Malaysian Airline News

• Saudia - Saudi Arabian Airlines has announced that it will offer a daily service into Kuala Lumpur to cope with demand in traffic as Malaysia has become one of the most popular tourist destinations for Saudis. This news comes hot on the heels of Qatar Airways and Emirates both announcing planned boosts in services to KL.
• China Southern Airlines is to increase its services from Shanghai to KL following MAS' decision to fly between the two cities daily.
• Malaysia Airlines has announced that it will split its operations into two separate companies to provide an International flag carrier and a local domestic operator. This moves raises speculations about the potential sale of a stake in MAS International to a foreign carrier and allow MAS International to become integrated into a worldwide airline alliance without the threat of losing its domestic role as an important means of transport and communication.
• Malaysia Airlines has also announced that it is to reinstate services to Istanbul, Beirut, Cairo, Auckland, Manchester, Rome, Zurich, Dubai and Karachi from next month following the suspension following the events of September 11.
• Cities which will remain suspended include Munich, Buenos Aires and New York-Newark.
• From March, MAS' Los Angeles service will operate daily via Taipei only. This moves will also see MAS introducing a twice-daily service to Tokyo-Narita.

• On the domestic front, AirAsia has relaunched itself this month as the region's first low-cost carrier and taken delivery of a third Boeing 737-300. Modelling itself behind established low-cost carriers like Soutwest Airlines in the US, easyJet and Ryanair in the UK, AirAsia intends to make flying in Malaysia more affordable to the general public. Its website at AirAsia.com has also been revamped and the airline hopes to begin on-line Internet bookings later this year. AirAsia has also added flights from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (SZB) airport at Subang to Penang and Kota Bahru. It plans to add Johor Bahru, Kuantan, Miri and Tawau later this year.
• British Airways has announced pland to return to Kuala Lumpur as many of us had expected. Interestingly, BA has chosen to begin code-sharing with its oneWorld alliance partner Cathay Pacific on the LHR-HKG-KUL sectors from March this year, instead of operating via Singapore. Published fares at BA's website remain quite high and it remains to be seen if heavy discounting may be needed to win BA back many of its customers.

• This month sees the inaugural flights by Qatar Airways from Doha into Kuala Lumpur, which will operate twice weekly using the Airbus A300-600R aircraft and Yemenia Airways, which will also fly twice weekly from Sana'a via Dubai, using the Airbus A310. Both carriers have also obtained traffic rights to operate onward services from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta.
• Australian Airlines, Qantas' low leisure carrier, has stated that although Kuala Lumpur was not on its list of cities to be operated to when it begins flying in September 2002, the airline has plans to begin flights to KL 'fairly soon after'. The Malaysian government was pleased with this announcement and has offered Qantas (and its subsidiary) access to other international airports within Malaysia - with Penang, Langkawi, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu as front-runners. Meanwhile, realising the current absence of an Australian carrier in Malaysia, another rival start-up carrier has earmarked the possibility of introducing a new Oz-KL-Europe service to destinations not currently served by Qantas.
• Not to be outdone, Austrian Airlines group through its Lauda Air arm, has been performing well on the KL-Melbourne and Sydney routes and plans to operate daily into Australia from next Summer.

• Here are the latest updates on the alterations to Malaysia Airlines' route structure.
• Johannesburg and Cape Town would be operated using the Boeing 777-2H6ER aircraft and frequencies will be reduced from four-weekly to twice-weekly. This move also sadly sees the end of MAS' service to Buenos Aires and indeed South America.
• It is with deep regret that the events of September 11th in New York, USA, would change the face of the airline industry and indeed the world. Here is a press release from Malaysia Airlines.

  MALAYSIA AIRLINES UNVEILS NETWORK RESTRUCTURING PROGRAM (Kelana Jaya, 04 October 2001)

  MALAYSIA AIRLINES today announced its new international network as part of the airline’s overall turnaround plan, which was unveiled by the management in June this year. Following the June announcement, a comprehensive review of the network was undertaken to identify weaknesses and strengths and develop strategies to address any shortfalls and to pursue opportunities.

  The new network is based on a long-term plan recognizing the impact of recent political and economic events especially the slump in the aviation industry following the September 11 terrorists attacks in the U.S., competitive developments and the expected size and growth in passenger and cargo demand.

