After months of strategic planning, Malaysia's flag carrier, Malaysia Airlines (MAL) has finally opened its first ticketing office in Manila to reach out to the Philippine market as more Filipinos are frequently flying to Malaysia.
In 2016, the Philippine embassy in Kuala Limpur reported that there are at least 700,000 Filipinos living and working in Malaysia and they continue to visit Malaysia either for business or pleasure.
The Philippine embassy describes Malaysia as a labor partner of the Philippines and around 670,000 Malaysians are also doing business or having pleasure trips planned in the Philippines.
Malaysian Airlines regional head for Southeast Asia, Yuzrizal Mod Yousuf told some Philippine journalists that it is part of their company's vision to widen their market base and that is the reason they are tapping new markets in Asia like the Philippines.
With this development, MAL is envisioning to increase the market share of travellers from the Philippines, according to Yousuf. Located at the Philppine's business and financial center, MAL set up its ticketing office and has tapped the Global Air Service Corp. to be the exclusive sales management of the sole Philippine ticket office.
Global Air Service president for sales and marketing Ramon Magno also said that their company is committed to provide Filipino passengers the same level of customer service provided by Malaysia Airlines.
Malaysia has been servicing three flights dailys from Manila to Kuala Lumpur and has flight operations in 50 cities world wide. Malaysia and the Philippines traces its diplomatic relations more than 50 years ago and were among the founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) created on August 8, 1967.
In 2015, Philippine-Malaysia trade relations reached USD 4.5 billion. Philippine exports to Malaysia reached USD 1.2 billion while imports from Malaysia was posted at USD 3.4 billion in the same year.
