Japan Airlines (JAL) and Malaysia Airlines (MH) today announced the expansion of their respective networks through a new codeshare agreement between the member and member-elect of the quality airline alliance, oneworld(R), beginning July 1, 2012.

JAL will begin marketing MH-operated flights between Kuala Lumpur and Japan, as well as five other Malaysia domestic points and seven regional destinations such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Conversely, MH will place its flight indicator on JL-operated flights connecting Tokyo (Narita) to Fukuoka, Nagoya and Sapporo in Japan, and to nine international cities including Asian powerhouses like Hong Kong, Taipei and Seoul, resort destinations like Guam and Honolulu, and across the Pacific to Boston, Chicago and New York.

Reservations and sales of the new MH and JL-coded flights will begin tomorrow, June 12, 2012.

“Japan Airlines is pleased to begin this codeshare arrangement with Malaysia Airlines as members of the alliance gear up to welcome it into the oneworld family” said Masaru Onishi, Chairman of Japan Airlines. “We are looking forward to strengthening JAL’s and oneworld’s Asian network with them, especially in South East Asia, so as to provide customers with a more connected, comprehensive network and quality service in a region of growth.”

“Malaysia Airlines is excited to be able to partner with JAL in a code share that gives us an excellent opportunity to expand Malaysia Airlines reach without having to mount our own flights to cities in Japan and beyond in North Asia and the US,” said Malaysia Airlines Group CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya. “This code share between Malaysia Airlines and JAL is also an important first step towards strengthening our relations with partner airlines in the oneworld alliance and we hope to enter more code share relationships with other oneworld partners progressively in the coming months, which will also contribute towards greater connectivity for the alliance.”