  The restructuring of Malaysia Airlines’ network involves the withdrawal from unprofitable non-core destinations to cut losses and an increased focus on profitable, high growth routes. Malaysia Airlines will also maintain and strengthen developmental routes of strategic importance.

  Twelve destinations, including Auckland, Buenos Aires, Karachi, Manchester, Darwin and Munich, will be discontinued. In addition, the airline is temporarily suspending its services to New York.

  At the same time, Malaysia Airlines aims to improve services on key routes to provide at least daily frequencies, subject to availability of traffic rights and slots. The airline is currently working closely with the Ministry of Transport to secure these rights. Malaysia Airlines is also in advanced alliance discussions with KLM. This will allow Malaysia Airlines to build on KLM’s extensive network and enhance its reach into Europe.

  Furthermore, the airline is increasing direct connections from Kuala Lumpur to key Asian destinations through the discontinuation of additional domestic stopovers in Penang and Langkawi. Overall, almost 70% of Malaysia Airlines’ capacity will continue to serve long-haul routes.

  The first phase of network changes will be implemented over the next two seasons (Northern Winter 2001 and Northern Summers 2002 schedules).

  Malaysia Airlines estimate that the first phase of the network reconfiguration will reduce MAS’ losses by up to US $50 million per annum. Cost savings are expected to substantially offset any revenue losses incurred by the rationalization of routes.

  The withdrawal of services is not expected to affect Malaysia’s position as a top tourist destination in Asia. By increasing frequencies significantly to certain key destinations, Malaysia Airlines expects to contribute towards the overall efforts by the various authorities to increase tourist arrivals to Malaysia.

  The impact on airborne trade is expected to be minimal as Malaysia Airlines continues to maintain its key cargo destinations in the United Kingdom, Europe, Orient, Australia, Middle East, South Africa and the United States. The airline plans to make up for withdrawals of services through interline arrangements.

  Malaysia Airlines recognizes the importance of Malaysia’s national carrier for the development and growth of the country. The airline believes that these changes are an essential component in fulfilling this obligation and that they will enhance Malaysia Airlines’ position as an important and significant player in the airline industry. Only as a profitable airline will MAS be able to maintain the respect and trust of international travelers, distributors and partners.

• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will reduce its frequency to Kuala Lumpur from six-weekly to five-weekly and reintroduce flight KL807/808 which will operate from Amsterdam and continue on to Manila. This will also end their daylight operations into Amsterdam from KL.

• As from September 21st, all Malaysia Airlines flights to New York (Newark) will be suspended, due to the recent tragic events.
• Qatar Airways has announced its decision to begin a new service from Doha to Kuala Lumpur from December.

• British Airways leaves Kuala Lumpur at the end of this month after serving Malaysia for over 50 years. British Airways has attributed the weakened ringgit for its sad decision as the carrier was unable to make any profit despite strong passenger and cargo growth since the recovery from the Economic collapse in 1997.
• ANA - All Nippon Airways - will also leave Kuala Lumpur albeit temporarily as it restructures its Osaka-Bangkok-KL 767 service to a Tokyo-Bangkok-KL 777 service from June.

• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Malaysia Airlines have succesfully been code-sharing on the Amsterdam-KL route for almost a year now and KLM has decided to alter its Amsterdam-KL-Manila service to operate a new daylight KL-Amsterdam service as the 747-400 aircraft will now turnaround at KL in the mornings.
• Following the government buy-back of Malaysia Airlines from Tajudin Ramli (former CEO), Malaysia Airlines now has a new board of directors and has once again become nationalised. It remains to be seen what the government plans for the airline as airline analysts have speculated that MAS will need a foreign equity partner to remain competitive.

• Northwest Airlines and Malaysia Airlines are due to begin code-sharing on all flights between KL and the USA. This will involve attaching MAS flight numbers to Northwest's flights between KL and Osaka and onward to Detroit and New York-LaGuardia. At the same time, Northwest Airlines will also begin selling seats on all three MAS KL-USA routes into Los Angeles and New York-Newark with NW flight numbers.
• China Airlines is to begin a Taipei-Penang-Medan service 737-800 service from next month.

• British Airways will reinstate the Boeing 747-400 aircraft on selected days of operations into Kuala Lumpur to cope with the increasing demand on the London-KL route from September.
• Malaysia Airlines and Qantas Airways are holding high-level talks that could see Qantas taking an equity stake in MAS. This could result in a boardroom shakeup at MAS and see British Airways and Qantas relocating hubs from Singapore into Kuala Lumpur.
• Royal Jordanian Airlines has switched from Dubai to Doha as its stopover point enroute to Amman.

