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Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) Expects 70 Airlines To Fly Into KLIA

Wednesday 27/09/2017 - Source: The Star


Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) expects 70 airlines to fly into KL International Airport (KLIA) in five years, compared with 50 airlines currently, said managing director Datuk Seri Bashir Ahmad.

"Over the next two to three years, we should see four or five new airlines coming in every year.

"We would like big airlines but we welcome small airlines too," he told Malaysian journalists at the conclusion of the 13th World Route Development Forum on Tuesday.

Over the two-day Routes 2017, MAHB officials met with 37 airlines. Of the 15 that already operate flights to KLIA, at least four are interested to increase flight frequencies within 12 months.

Among the 22 airlines that did not fly to KL, four or five had expressed interest to start doing so in the next 18 months, he said.

Another five were Europe-based charter operators that would likely launch flights to KL or other locations like Langkawi in 2009, Bashir said, adding that these were Germany's LTU, Condor and Tui, Italyas Eurofly and Britain's Zoom Airlines.

Others indicated interest but needed more time to study the feasibility of the move, he said, adding that MAHB would continue to woo these players.

Earlier this month, KLIA welcomed Australia's Jetstar and will add two new airlines from India by year-end - Kingfisher Airlines and low-cost carrier Air India Express, which will launch its inaugural Kolkata-KL flight on Oct 7.

New airlines aside, MAHB expects the existing operators to boost frequencies. Bashir said the airlines with the highest frequencies to KLIA currently were Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines.

Middle Eastern carriers are also mounting more flights to Malaysia. Mahan Air from Iran, for instance, had indicated it would operate 10 charter flights to KLIA in March from five this year, he said.

Asked if MAHB had met its target for Routes 2017, Bashir said generally there was awareness of Malaysia and the airport operator but many route planners "just have not been to Malaysia."

To convince them to travel to KL for Routes 2018, MAHB brought its largest contingent ever to this year's event.

Its 50-strong group included representatives from its eight partners. The activities it lined up included a dance performance, batik painting and wau-making demonstrations, and serving satay to delegates to the MAHB booth and at the farewell reception it hosted.

Bashir said Routes 2018 would offer for the first time in Routes history a spouse and family programme to encourage delegates to come for a holiday before or after the event.

He declined to divulge MAHB's investment in its participation in Routes over the last few years, saying "some results are not tangible" .


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