MAS, SIA to scrap shuttle pact

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have both decided to scrap a 30-year-old pact on flights between Kuala Lumpur and the island republic as the route is being opened up progressively.

The lucrative route was previously dominated by MAS and SIA but the two governments have allowed limited flights by budget carriers AirAsia Bhd, Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia.

The Shuttle Agreement, which lets MAS and SIA fix fares, will be terminated, effective June 1 this year, both companies said in a joint statement.

MAS commercial director Datuk Abdul Rashid Khan said its code-share agreement with SIA allows each airline to determine its own fares and also carry each other's passengers, making it only natural to phase out the shuttle arrangement.

MAS and SIA have an expanded code-share deal which offers air travellers 13 daily flights in each direction on the KL-Singapore route.

This took effect on January 28 2008.

Under the Shuttle Agreement, the carriers agree on a common fare to charge customers who turned up at the airport on standby for the next flight.

MAS said that doing away with the Shuttle Agreement will not cut frequencies or change the variety of fares available on the route now.

The two national carriers started the shuttle in 1982, in response to demand for shuttle-like flights between the two cities.

"We extend our appreciation to customers who patronised both our airline services through this arrangement, and assure that the new superseding arrangements will still benefit customers," Rashid said.