• Air India has introduced a weekly flight between Cochin and Kuala Lumpur via Chennai.
• Gulf Air has reorganized its Malaysian operations to fly only to Abu Dhabi four times a week - dropping its twice weekly Bahrain service.
• Middle East Airlines returns to Kuala Lumpur through a code-sharing deal with MAS. MEA will now code-share on MAS new twice weekly nonstop 747-400 service from Beirut. MEA will also piggy-back on MAS services to Sydney thereby returning to Australia after a lapse of over 3 years.
• Cathay Pacific Airways and Malaysia Airlines have announced a new code-share deal which will see Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong linked by up to 31 flights each week. The deal also includes flights between Penang and Kuala Lumpur which is served 9 times a week by the two carriers. Cathay Pacific will initiate the boost in services with the launch of an extra daily service between KUL and HKG to be flown by the Boeing 777-300 from September. This will also mark the first flight of any 777-300 into Kuala Lumpur.

• China Airlines has started operating twice-daily between Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. Both of CAL's flights to Taipei (operated by Airbus A300-600s) and Kaohsiung (operated by Boeing 737-800s) will now stop at Hong Kong en route.
• Contrary to common belief that Malaysia Airlines was about to officially join the 'Wings Alliance' with KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines and Northwest Airlines, Malaysia Airlines has announced that it is currently in talks with British Airways and its partners about the possibility of joining the 'OneWorld Alliance' instead.
• Following the successful introduction of the Boeing 777-236ER aircraft on the London-Kuala Lumpur route, British Airways has announced that the service will be increased from 6 weekly to a daily service from October this year.
• China Southern Airlines has announced that it will be boosting its services at Kuala Lumpur by introducing new flights to Kunming and Chengdu.
• Hong Kong carrier, Dragonair has announced plans to begin cargo flights into Malaysia this year. Dragonair already operates passenger services on a code-share basis with Malaysia Airlines between Hong Kong and Kota Kinabalu.

• Northwest Airlines has applied to the US Dept. of Transportation and the relative authorities to begin code-sharing with Malaysia Airlines on MAS' Kuala Lumpur-Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi routes.
• Following KLM's decision to sever ties with Alitalia this month, Malaysia Airlines will still continue to cooperate with Alitalia on its Kuala Lumpur-Rome services.
• According to IATA figures, Kuala Lumpur International Airport was voted 6th best in the world after Copenhagen-Kastrup, Singapore-Changi, Helsinki-Vantaa, Vancouver and Manchester.
• Asian Composites Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between Boeing and Hexcel of the US and local firms Sime Darby Bhd and Naluri Bhd, will begin production of trailing edge parts for the wings of the Boeing 747 aircraft, near Alor Setar, from January 2001.

• The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) Malaysia has revoked the operating licence of Pelangi Air - unfortunately I have not been able to find out why - yet!

• British Airways and Qantas will be terminating their London-Kuala Lumpur-Sydney services from the end of this month. This will mean the end of Qantas' services into Malaysia as British Airways introduces the Boeing 777-236ER to Kuala Lumpur. BA33 will now depart every evening (except for Fridays) from London-Heathrow and terminate at Kuala Lumpur. This will be British Airways' longest Boeing 777 route - operating non-stop for the 13 hours and 45 minutes.
• THY - Turk Hava Yollari will be operating the Airbus A340 into Kuala Lumpur from this Summer, replacing the current smaller A310 in service.

• Austrian Airlines has begun code-sharing with Lauda Air on its services between Vienna and Kuala Lumpur. The services are operated by Lauda using Boeing 777 aircraft and already currently also code-shared with Malaysia Airlines.
• Malaysia Airlines has announced that its Kuala Lumpur-Manchester service is to become non-stop from this Summer - no longer calling in at Munich on the way. The Boeing 777 will also be replaced by the larger Boeing 747-400 aircraft.
• KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines and Malaysia Airlines will once again be stepping up flights between their two home bases this Summer with additional flights. The new day-time flights between Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam will be operated by KLM using Boeing 747-400 Combi aircraft.
• MAS Kargo has completed its expansion programme at Hahn International Airport, Germany, and has therefore moved its operations back to Hahn from Maastricht. The new MAS Kargo centre is now equipped with similar facilities found at the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport enabling MAS Kargo to increase its efficiency in handling its Cargo.
• Cathay Pacific is set to increase its services to Malaysia later this year with CX721/CX720 Hong Kong-Kuala Lumpur-Penang operating daily. In addition to flight CX723/CX722 operating daily into Kuala Lumpur, a new evening service CX725/724 operating Hong Kong-Kuala Lumpur will begin three times a week from September 2000.

