Malaysia Airlines today said it was worried over an opening up of the lucrative Kuala Lumpur to Singapore route it dominates with Singapore Airlines.

Malaysia Airlines managing director Idris Jala said he had conveyed his concerns to the Malaysian government, which will meet Singapore in March to discuss opening the route as part of the liberalisation of the air travel industry.

Jala did not elaborate on the impact competition would have on Malaysia Airlines' overall sales target, but said the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route can only be opened in December 2008.

"We have not heard of any other things other than that. We are in conversation with the government and will continue to discuss with the government about the open sky policy," he was quoted as saying by the state Bernama news agency.

The route is currently dominated by Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines, but budget carrier AirAsia on Sunday said it expected to win approval by May to fly the route.

"I think we will continue as a company to improve our competitiveness and as we compete with a lot of airlines internationally, it is important to stay focused," Jala said.

The two national carriers account for 85 percent of traffic on the 30-minute route between the two cities, with a confirmed round-trip ticket departing from Singapore costing more than 450 Singapore dollars (294 US) including taxes.

AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes, who has pushed hard for AirAsia to fly to Singapore, had said a one-way AirAsia ticket would start from 60 dollars.