As you all know, Malaysia Airlines (MH) is not a member of any of the big 3 alliances. From what I gathered, the company is not eyeing on joining either Star, Oneworld or SkyTeam in the near future. I personally do not agree with MH - unless MH joins any alliance, Kuala Lumpur international airport could never compete with Bangkok and Singapore as an important hub. I personally think that the new KL airport is one of the best airports I've been to, but unfortunately now operating below its intended capacity and in danger of turning into a white elephant
It's almost impossible for MH to join Star Alliance as Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways are just at its doorstep. Oneworld alliance on the other hand, would probably not be in the interest of British Airways and Qantas as the latter already has its own hub in Singapore and the Kangaroo Route has already been well served by both airlines. Flights to China/Japan/Korea are already well served by Cathay Pacific.
This leaves only SkyTeam. Since Malaysia Airlines already has codeshare flights and airmiles agreement with both KLM and Northwest, I think it would be great if MH joins SkyTeam. Perhaps the management of MH will change their mind about not joining any alliance after KLM and Northwest become full member of SkyTeam which I believe would happen very soon.
At present the only airline in SkyTeam that flies to Australia/New Zealand is Korean Air, but it does not lie in the "traditional" Kangaroo Route via Southeast Asia. KLM now flies between Kuala Lumpur and Sydney (maybe other australian cities too?) operated by Malaysia Airlines via codeshare agreement. Neither Air France / Alitalia / Czech Airlines fly to Australia, so having Kuala Lumpur as a hub to Australia and Southeast Asia would be in the interest of all of these airlines.
I would really appreciate if you could give me some feedback on any of these issues :-
- Do you think Malaysia Airlines is a suitable candidate for SkyTeam?
- What are the benefits to other SkyTeam members if MH joins the alliance?
- Do you agree that Malaysia Airlines has no chance in Star / Oneworld?
- Or anything else regarding this issue
Thank you.