• There have been speculation that Malaysia Airlines has been in talks with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines about its possible entry into the 'Wings' Alliance - shares of Malaysia Airlines on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange rose sharply.
• Malaysia Airlines Kargo is to take delivery of new Boeing 747-400 Cargo aircraft via Atlas Air. The new aircraft will enable MAS Kargo to increase its services betweeen Malaysia and Europe and the USA.
• Garuda Indonesia has restarted services from Medan into Kuala Lumpur using Boeing 737 equipment.
• Garuda Indonesia and Malaysia Airlines have begun code-sharing on services between Indonesia and Malaysia. All flights now carry dual flight numbers between Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar-Bali, Medan and Kuala Lumpur.
• Ansett Australia has begun code-sharing with Singapore Airlines on the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur shuttle service in order to offer connections onto SIA's services on to Australia.

• The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), now headquartered in Manila, will move its head office to Kuala Lumpur. AAPA director-general Richard Stirland made the announcement at the 43rd Assembly of Presidents (AP) of the grouping. The AP is the main governing and policy-making body of AAPA. It consists of the chief executive officers of the 19 member airlines.
• Royal Brunei Airlines and Malaysia Airlines will now code-share on all their services between Bandar Seri Begawan and Kuala Lumpur offering passengers at least one daily service in each direction.

• Alitalia and Malaysia Airlines have agreed to code-share on MAS' flights between Rome-Fiumicino and Kuala Lumpur from March 2000. This introduces Alitalia to Malaysia for the first time and is a step closer for both airlines' participation in the yet-to-be-confirmed 'Wings Alliance'.
• SriLankan Airlines (formerly AirLanka) took delivery of its first A330-200 aircraft and started operating it on the Colombo-Kuala Lumpur sector late in October.
• Malaysia Airlines adds a fourth destination in China from this month with the introduction of flights twice weekly from Kuala Lumpur to Xiamen using Boeing 737-400 aircraft.
• Indian Airlines is to start direct flights from Bangalore (Hindustan) to Kuala Lumpur using Airbus A320 equipment.
• Royal Jordanian Airlines is to switch its Lockheed TriStar service to Amman to use an Airbus A310. This will see the departure of the last TriStar aircraft from KUL's tarmac and also increase flying time as the Airbus A310 service will now stop at Dubai en-route.
• British Airways has terminated its service to Jakarta from this Winter. This will entail reducing the frequency of its London-KL service from 5 to 4 weekly. However, there actually will be an increase in capacity on its services as BA33 on Tuesdays will continue to be operated by Boeing 747-400 aircraft and now turn-around at Kuala Lumpur.
• Sadly, Lufthansa Airlines terminated its service from Kuala Lumpur at the end of October. Lufthansa had been a major European carrier into Malaysia for decades but owing to the rise of Malaysia Airlines' services into Germany coupled with KLM muscling in for European passengers out of Kuala Lumpur, Lufthansa has decided to drop Kuala Lumpur from its route network and use its Star-Alliance membership to continue off-line operations with Singapore Airlines.

• Korean Air has signed an agreement with Malaysia Airlines to code-share on the Seoul-Kuala Lumpur route and combine their services to operate 6 times a week between the two capitals.
• Turk Hava Yollari (THY) - Turkish Airlines has finally returned to Kuala Lumpur operating twice weekly via Dubai using Airbus A310 aircraft. This new service will be code-shared with Malaysia Airlines' own twice weekly Boeing 777 service giving both airlines 4 frequencies a week betweenm the two cities.
• Malaysia Airlines becomes the first airline to operate into Central Asia with the introduction of flights to Tashkent, Uzbekistan under a code-share agreement with Uzbekistan Airways, which has operated the route since the dissolve of the former U.S.S.R.
• Philippine Airlines is now to code-share with Malaysia Airlines to offer a daily Manila-Kuala Lumpur flights using MAS flights. In another development, Malaysia Airlines has also introduced new flights to Zamboanga in South Philippines.
• Malaysia Airlines has applied to the UK CAA for traffic-rights for a new KUL-Manchester-New York service.
• Air Asia is again planning to lease/purchase a larger aircraft to enter the regional market. The Boeing 767 seems to be the front-runner at this time to take on this role.

