MAS, Garuda to promote air travel
MAS, Garuda to promote air travel
Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia Airlines and Garuda Indonesia announced a tie-up Thursday to jointly promote air travel between the two countries in a move to boost tourism.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed in the northern resort island of Langkawi by Malaysia Airlines' managing director Mohamad Nor Yusof and Garuda's president and chief executive Abdul Gani.
It covered cooperation in sales and marketing, inflight services, ground handling, flight operations, information technology and aircraft maintenance, the flag carriers said in a joint statement.
The statement said cooperation between the two airlines was not new as they had already been working together under a code- share and joint freighter arrangement on flights between the two countries.
"Through this joint cooperation, Malaysia Airlines and Garuda would enhance the existing code-share arrangement to cover domestic travel," it said.
"This will facilitate air travel between cities in Malaysia and Indonesia, which are not served by direct flights.
"Both airlines would also enhance the existing joint freighter arrangement to cover more sectors between the two countries and facilitate air cargo movement beyond Malaysia and Indonesia to other countries."
The airlines would also embark on joint marketing and promotions to support the Malaysian and Indonesian governments' efforts to promote air travel between the countries.
"Considering the continued increase in aviation cost, the joint cooperation would help Malaysia Airlines and Garuda to be more cost effective" through pooling of resources, it added.
Malaysia Airlines' Mohamad Nor was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency that the airlines could tap new opportunities in the region and explore how they could provide more efficient services.
He said the Malaysian carrier had recently increased its frequencies to Jakarta to 20 flights weekly from 14 previously.
The two carriers were now exploring very basic cooperation such as bringing in tourists from Europe, America and Asian countries, he said.
"In terms of our marketing programs, both national carriers will have a close package for those long haul passengers apart from developing destinations such as Langkawi and Bali," he added.