Malaysia Airlines eyes partnerships with Qantas, British Airways
By David Flynn, June 17 2017
Malaysia Airlines plans to expand its relationship with Oneworld partner airlines such as Qantas and British Airways by offering codeshare flights carrying QF and BA numbers.
The move would be made possible by the airline switching over to a new reservations platform, reports industry watchers CAPA.
“This will open up a whole other world to us”, observed Malaysia Airlines CEO Peter Bellew. "It’s a bit of a joke you are part of oneworld and you can’t sell a flight on our own site."
CAPA observes that "obvious holes in (Malaysia Airlines') portfolio of codeshare partners are Oneworld members British Airways and Qantas. BA is the only Oneworld member serving Kuala Lumpur that does not yet have a codeshare with Malaysia Airlines."
Qantas no longer flies to Kuala Lumpur, although this is often suggested as a potential Airbus A330 destination as the airline pushes into Asia.
British Airways began flying to Kuala Lumpur in 2015 but "initially elected against pursuing a codeshare on the route due to overcapacity concerns," CAPA reflects.
Malaysia Airlines continues to fly its Airbus A380s to London, but by the middle of 2018 will begin to replace the superjumbos with advanced fuel-efficient Airbus A350s.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 Dec 2011
Total posts 10
I have flown Malaysia Airlines many times and the loads out of Sydney are always near full. I would dearly love to see MH extend the A380 service to Sydney.
American Airlines - AAdvantage
13 Jul 2015
Total posts 273
Filling an A330 and a A380 are totally different ball games however.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 Dec 2011
Total posts 10
Maybe a bit of promotion and some cheap fares could help. MH dont seem to be spending much in Australia on advertising at the moment. In my opinion the A380 is a much better aircraft to fly in and the service is always good.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
03 Jan 2013
Total posts 59
MH and QF codeshare - yes yes yes!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Feb 2015
Total posts 382
MH are a good airline with quality product, but KL airport doesn't even come close to Changi in any category!!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
15 Mar 2016
Total posts 167
I like KL airport and i've never had any complaints about MH service, food, hard product etc. but i'm sceptical about how well this works on QFs end. They definitely need enhanced Asia codeshares to compete with SQ ex-AU but my money would have been on CX!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
13 Jul 2012
Total posts 117
Yes, except Cathay's money are clearly not on Qantas, and nowhere near it.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
12 Jun 2011
Total posts 148
It's definitely a shame there is so much bad blood between CX and QF. Not helped by the scuttling of JQHK.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
12 Jan 2016
Total posts 2
I wouldn't mind QF shifting a couple of their SIN operations to KUL
15 Sep 2012
Total posts 93
Unfortunately Malaysia Airlines reputation with the general public in Australia has taken a severe battering (UNDESERVED!) after MH17 AND MH370 therefore unlikely passenger numbers would justify an A380. Going to take a long time to regain confidence of Australian public. Malaysia are planning to dispose of A380s. A350 wll be a greaat choice for them. Patrnering with British and Qantas is a good move as two airlines trusted by public and will provide extra passengers .
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
08 Sep 2012
Total posts 236
Re A380 v A330, the MH A330s are popular in business because of the new seat with mostly direct aisle access and flat beds. The J seats on the A380 are previous generation. They aren't flat and have no universal direct aisle access. So a lesser product. Possibly another reason they're not offered to Australia.
25 Sep 2013
Total posts 1245
The A380 J seats may not offer direct aisle access to every passenger but they are certianly fully-flat.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 May 2015
Total posts 75
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 May 2016
Total posts 33
Qantas and MAS should strategically cooperate to tap into the Malaysian markets as QF doesn't fly direct to KUL. JetStar isn't working well for premium flyers and not worth it when you fly J to SIN and have to then fly Y in SIN - KUL segment for the price of J on JetStar metal! Do they know how many Malayaians (non KL residents) are forced to take SQ back to KUL with transit in SIN which is a pain (forced to stay overnight in SIN for transit)! Since the termination of EK flight direct between MEL and KUL, most of these usual flyers are on MH or SQ metals. No wonder SQ are increasing their capacities between MEL to 5 flights per day! Bloody missing out great opportunities for Qantas to secure Malaysian market!
25 Sep 2013
Total posts 1245
Couldn't agree more.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
18 Jun 2015
Total posts 57
Recent bomb threats on MH out of MEL doesn't help the cause. Yes nothing happened but considering this happened on MH who already went through 370 and 17, plans should be shelved for now IMO.
26 Aug 2012
Total posts 43
No MH or QF from BNE-KUL. No matter how many times my QFF number is put into MH booking it is never there at check in. So, maybe the new system will make MH real OW members rather than OW 'light'.
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