Malaysia Airlines and China Southern adds five Malaysia-China routes to codeshare partnership

Malaysia Airlines is expanding its codeshare partnership with China Southern Airlines (China Southern) to cover five additional routes between Malaysia and China.

Effective October 25, the Malaysia Airlines-China Southern codeshare partnership will cover all Kuala Lumpur-related routes operated by each other between the two countries. Covered in the updated agreement include connections from Kuala Lumpur to Mainland Chinese cities such as Shenzhen, Xiamen, Chengdu, and Zhengzhou.

Both airlines first launched their codeshare cooperation on the Kuala Lumpur-Guangzhou route in July 2023. It was then expanded in 2024 to cover routes from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing Daxingg and Shangahi Pudong, along with Penang-Guangzhou. The partnership covers routes from the Malaysian capital city to eight cities: Guangzhou, Beijing Daxing, Shanghai Pudong, Shenzhen, Changsha, Xiamen, Chengdu Tianfu and Zhengzhou

“Malaysia Airlines is pleased to further strengthen its partnership with China Southern Airlines and offer customers more ways to travel between Malaysia and China,” said Captain Nasaruddin Bakar, Malaysia Airlines’ President and Group Chief Executive Officer. “China remains a key strategic market for Malaysia Airlines, and our continued expansion in the country reflects the importance we place on strengthening our connections with the region. This cooperation complements our network, giving customers greater access to key destinations across China while strengthening the links between our respective networks. We look forward to building on the strong foundation of our partnership and exploring further opportunities to deepen our cooperation, while supporting the continued growth of tourism, trade and business ties between Malaysia and China.”  

President of China Southern Air Holdings Company Ltd., Han Wensheng added: “China Southern Airlines highly values the enormous growth potential of the Malaysian market. By working closely with Malaysia Airlines, we will further leverage our respective strengths, increase flight frequencies between China and Malaysia, and fully capitalise on the opportunities presented by the mutual visa-free policies. This will offer passengers more diversified and convenient travel options, while injecting new momentum into air connectivity between our two countries and supporting the Belt and Road Initiative. We are committed to deepening our partnership to deliver greater value to customers and facilitate closer tourism, trade and economic cooperation between China and Malaysia.” 

The expanded partnership follows the launch of Malaysia Airlines’ new routes to Mainland China including services from Kuala Lumpur to Chengdu, Shenzhen, and Changsha. China Southern has continued to add capacity on its flights to Kuala Lumpur from Guangzhou and Shenzhen.