Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines (SIA) signed an agreement that could see the two airlines expand codeshare routes, share revenue on flights between Singapore and Malaysia and develop “marketing activities” in an effort to boost tourism.
The new commercial agreement also includes SIA’s subsidiaries Silkair and Scoot, as well as Firefly, the sister airline of Malaysia Airlines. 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, according to both airlines.
New codeshare routes
As part of the agreement, the two airlines say they will expand their codeshare plans 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.
With the expansion, SIA and Silkair plan to codeshare on Malaysia Airlines’ domestic flights, and as such serve a total of 16 destinations in Malaysia, which will include Alor Setar, Bintulu, Johor Bahru, Kota Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Terengganu, Kuantan, Kuching, Labuan, Langkawi, Miri, Penang, Sandakan, Sibu and Tawau.
Malaysia Airlines says it will progressively codeshare on flights between Singapore and Malaysia, Europe, South Africa and other destinations once necessary approvals are granted.
The airlines say flights between Singapore and Malaysia will operate under a joint business arrangement. Both airlines intend to coordinate flight schedules in an effort to provide customers with more choices.
More services and options for passengers
Malaysia Airlines and SIA have agreed to work on joint marketing activities in an effort to foster long-haul tourism to Malaysia and Singapore. In a joint press release, the airlines say they will explore developing “airpasses”, which will allow 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.
Both carriers say they also plan to “align corporate programmes to enhance the value proposition for customers, and explore tie-ups between their frequent-flyer programme”.
The codeshare flights will be made available for purchase through each of the arilines’ respective booking channels, though the plans to codeshare are currently subject to regulatory approvals.
