Bandung complements MAS’ planned regional network growth

SEPANG: Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) latest destination to Bandung, Indonesia, complements the airline’s planned network growth with its  fleet renewal plans.

GREETING PASSENGERS: Malaysia Airlines chairman Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid (2nd left) and Malaysia Minister of Transport Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha greeting passengers boarding the inaugural flight to Bandung.

Bandung was MAS’ second new destination for this year after Dammam in Saudi Arabia, which took off early this year.

“There might be a couple more new destinations this year,” said chairman Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid at the unveiling ceremony of new destinations.

He said MAS remained the preferred airlines, with 85 per cent passenger load for the Indonesian route.

MAS offers daily flights to Bandung, thus, offering 88 weekly flights in total from Kuala Lumpur to five other key gateways in Indonesia including Jakarta, Surabaya, Jogjakarta, Denpasar and Medan.

Updating on MAS’ fleet refresh plan, Dr Munir said MAS has ordered up to 55 B737-800s, 25 A330s and six A380s which will be delivered from this year until 2015.

By 2015, the national carrier will have one of the youngest and most environmentally-friendly fleets in the region, he said.

He said MAS will be taking delivery of the B737-800 this year which will be used for domestic and regional routes.

“The A330-300s will serve the growing markets of South Asia, China, North Asia, Australia and the Middle East while the A380s will be deployed for Sydney, London and possibly Amsterdam,” he said.

In addition, he said, MAS was reviewing its aircraft requirement to fill the gap between A330s and A380s in terms of capacity and range.

“We are evaluating the B787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 extra wide body. We are also studying the new B777-300 ER which could replace the B747-400 that we operate now,” he said.

Meanwhile, MAS’ managing director and chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin said the airline will be focusing its route expansion within the Asia-Pacific region in years to come as it is recognised as the key growth area for travel demand.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), passengers travelling within the Asia-Pacific region showed an increase of 13.2 per cent in the first five months of this year against the same period last year.

It might reach 66 per cent in 2028.

Asked on whether the current economic slowdown in Europe had some impact on MAS, he said, “We do see demand from Europe being less than demand from Asia. It is an issue right now. We are monitoring it.”

Asked to quantify the lower demand from Europe, he said, “Last year was already a bad year and this year is better than last year but the improvement is not as good as what we see in Asia.

“Europe will take a longer time to recover.” — Bernama