Japan Airlines (JAL) and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) have signed a new codeshare agreement.
From 1 July 2012, JAL will place its ‘JL’ flight code on MAS-operated flights between Kuala Lumpur and Japan (Tokyo Narita and Osaka), as well as Malaysian domestic routes to Kota Kinabalu, Penang, Langkawi, Kuching, Kota Tinggi and Kuantan, and regional services from KL to Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Male.
In exchange, MAS will place its ‘MH’ flight code on JAL’s flights connecting Narita to Fukuoka, Nagoya and Sapporo in Japan, and to eight international destinations – Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, Guam, Honolulu, Boston, Chicago and New York. MAS will also codeshare on JAL’s daily Narita-KL flights.
The deal forms part of the development of closer cooperation between MAS and JAL as the Malaysian airline moves towards becoming a member of the oneworld alliance.
“Japan Airlines is pleased to begin this codeshare arrangement with Malaysia Airlines as members of the alliance gear up to welcome it into the oneworld family,” said JAL’s Chairman, Masaru Onishi. “We are looking forward to strengthening JAL’s and oneworld’s Asian network with them, especially in Southeast Asia, so as to provide customers with a more connected, comprehensive network and quality service in a region of growth.”
“Malaysia Airlines is excited to be able to partner with JAL in a codeshare that gives us an excellent opportunity to expand Malaysia Airlines reach without having to mount our own flights to cities in Japan and beyond in North Asia and the US,” said MAS CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya. “This codeshare between Malaysia Airlines and JAL is also an important first step towards strengthening our relations with partner airlines in the oneworld alliance and we hope to enter more code share relationships with other oneworld partners progressively in the coming months, which will also contribute towards greater connectivity for the alliance.”
Tickets for the codeshare flights go on sale tomorrow (Tuesday 12 June).
