DUBAI: The UAE and Malaysia have set a remarkable model for strategic cooperation in the aviation and tourism sectors, with the increase in the number of flights of national carriers and the steady growth in the flows of visitor, amid promising prospects for the growth of tourism and travel between the two countries.

The UAE national carriers have scaled up their flights to Malaysia in a bid to keep pace with the momentum of the flourishing joint strategic partnership between the two countries.

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) told the Emirates News Agency (WAM) that the UAE national carriers - Etihad Airways, Emirates and Aira Arabia - are operating 112 monthly flights or 28 weekly flights from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah respectively to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

The GCAA explained that Etihad Airways, Emirates and Aira Arabia operate 7, 14 and 7 weekly flights respectively from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah to Kuala Lumpur.

Etihad Airways began flying to Kuala Lumpur in 2007 and has since flown 2.7 million passengers to the Malaysian capital. In 2019, Etihad Airways signed a partnership with Tourism Malaysia to attract visitors from Europe and the Middle East to Malaysia, via the airline’s Abu Dhabi hub.

Emirates began Dubai (DXB) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) service in 1995. The airline offers travel services from Malaysia

through its global network of over 140 destinations. Emirates announced that it will increase its weekly flights to Malaysia to 21 as of early June to July.

Air Arabia considers its flights to Malaysia an important step in its plans to expand into the Asian aviation market and provide customers with value-added travel options to international destination including Kuala Lumpur. The capital city is considered one of the world's top tourist destinations with multi-faceted sights and attractions.