KUALA LUMPUR, 18 January 2026 — A 23-year partnership between luxury coach operator Aeroline and Corus Hotel KLCC has officially come to an end, following the closure of the hotel today.
The hotel, located about a 10-minute walk from the Petronas Twin Towers, will cease operations after its owner Malayan United Industries Bhd sold the hotel and the 1.46-acre land it sits on to Mah Sing Group for RM260 million.
With the hotel’s closure, the exclusive collaboration between Aeroline and Corus Hotel KLCC that began more than two decades ago also draws to a close.
Zulco Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Law Cheok Gheen, whose company manages and operates a fleet of 22 Aeroline coaches, described the partnership as rare and deeply synergistic.
“Today’s event is about a relationship that is unique and seldom seen elsewhere. It is a synergistic relationship between Aeroline and the hotel owner, the MUI Group,” he said at the Journey to Family: A Chapter Written Together event held at Corus Hotel yesterday.
“This strategic relationship has lasted so long and we only wish it can continue.”
Law said Zulco has been granted a government moratorium until Feb 18, 2026, and has applied for an extension to allow for a smoother transition following the hotel’s closure. In the interim, Aeroline will use the CERES jewellery shoplot as a temporary pick-up and drop-off point.
Reflecting on Aeroline’s early days, Law said the company operated from Pudu Raya in the 1990s before its Kuala Lumpur–Singapore luxury coach service took off from Corus Hotel KLCC along Jalan Ampang.
The partnership proved mutually beneficial, providing travellers, many of them tourists, with both transportation and accommodation.
“The Aeroline–Corus relationship helped to sell 7,000 room nights annually over the years on the back of 4.7 million passengers who used this Corus KLCC bus hub, excluding the Covid-19 pandemic years,” Law said.
He added that despite severe disruptions during the 2020 and 2021 pandemic period, the Corus management continued to support the coach operator.
“We became a family. That was when we realised that it is possible to have a family outside our family.”
MUI Group senior vice-president Pel Loh said that out of the 4.7 million passengers, an average 20% stayed at the hotel.
“This Corus–Aeroline partnership turned out to be very convenient for passengers and hotel guests. It was a winning formula for Zulco, Corus and our guests,” he said.
Pel recalled that MUI Group initially had reservations about the collaboration but was convinced after meeting Aeroline’s management.
“The mascot, a man in an executive suit carrying a briefcase on the run, was very telling. And true to form, they carried this concept in terms of quality service, a comfortable product and impeccable timing.”
He noted that Aeroline’s practice of calling its drivers “coach captains” and operating nine daily arrivals and departures, seven days a week, later became an industry benchmark.
With Corus Hotel KLCC closing its doors, both Aeroline and former hotel staff now enter a new chapter after more than two decades of shared history.
