iscover
Malaysia Airlines is looking to shift its Australian operations to an all-A330neo fleet by the middle of next year.
Speaking exclusively to Australian Aviation, Malaysia Aviation Group’s chief commercial officer, airline business, Dersenish Aresandiran, said the carrier wants to improve the cabin experience for Australian passengers travelling to and from Kuala Lumpur.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
“By end of quarter one next year, we will have one of the youngest fleets ever operated by any airline into the Australia and New Zealand region,” he said.
“Every destination in Australia will be operated by our A330neo. We call it our flagship aircraft. You get superior product on business class and economy.
“The A330neo has a very much upgraded business class – it comes with lie-flat, it comes with a privacy door. The economy class has a 4K HD screen. It has better seat pitch in terms of your leg room as well. It’s fantastic.
“You have an interactive IFE with games for kids. There are many other options for the latest blockbuster movies. You see a lot more enhanced service on the A330neos, on top of 15 to 20 per cent fuel efficiency as well.”
According to Aresandiran, Australia is an important market for Malaysia Airlines, with robust traffic both inbound and outbound.
“In fact, it is one of our strongest markets in terms of our growth plan ahead, as well as how it fits into our network. So we’ve been actually growing the Australian market gradually in maybe the last 25 months, and you’ll see more growth taking place over the next five years,” he said.
“In terms of a market ranking, the Australian market is probably among our top three markets that we have in our network as well.
“I think we work very well with Tourism Australia. There are a lot of activities that happen in the market, so we’ve seen a lot more European traffic coming into Australia.
“Inbound traffic is very strong – Malaysia in terms of students, and a lot of other markets in terms of the student segment that is promoting Australia, that has been really strong as well – and the outbound traffic is also very strong.”
The arrival of the A330neo comes after Malaysia Airlines announced a ramp-up of both Sydney and Melbourne capacity earlier this year, with three daily Kuala Lumpur flights for each airport. The airline has also announced daily A330neo services to Adelaide.
