SEPANG: Ethiopian Airlines, the national flag carrier of Ethiopia, plans to work with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) in a big way as soon as early next year.
Ethiopian Airlines senior vice-president of global sales Esayas Woldemariam said the carrier planned to work on code sharing and special pro-rate agreement with its Malaysian counterpart.
“This arrangement would see the traffic from 44 countries in Africa to be transported into Kuala Lumpur and would be supplied to MAS. “MAS will then take it from KL to add to its network that includes the rest of South-East Asia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. “MAS will also bring the traffic from these countries to be supplied into our Africa network,” he said after the welcoming ceremony for Ethiopian Airlines' inaugural flight to Kuala Lumpur. Gracing the event was Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha.
Woldemariam said the big plan between the two airlines was expected to kick off after MAS was done with synchronising its schedule and IT solution as part of the requirements to join oneworld.
On Monday, MAS had announced that it will be joining oneworld with effect from Feb 1 next year, and start offering its passengers the full range of services and benefits under the alliance. It will add 14 destinations to expand oneworld's global coverage to some 840 destinations in 156 countries. “Currently, the passenger traffic from African countries into KL is about 8,000 per month,” Woldemariam said.
Ethiopian Airlines, a Star Alliance member, is the fastest growing airline in Africa. It now provides services to 69 international destinations spanning four continents. With Ethiopian Airlines, the number of carriers operating at KL International Airport (KLIA) now stands at 60. It is the sixth new airline that Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has managed to attract this year.
Effective yesterday, the airline commenced its three weekly flights on the Addis Ababa-Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur route and vice-versa every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on Boeing 767. MAHB managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad said that it was delighted to welcome Ethiopian Airlines.
On recent news that MAHB might acquire a 15% stake in KGS Aranmula International Airport in Kerala, India, MAHB chief operating officer Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohd Ali said he was unable to comment.
Besides the inaugural flight, MAHB also launched three initiatives yesterday that will further boost KLIA's service excellence. The three are the customer information centre, state-of-the-art flight information system called Skymap and the lost and found centre.
Meanwhile, DRB-Hicom Bhd subsidiary KL Airport services Sdn Bhd has been awarded the contract by Ethiopian Airlines to provide ground-handling and in-flight catering services.
-thestar online.
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