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KUALA LUMPUR - The lucrative air route between Malaysia and Singapore is unlikely to open up before the end of 2008, Malaysia's deputy prime minister said Tuesday.
Officials from the two neighbours held talks earlier this month to discuss transport links, including liberalising the air route, but Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters there would be no immediate changes to the route.
"It is not likely to be brought forward," he said.
Singapore and Malaysia are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has agreed to open up capital-to-capital flights by the end of 2008.
"We have our own reasons" for not wanting more carriers on the route before the ASEAN deadline, Najib said at a ceremony where budget carrier Air Asia signed an agreement with a local company.
Malaysian-based AirAsia has been among the most vocal in campaigning for access to the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route dominated by Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.
The two flag carriers account for 85 percent of traffic on the short sector between the two cities. A confirmed round-trip ticket departing from Singapore costs around 450 Singapore dollars (298 US) including taxes. - AFP/ir
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