MAHB in talks with BA and Qantas on using KLIA

PETALING JAYA: Airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is still in talks with British Airways and Qantas Airways on the possibility of both airlines mounting flights to KL International Airport (KLIA), a decade after these airlines suspended flights to KLIA owing to a lack of network connectivity here. “At the moment, discussions are still on-going,” MAHB chief financial officer Faizal Mansor told StarBiz yesterday via a text message.

Last month, Faizal told reporters that both airlines were considering the possibility of flying into KLIA, following Malaysia Airlines (MAS) joining the Oneworld alliance. British Airways and Qantas had yet to respond to separate e-mails sent to them on the possibility of either resuming flights to KLIA. While MAHB stands to benefit from new airline mounting flights to KLIA, a local aviation analyst said that British Airways flying to KLIA was not expected to hurt MAS and AirAsia X as it would have its own set of clientele.

“Government officials and government-related companies are required to use British Airways' services similar to what we see for MAS whereby government-linked companies and officials in Malaysia use MAS' services,” said the analyst. He added that British Airways' customers would continue to use the airline's services due to loyalty and mileage programmes. While British Airways would fly the London-KL route, analysts said Qantas was likely to start with the Sydney-KL route first.

Meanwhile, a foreign analyst said that market talk had it that British Airways, Qantas and MAS had formed an alliance within the Oneworld alliance, whereby the three airlines would cross-sell each other's tickets on their respective websites. This deal was said to be executed by former MAS managing director Tengku Datuk Seri Azmil Zahruddin. “For instance, a British passenger who wants to fly from London to KL and subsequently to Penang, can do it seamlessly through this alliance basically British Airways will offer a ticket for the passenger to fly from London to Penang, utilising the MAS network. While a code-share is typically executed for a single route (point-to-point), this alliance between the three airlines builds on connectivity and network,” he said. This alliance would allow Qantas and British Airways' passengers the opportunity to book flights to South-East Asian destinations via the MAS networks.

“With MAS, British Airways' passengers can access destinations such as Phuket, Surabaya, Bandung, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. The Middle Eastern carriers don't fly to such destinations so it will be easier for these passengers to utilise MAS' network,” he said. However, should there be such an alliance between the three airlines, it remains to be seen if it will be executed considering the latest reshuffle at MAS, where new board members were appointed and an executive committee put in place to oversee the running of MAS, while the hunt for a new managing director is under way.

Both British Airways and Qantas ceased flights from KLIA in 2001 and 2000 respectively, as the airlines said it made more commercial sense to redeploy capacity to where demand was much better served Singapore's Changi Airport. Qantas axed flights to KLIA as it opted to use Singapore as its South-East Asia gateway while other international airlines said in order for KLIA to be a regional hub, it needed to compete more effectively with Singapore and win airlines at the expense of Changi. For instance, Qantas currently has two direct daily flights each from Melbourne to Singapore and Sydney to Singapore.

However, KLIA has increasingly grown as a regional hub in the last decade, with international passenger numbers increasing from 12.7 million in 2001 to 23.8 million international passengers last year. While KLIA has attracted more foreign airlines to mount flights to KLIA, part of KLIA's popularity is also due to low-cost carrier AirAsia group mounting flights to regional destinations.

Meanwhile, MAHB clarified in a media statement yesterday that passenger service charge (PSC) in Malaysia was not linked with the construction cost of airports or terminals built locally. It cited the example that the PSC remained the same despite the relocation of airport operations from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang to the brand new KLIA in 1998. “The PSC and other aeronautical charges are determined solely by the Government as enshrined in the Civil Aviation Act 1969. Therefore, it is the sole prerogative of the Government to reduce, maintain or increase aeronautical charges which MAHB abides by,” MAHB said, adding that it was not at liberty to revise aeronautical charges without the Government's approval.

-thestar online.