA’s chief executive officer, Goh Choon Phong said SIA and MAB operate in a region with a rapidly growing air travel market, presenting significant growth opportunities for both carriers.
“Both airlines have extensive operations within Asean, as well as large networks that cover many other parts of the world,” said Goh. — Bernama
