BANGKOK Airways has commenced a codeshare arrangement with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) on selected domestic services, and international routes between Thailand and Malaysia.

Effective March 25, the arrangement applies to Bangkok Airways’ Bangkok-Koh Samui (31-weekly), Bangkok-Phuket (twice-daily), Bangkok-Chiang Mai (twice-daily), Koh Samui-Phuket (twice-daily), and Koh Samui-Kuala Lumpur (daily) services due to launch on March 31 (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 8, 2012).

Bangkok Airways will codeshare on MAS' Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok (thrice-daily) and Kuala Lumpur-Phuket (twice-daily) routes.

MAS senior vice president international affairs, Germal Singh, said: "The codeshare fits nicely into the needs of our travellers. They now have better options to get to Chiangmai via Bangkok, or on circuit trips like KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport)-Phuket-Koh Samui-Bangkok-KLIA."

Bangkok Airway's senior vice president – network, Peter Weisner, said: "This new partnership will offer better connectivity for passengers travelling on MAS longhaul routes to KLIA for their onward journey to Koh Samui. Our departure times from KLIA bring in good traffic flow from both Europe and Oceania. We are also expecting a sizable number of Malaysian tourists to Koh Samui."