Japan and Malaysia team up

Japan Airlines (JAL) and Malaysian Airlines (MH) announced on Monday the expansion of their respective networks through a new code-share agreement between the member and member-elect of airline alliance Oneworld.

JAL will begin marketing MH-operated flights between Kuala Lumpur and Japan, as well as five other Malaysia domestic points and seven regional destinations such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai in India.

MH will market JAL flights connecting Tokyo through Narita Airport to Fukuoka, Nagoya and Sapporo in Japan and to nine international cities including Asian power cities like Hong Kong, Taipei and Seoul and resort destinations like Guam and Honolulu.

“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,” chairman of JAL Masaru Onishi said.

Meanwhile, MH group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said that he was excited to be able to partner with JAL, which gave Malaysia Airlines the opportunity to expand its reach without having to establish flights to cities in Japan and beyond north Asia and the US.

“This code-share is an important step towards strengthening our relations with partner airlines in Oneworld alliance and we hope to enter more code-share relationships with other Oneworld partners in the coming months,” Ahmad said.

Oneworld is an alliance that brings together airlines such as American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia and Qantas.