MALAYSIA: Boost For Malaysia Airline And For Malaysian Tourism

Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) will be introducing a big sales campaign for travel to and around the Asean region, in celebration of the New Year and in anticipation of the equalisation of the passenger service charge (PSC) from Jan 1, 2017.

In a statement yesterday, MAB said the PSC equalisation will see a reduction of some RM35 per Asean passengers at KLIA. The company said in the statement that the savings will be passed on to passengers and the impact can already be seen and it is better than expected as group bookings from the Asean region has spiked by almost 400 per cent.

This will be a great boost for the airline and for Malaysian tourism in general, it said. MAB group chief executive officer Peter Bellew said with the revised passenger service charges, the company is able to bring people together with their competitive fares.

“This means a lot to us and we could have not done it without the support of Malaysian Aviation Commission, the Minister of Transport and of course our customers. “In the spirit of the season of giving we would like to share this good news with all our loyal passengers,” he said.

During the sales period, fares offered will be as low as RM99 for domestic and Asean travels.

MALAYSIA: Rebuild Malaysia Airline’s Confidence

Following twin tragedies in 2014, and with a restructure in progress, the full-service international carrier needed to improve bookings immediately and re-boot its growth program in the medium term.

Crossman crafted a strategy of ‘advocacy’ which included securing Australia’s favourite Malaysia-connected celebrities as airline partners – MasterChef favourite and TV cook/presenter, Poh Ling Yeow, and rising world tennis star Nick Kyrgios whose mother is proudly Malaysian.

Initial results are favourable with passenger numbers in and out of Australia in 7.8 percent ahead of the same period in 2014 according to the Australian Government’s International Airline Activity report, while sales in New Zealand in the first quarter of 2015 were up 31 percent on the previous year.

CEO of Crossman Communications, Jackie Crossman, said the consultancy is proud to be helping to rebuild Malaysia Airlines’ reputation as a world-class airline, promoting Malaysia as a fantastic destination and Kuala Lumpur as an exciting layover.

“While it is early days and the new Malaysia Airlines is still to launch on 1 September as the final part of the restructure spearheaded by owner Khazanah, Malaysia’s sovereign fund, and new CEO Christoph Mueller, prospects are good in this region, the carrier’s main market outside of its home country,” Crossman said.

“We look forward to continuing to unleash new initiatives to help Malaysia Airlines play an important role in forging greater ties between Australia and New Zealand and Malaysia for improved tourism and trade in the Asian century,” she said.