News Backgrounder
Qatar Airways adds Malaysia Airlines to its partnership list
February 1st 2020
Malaysia Airlines (MAS), reported to be discussing a 49% sale to Air France KLM, began operating an expanded code-share with Qatar Airways last month. Read More »
Since 2001, MAS and Qatar Airways have operated a code-share on 10 routes. The new agreement adds 20 routes for MAS passengers to Europe, America and Africa, via Qatar’s home hub in Doha. Both airlines are oneworld alliance members.
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Four new destinations in Southeast Asia will be available to Qatar under the expanded agreement: Sibu and Alor Setary in Malaysia, and Indonesia’s Medan and Surabaya.
Qatar flies three times a day to Kuala Lumpur and five a week flights to Penang, with services onward to Langkawi.
Code-share destinations for MAS passengers via Doha include all major European cities. MAS serves 59 destinations from its hub, Kuala Lumpur.
Earlier in January, Qatar announced it would move to Beijing’s Daxing airport from Beijing Capital airport and would continue to expand its network in China.
Announcing an additional 500,000 yuan donation to the Qatar Airways Hope School in Sichuan province, the airline’s Asia-Pacific senior vice president, Marwan Koleilat, said the carrier would vacate Beijing’s downtown airport for Daxing in the northern summer.
He said the carrier is actively expanding flights into China because of strong travel demand. As well as Hong Kong, Qatar flies to six Mainland cities: Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai.
More than 90% of passengers who fly to Doha are transit customers, the airline said, and added transfer traffic from China was growing fast.
Fourteen months ago, Qatar acquired 5% of China Southern Airlines (CSA), Asia’s largest carrier by fleet numbers, and said at the time of the purchase announcement it hoped to develop a deeper relationship with the Guangzhou headquartered group.
It is expected the partnership will develop as CSA moves more of its flights to Daxing.
| Malaysia’s Mahathir at odds with wealth fund over MAS sale Malaysia’s prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, who also is chairman of Malaysia Airlines owner, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, is “not completely happy” with the way the sovereign wealth fund managers have been evaluating investment proposals for the carrier. Reported interested parties are Air France KLM, which is offering to buy 49% of the carrier as well as build an MRO hub in Malaysia, Japan Airlines via its joint venture partnership with MAS, Lion Air via Malindo Air and a three-way merger between AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia X. “Unfortunately, Khazanah has its own agenda so I have to check them,“ Mahathir said. No date has been set for a decision on new investors in the flag carrier and oneworld member. |
