MAS to have one of the world’s youngest fleet by 2015

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PARIS: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) anticipates that it will have one of the youngest fleet globally by 2015.

MAS managing director and chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Seri Azmil Zahruddin Raja Abdul Aziz said this after announcing the airline’s option to purchase 10 more Next-Generation Boeing 737-800s during the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget on Tuesday.

He said MAS would now look at phasing out older aircraft from its fleet.

“So you will see gradually over time, the average fleet age for Malaysia Airlines aircraft actually starts coming down. We anticipate by 2015 the average fleet age is about just over five years.”

On the decision to acquire 10 more of the new single-aisle B737-800, he said the aircraft would open up greater options for the airline.

“For example to some destinations in India like Hyderabad and Chennai, we’ve also started using it on some of the routes to China like Kunming, where we were using a bigger aircraft before. Now we can actually use a smaller aircraft with the right range and look at the possibility of increasing frequencies.

“The 737s also form a key part of the Kota Kinabalu hub that we announced last year, so it is doing flights from Kota Kinabalu into Haneda Airport (Tokyo), into Seoul and so on, which again was not possible with the 737-400s, but the 737-800s has the right range for that.”

He added that the airline has received very positive feedback from passengers regarding the narrowbody aircraft.

“The new luggage bins can actually take 50 per cent more bags than the existing 737-400s that we have in service. You saw that we have very nice leather seats with in-flight entertainment on every seat in both business and economy class, really giving passengers a fantastic full-service experience with the Boeing aircraft.

“The main question I get from customers these days is how much more quickly can we get more of the new aircraft into service, and so we thought we’d better take at least 10 more before other people start ordering them.”

The aircraft, he said, would cement MAS’ position as a premium full-service carrier. Under its initial 2008 agreement with Boeing, MAS had a firm order for 35 aircraft with another 20 purchase rights.

Following the announcement on Tuesday, the airline would still have the option to purchase another 10 aircraft.

At present, Boeing has delivered five of the 35 aircraft ordered on a firm basis and the delivery schedule goes up to 2015, while the latest option that it has exercised will be in 2016.

The order is valued at over US$800 million (over RM2.42 billion) at current list prices.

Malaysia’s 737s are the first in Asia to sport the passenger-pleasing ‘Boeing Sky Interior’ fitted with ‘blended winglets’, which improve fuel efficiency by up to four per cent, increase flying range, and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as well as takeoff noise.

The digitally-designed Next-Generation 737 is the most technologically-advanced aeroplane family in the single-aisle market.

The 737-800 – which can seat from 162 to 189 passengers – is 771 kilogrammes lighter, can fly 583 kilometres farther and 335 metres higher while carrying 12 more passengers than the competing model.

MAS, with a 64-year history as the national carrier, operates a mixed fleet of short- and long-haul aeroplanes, including 747 passenger and freighter, 777, 737-800s and Classic 737s. The airline flies nearly 45,000 passengers daily to over 100 destinations worldwide.