Emirates comes to the rescue of Malaysia Airlines
Dubai-based airline Emirates agreed to a massive code-share deal with troubled Malaysian Airlines as part of the latter’s restructuring efforts. The agreement covers more than 90 locations in the US, Europe, Middle East and Africa which will be served via Emirates’ hub in Dubai.
In turn, Malaysia Airlines will drop ten existing code-share agreements with other partners and end its own direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Paris and Amsterdam next year.
In detail, the Malaysian Airlines code will appear on Emirates flights to 38 European destinations, as well as 15 locations in the US and 38 in the Gulf, Africa and the Indian Ocean. Emirates will gain its new partner access to some 300 daily flights.
The deal gives the Malaysian carrier access to Europe without incurring “monumental losses,” CEO Christoph Mueller commented on the deal. Mueller, who took over in March tasked to turn around Malaysia Airlines’ business after the two monumental disasters of flights MH370 and MH17, has already trimmed capacity by 30 per cent and cut thousands of jobs as he seeks to revive the company.
The tie-up with Emirates also fills a hole in European coverage left by the dropping of a “kangaroo-route-centric” approach, Mueller said, referring to the traditional model of linking Europe with Australia via cities in Southeast Asia. Malaysian dropped services to Istanbul and Frankfurt earlier this year in order to focus on the fast-growing regional travel market that includes China and Vietnam.
MH370 search likely to end next June at the latest
Meanwhile, the still ongoing search for flight MH370 has been narrowed down as more than three quarters of an area hunters believe to be the most likely location of the wreckage within the current 120,000 square kilometer search zone has been scoured.
Overall, investigators have fruitlessly trawled through more than 70,000 square kilometers of sea bed underneath the southern Indian Ocean. The only solid evidence so far from Malaysia Airlines’ missing Boeing 777 has been a wing component that washed up in July on Reunion Island – 3,800 kilometers from the current search zone.
Warren Truss, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia – the country leading the search operations – said that search is likely to end by next June. He was doubtful whether it would continue beyond June if the plane was not found by then.
Dubai-based airline Emirates agreed to a massive code-share deal with troubled Malaysian Airlines as part of the latter's restructuring efforts. The agreement covers more than 90 locations in the US, Europe, Middle East and Africa which will be served via Emirates’ hub in Dubai. In turn, Malaysia Airlines will drop ten existing code-share agreements with other partners and end its own direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Paris and Amsterdam next year. In detail, the Malaysian Airlines code will appear on Emirates flights to 38 European destinations, as well as 15 locations in the US and 38 in the Gulf,...
Dubai-based airline Emirates agreed to a massive code-share deal with troubled Malaysian Airlines as part of the latter’s restructuring efforts. The agreement covers more than 90 locations in the US, Europe, Middle East and Africa which will be served via Emirates’ hub in Dubai.
In turn, Malaysia Airlines will drop ten existing code-share agreements with other partners and end its own direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Paris and Amsterdam next year.
In detail, the Malaysian Airlines code will appear on Emirates flights to 38 European destinations, as well as 15 locations in the US and 38 in the Gulf, Africa and the Indian Ocean. Emirates will gain its new partner access to some 300 daily flights.
The deal gives the Malaysian carrier access to Europe without incurring “monumental losses,” CEO Christoph Mueller commented on the deal. Mueller, who took over in March tasked to turn around Malaysia Airlines’ business after the two monumental disasters of flights MH370 and MH17, has already trimmed capacity by 30 per cent and cut thousands of jobs as he seeks to revive the company.
The tie-up with Emirates also fills a hole in European coverage left by the dropping of a “kangaroo-route-centric” approach, Mueller said, referring to the traditional model of linking Europe with Australia via cities in Southeast Asia. Malaysian dropped services to Istanbul and Frankfurt earlier this year in order to focus on the fast-growing regional travel market that includes China and Vietnam.
MH370 search likely to end next June at the latest
Meanwhile, the still ongoing search for flight MH370 has been narrowed down as more than three quarters of an area hunters believe to be the most likely location of the wreckage within the current 120,000 square kilometer search zone has been scoured.
Overall, investigators have fruitlessly trawled through more than 70,000 square kilometers of sea bed underneath the southern Indian Ocean. The only solid evidence so far from Malaysia Airlines’ missing Boeing 777 has been a wing component that washed up in July on Reunion Island – 3,800 kilometers from the current search zone.
Warren Truss, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia – the country leading the search operations – said that search is likely to end by next June. He was doubtful whether it would continue beyond June if the plane was not found by then.
