Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) granted (10-May-2022) conditional approval for a proposed commercial cooperation between Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Malaysia Airlines, after accepting a set of proposed commitments from the parties. The cooperation will be given effect through a Commercial Cooperation Framework Agreement entered into on 30-Oct-2019. CCCS also accepted a joint application for decision from the parties on whether the cooperation would infringe section 34 of the Competition Act. The cooperation envisages a metal-neutral alliance in respect of services between Singapore and Malaysia through a Joint Business Arrangement and cooperation in other areas, including expanded codesharing to grow traffic between the countries and certain agreed markets, including Europe. CCCS stated the carriers should comprise direct air passenger services between Singapore and Malaysia, in particular each origin destination city pair as follows:
- Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, including Singapore Seletar Airport to Kuala Lumpur Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport;
- Singapore to Kuching. [more - original PR]