Etihad Airways and Malaysia Airlines have just signed a MOU that allows for closer co-operation, which potentially paves the way for the two carriers to codeshare.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Thursday between James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ CEO and Idris Jala Malaysia Airlines’ CEO and Managing Director, at the Malaysia Airlines headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
It is understood that the agreement would see the two carriers co-operate on a range of initiatives such as a code-share agreement, frequent flyer programmes, ground handling, and airport lounge access.
Mr Hogan adds, “Asia is one of our strongest markets and there is huge appetite amongst our customers to travel beyond the Malaysian capital. This partnership will hopefully give us an ideal opportunity to expand the number of Asian destinations we offer.”
In response Mr Jala said, “The MoU with Etihad is timely as Malaysia is a favourite destination for visitors from the Middle East... We hope to tap on this MoU to increase further the passenger numbers from that region not only to Malaysia but to our destinations beyond.”
Currently Etihad operates six weekly Boeing B777s into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
