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.