Malaysia Airlines set for turnaround

March 09--PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ANN) -- Malaysia Airlines' superjumbo A380 aircraft, which will begin its inaugural service on the Kuala Lumpur-London route on July 1, will be the mainstay in the national carrier's turnaround plan.

Senior airline officials briefing the media on the introduction of the new aircraft emphasised that the A380, which is manufactured by Airbus, would be the "flagship" of the airline as it targets 2012 to be a turnaround year.

Just last week, the national carrier reported a loss of 2.5 billion ringgit (US$832.7 million) for the last financial year.

Its acting head of strategic communications Nor Zalida Ahmad said the reversal of the airline's fortunes depended very much on the A380 fleet and its utilisation.

The first A380 will arrive in Kuala Lumpur on June 18 and the next one in August, with the other three being delivered in the three subsequent months. The sixth and final plane will arrive in February.

MAS had ordered the A380s in 2003 and the deliveries are being made after much delay. The first flight for MAS' A380 will be from Kuala Lumpur to London as MH2.

The aircraft will operate three times weekly on this route until mid-August when the second plane arrives. The A380s will then operate daily to the British capital.

The second phase of the A380 deployment will be the Kuala Lumpur-Sydney route when the third aircraft arrives in September, and operate about three times a week and only go daily when the fourth plane becomes operational in October.

MAS head of customer experience Datuk Salleh Ahmad Tabrani said during the same briefing that the exact plans for the fifth and sixth A380 planes had not been firmed up but they could be deployed anywhere "from the Orient to even the Indian continent or Europe".

It was reported that the A380s would also be deployed for the Kuala Lumpur-Amsterdam route.

The briefing was also told that the arrival of the A380s would see the launch of the new MAS campaign to promote its emphasis on premium travel and experience.

Salleh said the airline was renovating its check-in counters at KLIA as well as its lounges to improve the experience for first and business class customers.

The MAS A380 can carry a maximum of 494 passengers in a three-class configuration comprising eight first class seats and 350 economy class seats on the main deck, together with 66 business class seats and 70 economy class seats on the upper deck.

Copyright 2012 - The Star, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia / Asia News Network