MAS set to fly more passengers around the world

[flee 5]

From The Star:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/3/13/nation/12828932&sec=nation

 

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is set to take more people around the world, with its recent increase in passenger seating capacity and flight frequency.

 

The airline has increased its number of aircraft, including a 160-seater, two 494-seater and four 283-seater airplanes.

 

By replacing its 282-seater B777-200 aircraft travelling the Kuala Lumpur-Paris route with a 494-seater A380, MAS has increased seating capacity on that route by 1,484 seats in each direction.

 

Its five-times weekly service from Kuala Lumpur to Brisbane has also been increased to daily flights effective June 17, adding 566 seats in each direction.

 

The airline has also added to the number of flights on its regional route network – three weekly return flights on its Kuala Lumpur-Manila route and 10 weekly return KL-Yangon and Kuala Lumpur-Colombo flights.

 

There is also a new daily flight service from Kuala Lumpur to Bangladesh, and one of its aircraft travelling to Denpasar (Bali) has been replaced with a B777-200 airplane which has a larger carrying capacity.

 

MAS Group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the move was to im­­prove air connectivity within Malaysia and in the Asia Pacific region.

 

“Demand outlook is strong, fuelled by a burgeoning middle class, and increased global and intra-regional trade.

 

“We are confident that with our improved fleet size, with the addition of new aircraft featuring state-of-the-art passenger amenities, we will continue to drive revenue and loads, and our return to profitability,” he said.

 

MAS also promises an increase in frequency of flights on many of its domestic routes from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi, Johor Baru, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Miri and Tawau.

 

For more information, log on to http://www.malaysiaairlines.com.my

 

 

[Josh T 0]

Good to see MH starting to focus on growth now that the fleet renewal programme is well under way and that they have officially joined OneWorld.

[flee 5]

Interesting to see them deploy the B772 on the short haul KUL-DPS route. Looks like they are trying to deploy those surplus aircraft in a productive way. Well done, MH!

[Mike P 0]

They're going to make daily A380 to Paris right? and also daily A380 to Hong Kong.

[Josh T 0]

They're going to make daily A380 to Paris right? and also daily A380 to Hong Kong.

They already have for Paris but the A380 flights to HKG will be a bit later.

[David.W 0]

But would there be a capacity reduction when MH plans to retire their 777 in a few years time?

[Radzi 2]

Full version of the press statement.

 

 

Malaysia Airlines is increasing its capacity to many routes on its network through additional flights and bigger capacity aircraft for the Northern Summer operating pattern effective 31 March 2013.

Group CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said, “The capacity increase is made possible as we take delivery of an average one 160-seater 737-800 aircraft per month, two more 494-seater A380 and four 283-seater A330-300 aircraft this year.”

“This is an integral aspect of our Business Plan and our continued commitment to improve air connectivity within Malaysia as well as leverage on the Asia Pacific region where the demand outlook is strong, fuelled by a burgeoning middle class and increased global and intra-regional trade. We are confident that our improving fleet size, with the addition of new aircraft featuring state-of-the-art passenger amenities, will continue to drive revenue and loads, and our return to profitability,” he added.

Apart from the Kuala Lumpur-Paris return route that saw a weekly capacity increase of 1484 seats in each direction with the 494-seater A380 replacing the 282-seater B777-200 from 1 March 2013, the upward capacity changes focus on matching air traffic volume in the Asia Pacific that is expected to see strong growth in 2013 as cargo recovers.

Regional Network

From 31 March 2013, the Kuala Lumpur-Manila route weekly frequency will be increased from 25 to 28 B737-800 services with the additional flights operating on Monday, Friday and Sunday. With the introduction of the 3 weekly services, this route’s capacity is increased by 12% (480 seats) in each direction.

