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Malaysia Airlines

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Malaysia Airlines (Abbreviated MAS; Malay: Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad; IATA: MH, ICAO: MAS, and Callsign: Malaysian) is the national airline of Malaysia, serving international and domestic destinations. It is the largest airline in South East Asia by fleet size. 



Contents





Services


MAS flies to 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, with an extension to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This makes MAS the only South-East Asian airline that has South America-Latin America on its network. 


Since 1 October 1972, MAS has been providing the vital air link between the remote areas of East Malaysia and its urban centres through Rural Air Services. Using the 19-seater Twin Otter aircraft, these services link Bintulu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Miri, Sandakan and Sibu with the airfields in Bakalalan, Bario, Belaga, Kudat, Lawas, Limbang, Mukah, Long Akah, Long Banga, Long Lelang, Long Seridan, Marudi, Mulu and Tomanggong. Part of the route rationalization plan announced in March 2006, MAS will transfer the majority of its domestic routes by 1 August 2006 to the local low cost carrier Air Asia which in turn will be sub-contracted to Fly Asian Xpress. MAS will continue to operate 19 domestic trunk routes on a reduced capacity[link] in addition to the flights operated by Air Asia.



Fleet






Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747-400

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Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747-400











Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747-400

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Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747-400














In 1972 Malaysia Airlines had five Boeing 737-200s, and a handful of Fokker F27s and BN2A Britten-Norman 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. DC-10-30s came into service in 1976, and five remained until mid 1990s. In 1979 Malaysia Airlines acquired five new Airbus A300B4s to replace its aging fleet of Boeing 707s; the latter were withdrawn from service by 1981.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 F27s were replaced by ten brand new Fokker F50s. 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. At about the same time Airbus A330-300s came in to replace the Airbus A300s. The Boeing 777s arrived in 1997.


Malaysia Airlines flies Boeing 747, Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 aircraft for 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 perhaps 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 Boeing 787 Dreamliner and has signed a deal for 6 Airbus A380-800 aircraft. (Image of the MAS A380:[link]) The first A380 will be delivered in early 2007 under a lease deal from its holding company Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad (PMB). 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 in April 2006.



Refurbishment

To catch up with the best airline practice Malaysia Airlines is 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 lie-flat seats, as well the latest in-flight entertainment system. Economy passengers also get a 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.



Flight Numbers

Malaysia Airlines flight numbers are allocated according to geographical regions. In general, even-numbered flight numbers are outbound from Malaysia.





Recent events

On 24 February2005, 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[link].



Codeshare Partners



Incidents and accidents

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}} }}) as Flight 653 was hijacked and crashed in Tanjung Kupang, Johore  killing 100 people aboard. 



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}} }}) crashed short of the runway in Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in poor weather, with no fatalities.



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}} }}) crashed during approach in Tawau, Sabah due to wind shear. 34 passengers were killed.



Other facts



Reference







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