• Malaysia Airlines plans to increase its KUL-AMS service to daily Boeing 777 flights from this month. All flights will of course continue to code-share with KLM.
• SriLankan (formerly Airlanka) has signed a new code-share with Malaysia Airlines allowing MAS to operate KUL-CMB with code-share flight numbers on the thrice-weekly service operated by Airbus A340 aircraft.
• Malaysia Airlines has announce thier traffic figures for July 1999 and load-factors now stand at 68% - a much improved figure from 50% during the crunch of the Asian economic collapse.

• Malaysia Airlines speeds up it service to Beirut and Cairo this summer with the omition of Dubai as a transit stop. The faster service will also now be operated by Boeing 777 aircraft.
• Malaysia Airlines boosts its new Manchester service with the addition of a third weekly Boeing 777 service via Munich.
• Effective 15 July, Dragonair and Malaysia Airlines will provide a daily code-share service between Kota Kinabalu and Hong Kong, with the additional flight being operated by MAS. MAS will also begin a fifth-weekly Airbus A330 service between Kota Kinabalu and Taipei from August.
• KLM Flying Dutchman members can now earn and redeem FD points across the entire MAS network.

• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Malaysia Airlines expand their code-share service between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur with 10 weekly services between the two hubs.
• Labuan Island has a new airport to ctaer to the island's growing needs as an International Offshore Financial Centre. The new facilities provide ample space for Boeing 737s and include a new Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge.

• Malaysia Airlines is under scrutiny by the British Civil Avaition Authority (CAA) after it was reported by British Airways that its Boeing 747-400 flights into London-Heathrow were flying in on nearly empty fuel tanks. Malaysia Airlines has denied the allegations and will submit fuel logs to the CAA as part of the investigation.
• Malaysia Airlines has withdrawn services to Zagreb (Crotia) with effect from its summer schedules.

• Air Asia plans to begin a new Kuala Lumpur - Miri service later this year. Air Asia also plans to acquire new wide-body aircraft this year. A decision has yet to be made.
• Malaysia Airlines has boosted services to Australia by offering extra flights from Kuala Lumpur to Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne from this month.
• New Arrivals Videos will be screened from next month aboard Malaysia Airlines international sectors prior to landing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport to help passengers find their way through the airport.

• There is some talk in the Aviation industry of the new Wings alliance which would be headed by KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines and Northwest Airlines. Alitalia, Kenya Airways, Air China and Air France are also implicated to join this new alliance in competition against STAR-Alliance and oneWorld groupings. There is also some hint that Malaysia Airlines may be invited to join following the succesful Memoranda of Understanding that have been signed between KLM, Northwest and MAS recently.
• KLM Royal Dutch Cargo and MAS Kargo will expand their code-share agreements from this summer to provide five weekly services between Amsterdam and Malaysia. MAS Kargo will continue to operate Boeing 747F flights via Dubai into Amsterdam from KL whilst KLM Cargo will continue its twice weekly 747F service from Penang. The main expansion in cooperation will be the fact that MAS Kargo services will now continue on to Australia providing KLM Cargo access into the Australian market.
• MAS Kargo will reroute 4 services from Frankfurt into Hahn Airport in Germany from this Summer. This would further enhance its links with KLM Cargo which would help develop Hahn into MAS Kargo's European hub.

• Northwest Airlines and Malaysia Airlines have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) paving the way for an operational and marketing alliance between the two airlines. Joint activities underlined in the agreement include compatible frequent flyer programmes and scheduling. This new agreement is in-line with a similiar MoU signed between KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Malaysia Airlines in 1998 which could see the formation of another global grouping of airlines.

