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Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines
are terminating the Shuttle Agreement on their services between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur,
with effect from 1 June 2008. The two national carriers started the Shuttle in 1982, in response to demand for shuttle-like flights between the two cities.
The termination of the Shuttle Agreement will not reduce frequencies or change the fact that a wide variety of fares are now available on the
route. The Shuttle Agreement provided for the carriers to agree on a common fare to charge customers who turned up at the airport on
standby for the next flight.
The progressive deregulation of the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route and the ever-increasing use of the Internet for a variety of transactions
such as booking of tickets and check-in (even at the last minute), has changed the travel landscape, removing the need for a shuttle service.
Malaysia Airlines’ Commercial Director, Dato Abdul Rashid Khan said, “Bilateral airline co-operation has evolved over the years into
comprehensive and more flexible arrangements to cope with the ever growing challenges faced by the industry. In our case, co-operation
with Singapore Airlines has moved into dynamic codeshare that allows each airline to determine its own fare options and yet allow uplift of
each other’s passengers.”
Singapore Airlines Executive Vice President Marketing and the Regions, Mr Huang Cheng Eng, said the Shuttle Agreement had served its
purpose, and now, customers have other choices available to them.
“There are now more fare choices than in the past, and combined with our codeshare agreement with Malaysian Airlines, more frequencies
than in the past. Customers who have used the shuttle in the past have plenty more choices and fares than the old arrangement,” said Mr
Huang.
Customers who book their tickets at singaporeair.com will be able to check-in via internet and pre-select their seats. Those who wish to will
still be able to purchase tickets at the Singapore Airlines’ ticketing offices at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and at Singapore Changi
Airport. However, like other routes in the network, Singapore Airlines does release promotional fares on the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route,
some of which are restricted to purchase and payment on the internet only.
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