Local airlines still operating flights to Mid-East despite escalating tensions
Checks by the New Straits Times showed that all four Malaysia Airlines flights to Doha on Sunday went as scheduled and arrived at Hamad International Airport on time, with only one flight experiencing a one-hour delay.
As of press time, all four Malaysia Airlines flights to Doha today were also scheduled, with no announcements of potential delays.
Efforts by the NST to obtain comments from Malaysia Airlines on possible flight delays or cancellations in light of the Middle East conflict received no response.
It is learned that AirAsia flies to Jeddah and Madinah four to five times a week and has recorded no disruptions.
AirAsia X, however, said it was keeping tabs on the conflict.
"Air Asia X is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to follow all necessary safety procedures, as the safety of our guests and crew remains our utmost priority," it told the NST.
There were, however, delays to some flights from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to the Middle East on Sunday.
This ranged from 15 minutes to an hour and 55 minutes.
However, the delays from today to the gulf region did not exceed an hour.
In contrast, there were carriers in the Southeast Asian region that have taken steps to cancel flights heading to destinations in the Middle East.
Reuters reported that leading Asian carrier Singapore Airlines, which described the situation as "fluid", had cancelled flights to Dubai through to Tuesday, after initially cancelling only its Sunday services.
Meanwhile, Air France-KLM cancelled flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh on Sunday and Monday, while Finnair suspended its flights from Doha until at least Tuesday.
Kazakhstan's Air Astana also cancelled flights to Dubai on Monday.
However, some international airlines were expected to resume services.
Flightradar24 departure boards showed that British Airways was set to resume flights to Dubai and Doha today, after cancelling services to and from those airports on Sunday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
23 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Trimmed Fed rate cut wagers pull rupee, forward premiums off one-month peak
MUMBAI: The Indian rupee and dollar-rupee forward premiums retreated from one-month peaks on Friday after a stronger than expected US jobs report dented wagers on Federal Reserve rate cuts, with traders also keeping an eye on a looming US tariff deadline. The rupee dipped to near 85.50 in early trading, coming off a one-month peak hit on Thursday, before paring losses to quote little changed at 85.33. A dip in the dollar index, following a rise in the previous session, aided the rupee while Asian currencies were mostly rangebound. Meanwhile, the 1-year dollar-rupee implied yield fell 5 basis points to 2.02 per cent, with traders pointing out that near forward premiums could also witness downward pressure after the central bank did not raise the quantum of liquidity it aims to withdraw from the banking system. This surprised many market participants, who had expected a rise in the quantum due to a heightened surplus. The US jobs data prompted traders to nearly wipe out wagers on a Fed rate cut in July, while the odds of a September cut dipped to below 75 per cent from near 94 per cent before the data. "The market is now waiting for news on tariffs," a trader at a Mumbai-based bank said, referring to the looming July 9 deadline for countries to strike trade deals with the US About a 100 countries are likely to see a reciprocal tariff rate of 10 per cent, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg Television, predicting a "flurry" of trade deals announced before the deadline. Taking cues from deals struck with other countries, there is scope for a reduction in the umbrella tariff rate on India to the baseline 10 per cent, DBS said in a note. US President Donald Trump had threatened a 26 per cent duty on Indian goods as part of his April 2 "Liberation Day" reciprocal tariffs, which were temporarily lowered to 10 per cent to buy time for negotiations.
