SUBANG JAYA: Discussions are underway to reintroduce direct flights between Russia and Malaysia, says Anthony Loke.
The transport minister said as Malaysia already has an Air Service Agreement (ASA) with Russia, there would be no issue in reintroducing the route.
He added, however, that even with an ASA, the implementation of direct flights depended on commercial considerations.
"We have indeed held discussions (on reintroducing direct flights between Russia and Malaysia), and of course, we are also taking the opportunity during this meeting to talk with Russia.
"We welcome any airline from Russia that wishes to fly to Kuala Lumpu.r, as there used to be before, and we hope to restore connectivity between Russia and Malaysia. In fact, we welcome any countries," he told reporters after the opening of the International Civil Aviation Organisation Air Services Negotiation Event (ICAN) 2024.
In September, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had said Malaysia and Russia should consider introducing direct flights to increase the passage of tourists between the two countries.
Currently, only transit flights via China are available to connect the two countries.
Loke said Malaysia would be signing ASAs with two new countries this afternoon at ICAN 2024.
He said so far Malaysia have signed ASAs eith over 100 countries.
"When the ASA is in place, it means we have the arrangement to allow flights between the two countries. We already have an agreement with Russia, so it is not an issue for us to restore that route.
"The ASA was signed a long time ago with Russia, but now it depends on commercial decisions.
"Even with an agreement, whether direct flights can be implemented or not depends on commercial considerations. The government, especially through the Transport Ministry only finalises or negotiates the air service agreements," he said.
Loke added that Malaysian airlines always take advantage of the good bilateral relations Malaysia has with other countries to fly to new destinations.
"We see that we have very good connectivity in the Asian region, and Kuala Lumpur is one of the most connected airports in Southeast Asia.
"We fly to many places, destinations across Southeast Asia in particular, and we also fly to many secondary and second-tier cities. This is important for connectivity because we see that the potential in Asean is very, very large.
"Asean has 600 million people, and next year we will chair Asean. One of our agendas is to further integrate the Asean economy, and one of the main factors in integrating the Asean economy is connectivity," he said.