Malaysia Airports operator said today it was in talks with Lufthansa and British Airways to get the two carriers to resume flights to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

"We are talking seriously with Lufthansa and British Airways," Malaysia Airports Holdings chairman Basir Ismail told a news conference but gave no details on the discussions.

He said Egypt Airways' plan to move its regional office to KLIA from Singapore in July was on track.

Malaysia Airports manages and operates 37 airports in the country, including the under-utilised RM9 billion KLIA located south of Kuala Lumpur.

Since its launch in 1998, the KLIA has been hit by the withdrawal of several top airlines including British Airways, Qantas and Lufthansa for commercial reasons.

Malaysia Airports has said it will spend RM10 million this year to promote KLIA as a regional hub.

Attractive deals

Transport Minister Dr Ling Liong Sik has said the government would offer "more attractive" deals to win new airlines to the KLIA to compete with the nearby aviation hub of Singapore.

The government earlier this month announced new flights launched by carriers to KLIA would not have to pay parking and landing fees for the next five years.

Though it was built to handle as many 25 million passengers a year, only 14.6 million people passed through KLIA last year.