Troubled national carrier Malaysia Airlines said today it would expand services to China, Japan, the Middle East and India this year.

"Malaysia Airlines is truly excited at this point in time and we are going to fast track our five year projected strategy to increase frequencies from those points into Malaysia," Ahmad Fuaad Dahlan, senior general manager of sales, distribution and marketing told reporters

"Regional connectivity is key to market growth. We want to provide maximum regional and domestic connectivity and examine further possibilities of increased operations o­n potentially lucrative routes," he added.

Malaysia Airlines was optimistic o­n the outlook for the aviation industry despite the recent slump, he said.

"There has been a considerable uptrend following the Bali bombing. People have isolated that area. The rest of Southeast Asia is having a growth period," he said.

Ahmad said due to increasing demand, Malaysia Airlines was enhancing its domestic service operations by introducing wide-body aircraft to link east and west Malaysia.

Open skies

Besides adding flights to the domestic sector, the expansion would see increased frequency to regional destinations such as Hanoi, Yangon, Xiamen, Pontianak, Shanghai and Guangzhou, he said.

Ahmad said the Kuala Lumpur-Hanoi route was enjoying triple digit growth.

"China is effectively almost like open skies for us. Because there are many opportunities for us now to improve our frequency to China. You will even see an increased frequency from Korea to Malaysia," he said.

Ahmad said flights to Shanghai would double from seven a week to 14 in March, and there would be an extra flight each week to Seoul.

The carrier has already launched extra services to Melbourne, Perth, Auckland, Paris and Amsterdam, he said.

"There is more to come after this, we are particularly excited at the prospect of new routes and expanded service to India in 2003," he said, adding that the airline also plans more services to Japan and the Middle East.

Last July, Malaysia Airlines said it expects a return to profitability this year with a new restructuring plan.

The flag carrier, struggling under some 10 billion ringgit (2.6 billion dollars) in debt, embarked o­n a revamp in 2001 to return to the black. - AFP