MAB Kargo and Azerbaijan cargo carrier Silk Way West Airlines have signed a memorandum of cooperation that will see both airlines leveraging on each other’s aircraft fleet and network in different regions of the world.
The stratergic partnership between the two air cargo players entails a block space Agreement (BSA) on a twice weekly route to and from Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam via Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Azerbaijan. The weekly flights are scheduled to be operated every Thursday and Sunday.
The inaugural Silk Way West flight, bearing flight number 7L434 touched down on Malaysian soil at 16.30h on 17 March and has an approximate total of 105 tonnes of cargo from Amsterdam.
MAB Kargo says it has received bookings for 95 tonnes of cargo for the returning flight from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam’s Airport Schiphol.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, MAB Kargo, chief executive officer (CEO), Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi says: “We have a solid network and will continue to serve key Asian and Australian market with our fleet of Airbus A330-200 Freighters.
“The partnership with Silk Way West will provide us the synergistic benefits by expanding our wings to new destinations such as Baku and Tehran and serve familiar markets such as Frankfurt, Malpensa, Vienna, Istanbul And New York.”
Silk Way West Airlines CEO, Kamran Gasimov adds: “Leveraging on existing interline and block-space agreements, the partnership will allow both airlines to have access to each others capacity across their respective global network.
“The first Azerbaijan freighter arriving in Kuala Lumpur International Airport today has started a new page in our airlines history. we will continue our network expansion in to South East region and meet the changing needs of the market.”