Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines finalised a wide-ranging agreement to codeshare on more routes between the southeast Asian neighbours and elsewhere, the companies said on Wednesday. The cooperation between the carriers, which split out from Malaysia-Singapore Airlines in 1972, comes amid financial trouble at Malaysia Airlines. The deal provides for Singapore Airlines and its unit, SilkAir, to codeshare on 16 domestic locations with Malaysia Airlines, while allowing the former to codeshare on flights to Europe, South Africa, among other destinations. “Subject to regulatory approvals, the codeshare flights will be progressively made available for sale through the airlines’ respective booking channels in key markets,” the carriers said. Malaysia Airlines this month announced a codeshare arrangement with BA for 14 destinations. Last week Malaysia said it had shortlisted four potential investors for strategic partnership with the national carrier. The Malaysian national carrier said it is strengthening its operations and internal management via cost-cutting and service improvements, as well as strengthening code-sharing pacts and joint ventures with other airlines to stay competitive.<br/>
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South Africa’s government is talking with potential investors in the state-owned airline in an attempt to ease the continuing burden the company puts on the national budget. “I am pleased to learn that there are conversations involving South African Airways and potential equity partners, which would liberate the fiscus from this SAA sword of Damocles,” Finance Minister Tito Mboweni told lawmakers in Cape Town Wednesday. The government will repay loss-making SAA’s outstanding government-guaranteed debt of 9.2b rand ($629m) over the next three years, the National Treasury said in the medium-term budget policy statement. Lenders are demanding a firm repayment plan as a condition for agreeing to extend more funding, SAA has said. Identifiying an equity partner to invest in SAA has been proposed in the past, though no buyer has officially come forward. However, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde Gebre Mariam said earlier this month his airline would consider taking a stake -- if the South African goverment made the request. SAA has incurred over 28b rand in cumulative losses over the last 13 years and missed the deadline to submit its earnings for the financial year ending March to parliament. While SAA recently received a 5.5b-rand lifeline to extend maturities on outstanding debt, it hasn’t been able to reach an affordable repayment plan with creditors. “SAA is unlikely to ever generate sufficient cash flow to sustain operations in its current configuration,” Mboweni said in a written copy of his speech.<br/>
Regular direct flights linking Sendai and Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, resumed Wednesday after a hiatus of five and a half years, in what is hoped will be a boon to tourism in the region. A ceremony was held at Sendai Airport to welcome travellers who arrived Wednesday morning on a flight jointly operated by THAI and ANA. Three round-trip flights per week between the cities will operate until March 2020. A direct flight service linking the two cities last operated between December 2013 and March 2014, but was suspended due to factors such as anti-government rallies and political unrest in Thailand, which led to a fall in the number of tourists travelling to the Japanese city. Officials from six northeastern Japan prefectures greeted the plane’s passengers upon their arrival with specialty goods including sweets. “We are thinking about offering flights daily, including those that go through Taiwan and Hong Kong, using aircraft of our subsidiary,” Thai Airways President Sumeth Damrongchaitham said. “We would like the good relationship between Thailand and Japan to further develop.”<br/>