Malaysia Airports to woo airlines back

Malaysia Airports to woo airlines back

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia Airports Bhd said Thursday it has launched a campaign to woo airlines to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after four carriers suspended services.

"A high profile marketing and promotion campaign is in progress to recapture the market segment consisting of airlines that have suspended their services," said Azmi Murad, general manager for air traffic services.

Since KLIA opened in June 1998, Aeroflot, British Airways, Qantas and Lufthansa have scrapped flights to it for commercial reasons -- dealing a blow to efforts to promote the nine billion ringgit (2.4 billion dollar) airport as a regional hub.

Japan's All Nippon Airways said Wednesday it would resume flights to Malaysia this month, four months after halting them, following a personal plea from the government.

Malaysia Airports has waived parking and landing charges for qualified passenger airlines which fly to KLIA for the first time or start new flights.

Azmi said some airlines have responded positively to its incentive program.

He said Air Lanka has agreed to increase its weekly flights on the Colombo-KL-Singapore-Colombo route to four from three from September 1.

Qatar Airways would launch its inaugural flight on the Doha- Kuala Lumpur route in December on a thrice-weekly basis, he said.

Azmi said Philippine Airlines and two European-based airlines had shown keen interest in starting flights or increasing frequencies.