MAB and Silk Way West launch new freighter block-space deal

MAB Kargo, formerly MASKargo, and Silk Way West Airlines cargo have launched a new block space deal that will open up Southeast Asia and Europe to the respective airlines.
The block-space deal sees Malaysia Airlines cargo business and Silk Way West’s cargo division offer a twice weekly flight to and from Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam via Baku utilising a 150-tonne capacity Boeing 747-8 freighter.
The weekly flights are scheduled to occur every Thursday and Sunday.
MAB Kargo chief executive Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi said: “We have a solid network in Asia and Silk Way West will be able to expand its wings here as we continue to serve the Asian and Australian market with our fleet of Airbus A330-200F freighters.
“This partnership with Silk Way West will provide us with 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 chief executive Kamran Gasimov added: “Leveraging existing interline and block-space agreements, this partnership will allow both airlines to have access to each other’s capacity across their respective global networks.
“The first Azerbaijan Freighter arriving in Kuala Lumpur airport has started a new page in our airline history. We will continue our network expansion into Southeast region and meet the changing needs of the market.”
The inaugural Silk Way West flight, bearing flight number 7L434 touched down on Malaysian soil last Thursday with an approximate total of 105 tonnes of cargo from Amsterdam.
MAB Kargo received bookings for over 95 tonnes of cargo for the returning flight from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
MASKargo has become MABKargo as part of a transfer of assets and liabilities to a new company last year as the airline became technically bankrupt.