Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to expand their cooperation and the widened agreement is set to include cargo.
The two airline groups, who are close competitors in Southeast Asia are to explore a wide-ranging strategic partnership and build on their codeshare agreement on flights in Singapore and Malaysia.
They said in a statement that other potential cooperation could involve cargo as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul services. All these are subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals.
A formal agreement is intended to be finalised in the coming months and will also include SIA subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot, as well as Firefly, the sister airline of MAB.
“SIA and MAB operate in a region with a rapidly growing air travel market, presenting significant growth opportunities for both carriers. Both airlines have extensive operations within ASEAN, as well as large networks that cover many other parts of the world,” said SIA’s chief executive officer (CEO), Goh Choon Phong.
Malaysia Airlines’ Group CEO, Izham Ismail added that the airline has always historically had strong commercial and cultural links with Singapore Airlines and it is happy to build on that close relationship even further.
