Malaysia Airlines and UATP Signing Ceremony

SINGAPORE, June 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IATA AGM -- Malaysia Airlines, through its travel and tour arm MASHolidays, today applied to Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP) to become a UATP Shareholder and Issuer.  

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081118/NETU022LOGO )

Malaysia Airlines' Executive Vice President (Commercial Strategy) Dato' Dr Amin Khan and K. David Holmes, Vice President Global Sales signed the agreement to the effect, witnessed by Malaysia Airlines' Chairman Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid and UATP's CEO and President, Ralph Kaiser.

"UATP is the card of choice for corporate travellers and Malaysia Airlines can now accelerate its corporate market share growth by utilizing this leading payment network in the industry," said Dr Munir Majid. "We intend to become a UATP Shareholder immediately and will focus on global issuance of a Malaysia Airlines UATP programme in the near future."

Dr Amin Khan said, "As growing our corporate market share is a strategic initiative for improving our yields and load factors for profitability, we are partnering with UATP to help us achieve this objective. We will be able to utilize the expertise of UATP products and services to further develop our own programmes to match the customers' demand for more travel payment options."

Ralph Kaiser, president and CEO, UATP stated, "We are excited that Malaysia Airlines has signed to become an Issuer and will use the UATP Network to meet its travel payment needs."  He continued, "We look forward to Malaysia Airlines coming on board and to helping them continue with their pattern of growth." 

Air travelers now have yet another payment option for their ticketing with Malaysia Airlines when they become the airline's UATP account holders.  With this membership, they will receive state-of-the-art air travel activity through detailed informational reporting.

For more information, visit uatp.com or www.malaysiaairlines.com

About UATP

UATP accounts are accepted as a form of payment for corporate business travel worldwide by airlines, travel agencies and Amtrak^®.  UATP accounts are issued by: Air New Zealand (ANZFF.PK); American Airlines (NYSE: AMR); Austrian Airlines (AUALF.PK); China Eastern Airlines Co., Ltd; Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL); Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL); EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd; GOL Linhas aereas inteligentes S.A. (NYSE: GOL and Bovespa: GOLL4); Japan Airlines (JALSY.PK); Qantas Airways, Ltd. (QUBSF.PK); United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAL); and US Airways (NYSE: LCC).

AirPlus International issues the UATP-based Company Account for: British Airways (LSE: BAY.L); Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL); and Lufthansa German Airlines.

About Malaysia Airlines

Malaysia Airlines, the national carrier of Malaysia is one of Asia's largest, and flies nearly 45,000 passengers daily to some 100 destinations across six continents worldwide. It holds a lengthy record of service and best practices excellence. It was the recipient of the inaugural "World's Best Cabin Staff" award by Skytrax in 2001 and continued to retain this title for 2002-2004, 2007 and 2009 - the most for any airline.

The airline was also the global pioneer in introducing the i-phone based "MHDeals" application for customers in 2009. This application allows customers to pick up the best airline deals from nearby airports and is the first in which an airline has exploited augmented reality commercially as a new channel for ticket sales.

Issued Jointly By: UATP and Malaysia Airlines.

For more information, media members may contact:

Wendy Ward
Managing Director, Marketing & Communications
UATP
Phone: +1 202 626 4077
Email: [email protected]

Anneliza Zainal
Vice President, Communications
Malaysia Airlines
Phone: +60 17 3389075
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE UATP