• Northwest Airlines has confirmed that operations from Osaka-Kansai to KL will begin on February 27, flying thrice-weekly using McDonnell Douglas DC10-30 aircraft.
• Malaysia Airlines withdrew services to Vancouver on Jan 9 re-deploying its aircraft on to more profitable routes. Vancouver joins Davao, Madrid, Macau, Pusan, Ujung Pandang and Vientiane as cancelled destinations since the economic woes hit Asia late in 1997.
• Malaysia Airlines will increase services to Los Angeles to provide a daily service from KL with immediate effect. Other service changes include 2 additional services to Perth a week (to ten) and an additional service a week to Melbourne (to ten) and Brisbane (to five).
• Rumours that Qantas Airways plans to return to KL in the near future since signing the new Air Services Agreement with Malaysia - perhaps using KLIA as a transit point for flights on to Europe.
• Egyptair is now operating a joint-service from Cairo into KL with MAS. The Airbus A330 service operated by MAS stops at Beirut and Dubai twice weekly.
• Lufthansa German Airlines has stated that although the company had been affected by the economic problems in the region, its operations in Malaysia were satisfactory and plans to continue its 3 weekly non-stop Airbus A340 service between KUL and Frankfurt.
• The Express Rail Link (ERL) service between Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Kuala Lumpur City Air Terminal (KL CAT) is due to begin service in the second quarter of 2001. The much needed 30-minute express service will also provide passengers with easy connections to the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system locate within KL Sentral station itself. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has also accorded KL CAT the International Airport Code of XKL.
• Malaysia Airlines website has finally been upgraded. They can be found at http://www.malaysia-airlines.com.my
• Philippine Airlines (PAL) returns to Malaysia after a six-month break under a new code-sharing agreement with Malaysia Airlines. PAL will purchase seats on MAS' 11-weekly services between KL, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Cebu and Manila.

• The Sarawak Government is in talks with Taiwanese carrier Trans-Asia Airways with the possibility of direct air-links between Taipei or Kaohsiung and Sarawak in the future.
• Emirates Airlines has improved its Dubai-KL service with the launch of the Boeing 777 on the route. Flights still operate via Dhaka.
• Malaysia and Australia have signed a new Air Services Agreement. The main points of the agreement allows MAS to operate flights onward from Adelaide and Brisbane to Auckland and Christchurch, removing restrictions on MAS at Brisbane, add Townsville to MAS destination list and allow MAS to increase its flights into Melbourne next year. Australian carriers also gain from the new agreement - allowing onward traffic-rights from Malaysia to Chennai(Madras), China and Europe. Qantas is already preparing to code-share with British Airways on the new Sydney-KL-London route.
• British Airways has signed a new contract with Kuala Lumpur Airport Services (KLAS) to provide ground-handling at the KLIA. KLAS is a division of Hicom Holdings Bhd. British Airways and Qantas have also opened a new state-of-the-art Executive Lounge at KLIA located at the satellite building. Facilities include showers, cloakroom, business centre, self-service bar offering fine wines, cocktails and snacks provided by The Mango Tree restaurant (Bangsar, KL).

• Sadly since the start of the Northern Winter schedule, Qantas Airways has pulled out of direct operations into Malaysia. This is the second time (the last during the mid-80s) that the red flying Kangaroos will be much missed from the apron at Kuala Lumpur. Qantas, however is in the process of finalising plans to code-share with British Airways on the KUL-Sydney route in the near future, as part of the One-World Alliance partnership.
• British Airways has reduced the number of flights from/to London from six-weekly to five. Three of these services will also now operate to/from Sydney and as such will arrive from London much later in the evenings. The other two services will continue to serve Jakarta.
• Northwest Airlines has delayed its return to KUL by a month. Northwest had originally planned to start services into KLIA from Osaka on Jan 16, 1999 but has decided to wait until after the Chinese New Year season to return to Malaysia.
• Malaysian Airline System Bhd is likely to dive into the red for the first half of its current financial year, pulled down by foreign exchange losses, analysts said on Friday. A poll of five analysts covering the stock yielded an average consensus of a net loss of RM295 million (US$77.6 million) for the six months to September 30, compared to net profit of RM23.5 million in the same period in 1997. Analysts said they had been informed by MAS the results would be released on Monday. Malaysia Airlines officials could not be reached for comment.

• Malaysia Airlines has announced plans to fly to Manchester,UK from June 1999. Three Boeing 777 flights a week are planned for the route which will operate via Munich. The news was released at the closing of the 16th Commonwealth Games as Kuala Lumpur handed the Games over to Manchester - host of the 17th Games in 2002.