Hanoi (VNA) - Malaysia and Singapore have reached an agreement on settling anairspace dispute after several months of negotiations.

Accordingto a statement by Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook and hisSingaporean counterpart Khaw Boon Wan reached on April 6, Singapore willwithdraw the Instrument Landing System (ILS) procedures for its Seletar airportand Malaysia will indefinitely suspend its permanent Restricted Area (RA) inPasir Gudang town in Johor state, which neighbors Singapore.

Bothtransport ministers welcome these positive steps and look forward to furtherstrengthening bilateral cooperation, the statement said.

Theagreement will also see Malaysian budget airline Firefly resume its flights aftersuspending its operations last December.

Theairspace dispute between the two sides began late last year when Singaporeasked Firefly to move its flights from Changi airport to the new Seletarairport. Firefly at first agreed but later said it would not move because theMalaysian civil aviation regulator disapproved it.

Malaysiaobjected to the move because Singapore installed the ILS at Seletar airportwhich neighbors Malaysia's Pasir Gudang town, saying that the system wouldhinder development of the town.

Asa response, Malaysia announced a restricted zone in Pasir Gudang, affecting theflight path of airlines to and fro Seletar airport.-VNA