A new charter carrier is poised to take to the air in Malaysia initially flying holidaymakers between South Korea and Malaysia from next month. Eaglexpress Air Charter has been founded by investors from the two countries along with partners in the Middle East and plans to eventually acquire three former Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747-400s on lease. 
The assets of the company are reportedly controlled by four individual parties, including two with an airline operational background and two with experience in the banking and finance industries. The Majority shareholder is reported to be South Korean national Capt Shin Man Soo who holds 40 per cent of the interest, with Capt Azlan Zainal Abidin, formerly of Malaysia Airlines, Tan Sri Aseh Che Mat and Datuk Wan Ismail Abdul Rahman holding the rest.
“It is a 60:40 Malaysian-South Korean joint venture. We will fund the venture and also have some institutional investors from the Middle East and South Korea that have invested in the airline,” Capt Azlan Zainal Abidin was quoted as saying in a local Malaysian newspaper this week. “Eaglexpress Air Charter’s existence and entry into the aviation industry is in response to the Government’s Economic Transformation Programme. We will serve the untapped and under-served market, which has not been fulfilled by the scheduled airlines.”
“We are in talks with agents and airlines in this region and actively pursuing talks for the Hajj and Umrah traffic in Indonesia too. China is also a market that we intend to venture into,” Capt Azlan Zainal Abidin reportedly added. The airline is understood to have already signed tentative deals with travel agents in Singapore and Thailand to perform Hajj flights to Saudi Arabia.
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