New Straits Times
38 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Stocks waver, dollar in doldrums as Trump's tariff deadline looms
TOKYO: Most Asian equity markets struggled on Friday and European stocks looked set to open weaker, despite record highs for Wall Street overnight, as US President Donald Trump's deadline for trade deals loomed next week. The dollar retraced some of Thursday's gains with US markets already shut for the holiday-shortened week, as traders considered the impact of the sweeping spending bill that Trump is expected to sign into law later in the day. US S&P 500 futures edged down 0.3 per cent, following a 0.8 per cent overnight advance for the cash index to a fresh all-time closing peak. Wall Street is closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday. Pan-European STOXX 50 futures sank 0.5 per cent. Trump said Washington will start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they will face on exports to the United States, a clear shift from earlier pledges to strike scores of individual deals before a July 9 deadline when tariffs could rise sharply. Investors are "now just waiting for July 9," said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, with the market's lack of optimism for trade deals responsible for some of the equity weakness in export-reliant Asia, particularly Japan and South Korea. At the same time, Thursday's jobs data showed "the US economy is holding together better than most people expected, which suggests to me that markets can easily continue to do better" from here, Sycamore said. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.1 per cent as of 0550 GMT after flipping between gains and losses in early trading. South Korea's KOSPI sank 1.8 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.4 per cent, although mainland Chinese blue chips added 0.7 per cent. Taiwan's equity benchmark shed early gains to decline 0.9 per cent. Investors cheered the surprisingly robust jobs report on Thursday, sending all three of the main US equity indexes climbing in a shortened session. Following the close, the House narrowly approved Trump's signature, 869-page bill, which would add US$3.4 trillion to the nation's US$36.2 trillion debt, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Trade the key focus in Asia Trump said he expected "a couple" more trade agreements after announcing a deal with Vietnam on Wednesday to add to framework agreements with China and Britain as the only successes so far. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this week that a deal with India is close. However, agreements with Japan and South Korea, once touted by the White House as likely to be among the earliest to be announced, appear to have broken down. "High tariffs on the large economies, including Europe and Japan, will increase the 'sell US' narrative in our view, weighing on USD," Kristina Clifton, a strategist an Commonwealth Bank of Australia, wrote in a client note. "However, news of trade deals ahead of the 9 July deadline would support the USD against the major currencies of GBP, EUR and JPY." The US dollar rallied overnight, taking it up as much as 0.7 per cent versus a basket of major peers after the robust payrolls data saw traders take any expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut this month off the table. It ended Thursday with a 0.4 per cent rise. On Friday, the US currency gave back a little of those gains, slumping 0.4 per cent to 144.31 yen and sliding 0.3 per cent to 0.7926 Swiss franc. The euro added 0.2 per cent to US$1.1783, while sterling gained 0.2 per cent to US$1.3681. The US Treasury bond market is closed on Friday for the holiday, but 10-year yields rose 4.7 basis points (bps) to 4.34 per cent while the 2-year yield jumped 9.3 bps to 3.882 per cent. Gold firmed 0.4 per cent to US$3,339 per ounce. Brent crude futures fell 21 cents to US$68.59 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude lost 11 cents to US$66.89.
New Straits Times
38 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Asian stocks retreat from recent peaks as US tariff deadline looms
SINGAPORE/HONG KONG: Stocks in emerging Asian economies pulled back on Friday from recent peaks, as market participants took a cautious stance ahead of US President Donald Trump's July 9 tariff deadline, while regional currencies dipped against a steady US dollar. An MSCI gauge of equities in emerging Asia slid nearly 1 per cent from a 3-1/2-year high notched in the previous session. Stocks in South Korea and Taiwan, which together make up over a third of the regional index, were the biggest drags on performance. Investors initially cheered trade discussions between the United States and Vietnam, hoping they could pave the way for breakthroughs in other emerging economies. But limited details and tariffs remaining above pre-April 2 levels dampened the optimism. "The trade deal with Vietnam announced this week was more hawkish than we expected, posing a risk that other countries could face higher tariff rates," Nomura analysts said in a note. South Korea's KOSPI fell 1.5 per cent after scaling a near four-year high in the previous session, marking its worst intraday drop since April 9. Taiwan's benchmark index slipped from a near four-month high. Stocks in the Philippines fell 0.7 per cent, while those in Singapore eased off from a record-closing high. Thai stocks also came off a three-week peak, snapping a four-session rally. Vietnam's benchmark index slipped from its April 2022 peak, while the dong weakened to a record low of 26,230 against the US dollar. Currencies in emerging Asia also nudged lower - Malaysia's ringgit slipped to an eight-session low, while the Indonesian rupiah and the Philippine peso shed around 0.2 per cent each. An index tracking global emerging market currencies retreated from a record high. "Asian currencies may face renewed volatility as markets turn their attention to tariff-related developments," said Lloyd Chan, senior currency analyst at MUFG. Citi analysts, referring to the US-Vietnam trade development, said that while the "de-dollarisation" narrative remained well-entrenched and had more steam to run further, "the roadblocks for stronger EM Asia FX had just increased". They predicted similar deals could impact currencies such as the Chinese yuan, ringgit, Thai baht, South Korea's won, and the Singapore dollar. On the day, the Singaporean dollar snapped a three-day losing streak to appreciate marginally, and remained a few points shy of its October 2014 high. The Thai baht and the Indian rupee weakened marginally. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, retraced some of its gains from Thursday.
