Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airlines have inked a memorandum of understanding to strengthen their strategic partnership.
Both airlines will collaborate closely across different sectors of the business to provide passengers with a variety of value-added services as part of the agreement.
With the strengthened relationship, both airlines will be able to take advantage of each other’s network capabilities and give passengers more opportunities to fly to new locations outside of their respective networks, as well as soon offer new and exclusive products to their consumers.
Passengers on Qatar Airways will have easier access to the Malaysian home market as well as crucial Asian destinations including Penang, Langkawi, and Medan, Indonesia.
Malaysia Airlines operates all of them out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the airline’s hub (KLIA).
Qatar Airways’ wide network via Doha will provide passengers with seamless connectivity to key destinations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas.
Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “This is a significant moment for us as we have just celebrated 20 years of serving Malaysia, and this new strategic cooperation with our Oneworld partner, Malaysia Airlines, further cements our commitment to the country.
“This partnership will serve to link both our networks and allow us to work together across different aspects of the business, therefore, creating exciting opportunities for our joint passengers, as well as for our airlines.
“As we move towards a post-pandemic world, successful business is driven by strong partnerships, and this close cooperation with Malaysia Airlines is a firm example of how symbiotic international partnerships can pave the way to industry recovery.
“Providing customers access to the most extensive route network with unrivaled services and seamless connections.”
Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airlines began their codeshare collaboration in 2004, and it has grown greatly in recent years, with 62 codeshare destinations in Malaysia, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, and Africa.
“We are thrilled to have taken the next essential step with our close Oneworld partner,” Malaysia Airlines Group Chief Executive Izham Ismail stated.
“This partnership will provide better efficiencies and a more comprehensive network for our passengers whilst we further boost the growth of traffic flow via KLIA, which will serve as a primary gateway to Malaysia domestic and selected Southeast Asian region destinations.”
