Malaysia, Singapore flag carriers sign wide-ranging partnership agreement

National carriers Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have on Wednesday (Oct 30) sealed a wide-ranging commercial agreement to share revenue on flights between Singapore and Malaysia, expand codeshare routes, and take part in joint marketing activities to develop tourism.

In a joint statement, the carriers said the new agreement includes SIA subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot, as well as Firefly, the sister airline of Malaysia Airlines.

SIA chief executive officer (CEO) Goh Choon Phong said the airline is pleased to take its partnership with Malaysia Airlines to a new level.

“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 tourism industries in both Malaysia and Singapore, as well as the wider Southeast Asia region,” said Goh.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines CEO Captain Izham Ismail said the airline is honored to collaborate alongside SIA in providing customers a more competitive product between Malaysia and Singapore with 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 mutual benefits for both airline groups and countries,” he added.

Under the agreement, the two airline groups will expand their codeshare arrangements to include more destinations on each other’s networks.

Today, the airlines codeshare on flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, and Kuching and Penang.

With the expansion, SIA and SilkAir plan to codeshare on Malaysia Airlines’ domestic flights and serve 16 destinations in Malaysia.

Malaysia Airlines will progressively codeshare on flights between Singapore and Malaysia, Europe, South Africa, and other destinations once the authorities grant the approvals.

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.

Besides, Malaysia Airlines 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 airpasses, which will enable customers traveling 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.

This latest agreement follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding in June 2019, which aimed to provide new customer benefits and new business opportunities.

 

The new agreement includes Singapore Airlines subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot, as well as Malaysia Airlines’ sister airline Firefly. Picture credit: Lim Yaohui from The Straits Times.