Malaysia Singapore air travel agreement signed

Singapore and Malaysia have signed an agreement to enhance air travel between the two countries.

According to the pact, airlines based in both Malaysia and Singapore will operate between Singapore and 6 new destinations in Malaysia – Ipoh, Kuala Teregganu, Kuantan, Malacca, Sandakan, and Tawau.

The agreement also will result in more flights to Panang, Langkawi, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.

Aviation experts say that the pact is likely to boost further Singapore’s reputation as a travel hub for the region, which at present is experiencing a slump in tourism.

In a statement, the Transport Ministry of Singapore said that the increased air connectivity between Malaysia and Singapore would “further enhance the economic and tourism linkages between our two countries, and this is especially important in the current economic climate.”

Singapore – an island city-state located nearly one mile off the coast of Malaysia – is currently suffering from its worst economic recession so far.

The government of Singapore had announced the other day that Singapore’s economy had plunged by around 20% in the first quarter of 2009 from the previous quarter – the biggest drop ever.

Tourist arrivals in Singapore declined by 13% in January 2009 from the same period a year earlier and by 15% in February 2009, the government had said.
The lifting of restrictions on travel between Malaysia and Singapore is expected to benefit travellers and boost the economies of both countries, Singapore’s Transport Ministry said in the statement. The easing of travel restrictions is the result of many measures of liberalisation that had been set in motion in 2008, the statement added.

In February 2009, Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia, both low-cost airlines based in Singapore, and AirAsia, a low-fare carrier based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were allowed to operate a limited number of services between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. All restrictions on the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route had been lifted in December 2008.

In November 2008, the governments of Malaysia and Singapore had opened up the Singapore-East Malaysia sector.

According to Singapore’s Transport Ministry, the liberalisation of the Singapore-Malaysia air route is “a part of a wider initiative to free the skies above ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations).”

It may be noted that transport ministers of the 10 member-states of the ASEAN have agreed on a long-term plan to create what has been named as the ASEAN Single Aviation Market, by 2015. Once the ASEAN Single Aviation Market is in place, all airlines based in the ASEAN member-states will be able to fly the region’s skies without restrictions of any kind.