Chuck Grieve
Malaysia is prepared to grant reciprocal open skies rights as part of the government's efforts to support its growing air transport industry, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad told an aviation conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Delivering the keynote address at the opening of Air Freight Asia 2000 on Thursday, Dr Mahathir noted that the government placed considerable importance on a healthy air transport industry, and had spent RM10 billion ($2.6 billion) on providing world-class infrastructure for passenger and cargo operations at the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
Policies were reviewed regularly to ensure that the sector remained competitive, he said, adding that the government would look favourably on granting fifth freedom rights under bilateral arrangements with any country. The prime minister warned airlines and freight forwarders that they would have to change the way they did business if they were to survive in the modern competitive environment.
Operating
"Gone are the days of moving goods from point A to point B'," he said. Instead, cargo companies had to become total logistics providers, operating in non-traditional areas such as warehousing and inventory management to meet their customers' needs.
The merger of airline cargo divisions was a new phenomenon that serious players would do well to study, he said, suggesting that the major alliances ought to consider combining their cargo divisions to compete effectively with integrators.
Source: Flight Daily News
