KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines signed a wide-ranging commercial agreement on Wednesday to strengthen the long-standing partnership between the two airline groups.
Both said in a joint statement that the partnership would involve revenue sharing on flights between Singapore and Malaysia subjected to regulatory approval, as well as significant expansion of regional and long-haul codeshare routes.
The agreement followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two national carriers in June, which aimed to provide new customer benefits as well as new business opportunities. It included Singapore Airlines's subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot, as well as Firefly, the sister airline of Malaysia Airlines.
According to the statement, flights between Singapore and Malaysia would operate under a joint business arrangement.
Currently, the airlines codeshare on flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Penang. With the expansion, Singapore Airlines and SilkAir plan to codeshare on Malaysia Airlines's domestic flights on 16 destinations in Malaysia.
Malaysia Airlines will also progressively codeshare on flights between Singapore and Malaysia, Europe, South Africa and other destinations once approvals are granted.
Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said the partnership will be a win-win for both airline groups, with potential to provide a significant boost to the tourism industries in both Malaysia and Singapore, as well as the wider Southeast Asia region.
Malaysia Airlines CEO Izham Ismail said the collaboration is in line with the group's long-term business plan of engaging in deep partnerships to extend its reach and presence globally.
