Amal by Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tahira Air Sdn Bhd and Kawan International Travel Sdn Bhd to build a connecting hub for Muslim and leisure travellers from China going to Saudi Arabia at Kuala Lumpur International airport, parent Malaysia Aviation Group announced in a press release.
Amal, Tahira Air, and Kawan International will be offering flights and tours to Jeddah International and Madinah from Ningxia, an autonomous region in central China with a substantial Muslim population. Going forward, cooperation will expand to include other areas in China.
Yinchuan, Ningxia's capital, sees sizeable air traffic with 785 weekly scheduled departures. However, the ch-aviation capacities module shows that nearly all of this traffic is domestic, with just six weekly international departures - three to Hong Kong International (operated by Air China), two to Dubai International (Sichuan Airlines), and one to Taipei Taoyuan (China Eastern Airlines).
"Our collaboration with Amal and Kawan International is a great opportunity for us to further promote the demand for inbound and outbound tourism between China, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and beyond," Tahira Group Chief Executive Vincent Tan Kee Kim said.
Amal, which is a division of Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International) dedicated to serving the Muslim pilgrims, is strategically planning to turn Kuala Lumpur into a connecting hub for Hajj and Umrah traffic for the wider South-East Asia and beyond.
Four out of Malaysia Airlines' six A380-800s are currently operating nearly exclusively between Kuala Lumpur and Saudi Arabia, the ch-aviation fleets module shows. The other two Airbus double-deckers are inactive.