Effective the same day, the daily Boeing 737-800 return frequencies of the airline’s Kuala Lumpur-Yangon and Kuala Lumpur-Colombo routes will also be increased to ten weekly. The 3 new weekly services for Yangon will be operated on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, while the similar services for Colombo will be operated on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

From 1 April 2013, a new daily B777-200 service will be introduced on the Kuala Lumpur-Dhaka route, making it double daily wide-body operations between Malaysia and Bangladesh, with capacity also increased 100% from that date.

The present daily B777-200 and twice daily B737-800 return flights for Kuala Lumpur-Denpasar (Bali) will also have a daily capacity increase by 20% when one of the daily B737-800 service is replaced by B777-200 service effective 01Apr 2013.

The 5 times weekly A330-300 daily service for Kuala Lumpur-Brisbane route will be increased to daily flights effective 17 June 2013, adding 566 seats in each direction, representing a 40% capacity increase.

Capacity on the Kuala Lumpur-Bandar Seri Begawan will be increased by 11% with the existing 4 weekly B737-400 services replaced by B737-800 flights effective 15 August 2013.

Domestic Network

On the Peninsular Malaysia services, the present 42 B737 weekly Kuala Lumpur-Langkawi services will be increased to 49 effective 15 June 2013. The Kuala Lumpur-Johor Bahru sector, currently served by 27 weekly B737 flights will be increased by a further 5 weekly B737-800 flights effective 15 July 2013.

The Kuala Lumpur-Kuching route will see the current 49 weekly B737 services gradually increase to 77 weekly services by 15 August 2013. This will be through the mounting of 19 weekly services effective 31 March 2013, 8 weekly services from 15 July 2013 and 1 weekly service from 15 August 2013.

Similarly the Kuala Lumpur-Kota Kinabalu route will also be improved from the current 68 weekly B737 services to 82 weekly services by 15 July 2013. The gradual increase will be through 6 additional weekly flights from 31 March 2013, 6 weekly flights from 15 April 2013, 1 weekly flight from 15 June 2013, and another from 15 July 2013.

Due to increased demand on the Kuala Lumpur-Miri route, 11 additional B737 frequencies will be introduced, with a daily service effective 15 April 2013, 3 weekly service effective 15 July 2013 and 1 weekly service effective 15 August 2013.

To cope with similar increased demand, the present 7 weekly B737 services for Kuala Lumpur-Tawau will be increased by another daily service from 15 June 2013. From the same day, the present 14 weekly Kuala Lumpur-Labuan B737 service will be increased by another 6 weekly B737 services to make it 20 weekly flights.

[BC Tam 2]

I guess it's only natural knee jerk response for MH (and AK) to flood domestic market with additional capacity whilst 'welcoming' Malindo's arrival unto the scene

[Lock SH 0]

Ain't got any choice I guess. Flood the market with seats and operating at the loses initially to determine the fittest to survive. EK employed the same business strategy and look what happen today? e.g. CX vs AK in HKG-PEN-HKG sector, CX vs QF in HKG-PER-HKG sector, EK vs MH in KUL-DXB-KUL sector. Once the fittest is determined, player may set the tune and inventory control will take place in order to improve yields.

 

 

 

[Jon M 0]

They already have for Paris but the A380 flights to HKG will be a bit later.

 

seems like there's no A380 service to HKG in November. any idea where will they fly it to?

[Raymund Yeoh 1]

PEN seems to have been left out from the business expansion......nothing on PEN....sad sad

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Ain't got any choice I guess. Flood the market with seats and operating at the loses initially to determine the fittest to survive. EK employed the same business strategy and look what happen today? e.g. CX vs AK in HKG-PEN-HKG sector, CX vs QF in HKG-PER-HKG sector, EK vs MH in KUL-DXB-KUL sector. Once the fittest is determined, player may set the tune and inventory control will take place in order to improve yields.

 

 

 

That's dumping & is illegal.

[flee 5]

PEN seems to have been left out from the business expansion......nothing on PEN....sad sad

Yes, it is sad that demand out of PEN is not good. MH has to set its priorities correctly and serve markets where there is sufficient demand to justify additional routes or frequencies.