(Abbreviated '''MAS'''; of
Malaysia , serving international and domestic destinations. It is the largest airline in
South East Asia by fleet size.
MAS flies to numerous destinations in
Asia ,
Australasia , the
Middle East ,
Europe ,
North America ,
Africa and
South America . It was the first airline in
Southeast Asia to fly to
Johannesburg in
South Africa , following the demise of
Apartheid . This flight is extended to
Buenos Aires ,
Argentina , being the only South-East Asian airline that has its network on
South America -
Latin America .
List of Destinations
In 1972, Malaysia Airlines had only five
Boeing 737 -200s, and a handful of
Fokker F27 s and BN2A Normandy Islanders. The Boeing 737-200s would remain until 1993, by which time a total of 12 were in service. In 1974 it acquired three
Boeing 707 -320s from
Qantas Airways , though from then on kept leasing more of that type of aircraft from
British Airways in particular.
DC-10 -30s came into service in 1976, and five remained until mid 1990s. In 1979 Malaysia Airlines acquired five new
Airbus A300 B4s to replace its aging fleet of
Boeing 707 s; the latter were withdrawn from service by 1981. The first
Boeing 747 for Malaysia Airlines arrived in 1982,a series -200, followed shortly by another. In 1985 the only
Boeing 747-300 to ever serve Malaysia Airlines was bought, and used for the inaugural service between
Kuala Lumpur and
Los Angeles . Malaysia Airlines received its first Boeing 747-400 four years later, and these have remained in service since. In the early 1990s,
Fokker F27 s were replaced by ten brand new
Fokker F50 s.
Boeing 737 -400s were brought in to replace the older -200 series, and later (though shortlived) -500 series. In all Malaysia Airlines has 39
Boeing 737 -400s, making it the single largest operator of the Boeing 737 outside United States. At about the same time,
Airbus A330 -300s came in to replace the
Airbus A300 s. The
Boeing 777 s came in 1997.
Today, Malaysia Airlines flies
Boeing 747 ,
Boeing 777 and
Airbus A330 aircraft for its medium to long haul international routes, while the
Boeing 737 is often used for shorter international destinations and domestic flights from
Kuala Lumpur International Airport , the airline's base. Many of these aircraft, especially the Boeing 747 and likely the Boeing 737, are expected to be replaced very soon in line with their major restructuring plan.
Malaysia Airlines has expressed interest in purchasing the new under a lease deal from its holding company Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad (PMB) and it will be used to provide additional capacity on trunk routes to Europe (ref: Airliner World, March 2005).
The average age of Malaysia Airlines fleet is 10.6 years old in April 2006.
In order to catch up with the best airlines of the world, Malaysia Airlines is currently going through a cabin refurbishment process on First and Business class cabins on aircraft deployed on long hauls (B747-400 and B777-200ER). These include new lie-flat seats, as well the latest
In-flight Entertainment System . Economy passengers also get to enjoy the new in-flight entertainment system, with full AVOD facilities (meaning movies and music can be started/stopped/fast forwarded/rewound by passengers at any time). This is paired with enhanced onboard catering in all classes. New uniforms are also set to be unveiled, although there has been no deadline set for this.
In line with this, two Boeing 747-400s were painted in a red
Hibiscus theme, and one Boeing 777-200ER was painted in a blue
Heliconia scheme.
Photos below (courtesy of Airliners.net and their respective photographers
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Boeing 777-200ER Heliconia
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Boeing 747-400 Hibiscus
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On
24 February 2005 , Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines/
Silkair agreed to seek greater commercial cooperation that will enhance their competitiveness and benefit consumers as Asia moves towards an open skies policy. The three airlines signed a tripartite codeshare agreement that will empower travellers with wider options and more connectivity when flying between the two countries. Singapore Airlines and SilkAir, which is the
Regional Airline of the Singapore Airlines Group, will start codeshare flights with Malaysia Airlines between Singapore and Kuching, and Singapore and Kota Kinabalu from
27 March 2005 , the start of the Northern Summer 2005 Schedule. (Appendix 1)
The Singapore – Penang sector will be codeshared between Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines only. For the SilkAir-operated Singapore-Kuching sector, the codeshare with Malaysia Airlines will start from
July 1 .
Malaysia Airlines is an early customer of the
Airbus A380 , ordering six in total.
Despite doing consistently well in customer satisfaction surveys, especially for their Economy class, the airline in is financial trouble. A new CEO has just been appointed: Idris Jala was a top manager at Shell Petroleum before coming to Malaysia Airlines. It is expected that many unprofitable routes will be cut in the near future (e.g., there will be only 19 domestic routes in lieu of the current 116), as well as the sale of many aircraft, especially the aging
Boeing 747 . The corporate headquarters in
Kuala Lumpur have been put on sale and the airline headquarters is now located at
Subang International Airport . A copy of the turnaround plan can be found here
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- Malaysia Airlines is the only Asian airline to offer services to Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Buenos Aires , Argentina .
- Malaysia Airlines along with Japan Airlines are the only Asian airlines that fly to Latin America , Malaysia Airlines to Buenos Aires via South Africa , and Japan Airlines to Mexico City and São Paulo via Canada and USA .
- Malaysia Airlines flies to over 100 destinations across six continents.
- Malaysia Airlines' headquarters are located straight ahead from one of the runways at Kuala Lumpur's international airport.
- First airline to have a Business Center onboard a plane. (But has since been withdrawn)
- First airline to provide air to ground Retail transactions, aboard the B777 and some B747 aircraft.
- Boasts their own inflight Magazine , Going Places, their own catering services, MAS Catering(MCSB) and their own travel agency, MAS Golden Holidays.
- Boeing's airline code for Malaysia Airlines is XXX-XH6, i.e. 737-2H6, 747-4H6, 777-2H6
- Often seen as a rival to Singapore Airlines, but has mainly managed to attract leisure passengers. This has been recognised by top management and leisure customers are now the airline's primary focus (see: turnaround plan, above).
- Malaysia Airlines is a major sponsor in many sporting events especially in county cricket in the United Kingdom and currently the World Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne.
- Its cargo division, Malaysia Airlines Kargo , is being operated as a separate entity.
