British Airways adds Asia-Pacific options with Malaysia codeshare

British Airways has inked a codeshare deal with oneworld partner Malaysia Airlines that adds 14 destinations in Malaysia as well as nine cities in Australasia and South-East Asia. The Malaysian destinations include Langkawi, Penang and Kota Kinabalu, while the nine cities are in Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Vietnam. The new code will be added to 14 domestic destinations served by the Malaysian carrier,  including Langkawi, Penang and Kota Kinabalu, and nine cities in Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Vietnam. Malaysia Airlines customers will also be able to book seats directly on malaysiaairlines.com to Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle via London Heathrow on British Airways flights. Pending regulatory approval, it also plans to codeshare with BA on European routes to Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Vienna, Brussels, Geneva, Hamburg, Lyon, Toulouse, Paris and Zurich. READ: Qantas plans to keep A380s flying for another decade. BA offers daily flights from Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur. Sales of the new codeshare routes have already begun for travel from October 9. The UK carrier said travelers would be able to through check to their final destination and collect their boarding passes in advance, while British Airways Executive Club members would get “enhanced frequent flyer benefits”. “This codeshare with Malaysia Airlines further strengthens the destination proposition for our customers, giving them more benefits when flying to Asia and South-West Pacific,’’ said Neil Chernoff, British Airways’ director of networks and alliances. Malaysia group chief executive Izham Ismail pointed to the increased opportunities the codeshare would bring to attract UK visitors to his country. “This development coincides with the launch of Visit Malaysia 2020, a landmark initiative uniting industry players behind a shared goal of welcoming 30 million tourists to Malaysia in the year 2020, making the upcoming year a particularly exciting time to visit and enjoy the country’s warm hospitality and diverse cultural attractions,” he said. The new Asia-Pacific codeshare destinations are:

• Malaysia – Alor Setar, Kota Kinabalu, Johor Bahru, Kuching, Kuantan, Labuan, Langkawi, Miri, Penang, Sibu, Kuala Terengganu, Sandakan, Kota Bharu, Bintulu
• Australia – Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth
• New Zealand - Auckland
• Indonesia – Denpasar-Bali, Jakarta, Surabaya
• Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh City
• Cambodia – Phnom Penh