Malaysia Air and AirAsia clash

Jabs between Malaysia’s two big airlines have escalated as of late, with chief executives of both airlines issuing public statements chiding the other on positions of open skies and liberalization of flight routes.

Datuk Tony Fernandes, AirAsia’s chief executive officer called out Malaysia Airlines over its ‘everyday low fares’ campaign, calling for the liberalization of the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore route.

Malaysia Airlines’ chief executive and director Datuk Seri Idris responded that AirAsia already has access to some of the biggest markets services by MAS, citing open skies agreements with New Zealand, the United States and the United Arab Emirates, all of which are flown to by MAS. “AirAsia is free to fly to any of these destinations with no limitations on frequency or capacity. We are fine with this as it is allowed under the bilateral arrangements,” said Idris. He pointed out that AirAsia has recently opened routes already served by MAS like Kuala Lumpur to Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong.

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