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MAB to Lease 6 Ex-Air Berlin Airbus A330-200 Aircraft from February 2018

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Damn looks pretty bad. Wonder how long the clogged oil pipeline will persist. Loads of long haul flights at stake.

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MAB held a special briefing to the media today and confirmed that an LOI has been signed with a lessor for lease of six A330-200 (pretty sure its Air Berlin)

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https://www.malaysiaairlines.com/my/en/corporate-info/press-room/2017/further-clarifies-fleet-strategy.html

 

"In line with this, Bellew also announced that Malaysia Airlines has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the lease of six (6) second hand Airbus A330-200, as replacement for six narrowbody Boeing 737 that are being returned to lessors . The A330-200 aircraft, expected to begin arriving from February 2018, will allow the airline to bridge the next generation wide-body aircraft orders. The LOI with AerCap, the lessor of the aircraft, was signed today.

 

As per the LOI, the A330-200s will be leased for six years from 2018 to 2023 and will mainly be used to up-gauge several high-demand medium haul routes. The aircraft features are very similar to Malaysia Airlines’ current A330-300 fleet with exactly the same Pratt & Whitney engines. Malaysia Airlines is negotiating a maintenance support programme with Pratt & Whitney. The six aircraft will have a two class configuration, 287 seats with 19 fully lie flat Business Class seats, brand new IFE on all seats and WiFi."

“As I have communicated, we have an immediate need for widebodies to offer more lie flat beds in Business Class on our flights over three hours. Malaysia Airlines has done an opportunistic deal on super aircraft from a failed European carrier. I am grateful to AerCap for their speed in working with Malaysia Airlines to help rebuild our premium business,” Peter Bellew concluded.

Looks like Air Belin!

Edited by Lim Kar Yong

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"Bellew said Malaysia Airlines may need to order more widebody aircraft in six months."
Q: More A332 or A333? And I hope MAB will standardise their fleet livery.

 

He added that the airline would lease six widebody aircraft from Air Berlin in 2018

 

http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2017/09/27/peter-bellew-to-stay-on-at-malaysia-airlines/

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Malaysia Airlines signs LOI with AerCap for six A330-200s

 

Malaysia Airlines has signed a letter of intent with AerCap to lease six Airbus A330-200 aircraft that were formerly in service with Air Berlin.

 

The leases will run from 2018 to 2023, and be used to upgauge high-demand medium haul routes, says the carrier. The aircraft will replace six Boeing 737s that are being returned to lessors.
The aircraft are being powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines. This is the same powerplant found on the carrier's existing fleet of 15 A330-300s.
The carrier says that the used A330s will form a bridge to a future order of next generation widebodies.
Full report:

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I believe these -200s have longer range compared to those of -300s?

Yes - these should do KUL-AKL comfortably.

 

However, I think that MAB wants this aircraft more for the capacity than its range. As stated in the press release, these planes are to replace B738s that will be returned to lessors soon.

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Stations like BKI and KCH received frequency reductions and upgauge one of the flights to a333. Previous townhall say they required a 230-290 seater on these occasions. Guess the a330-200 can be use for those upgauge.

Edited by jahur

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1 2 1 biz class for regional routes? Wow

Perhaps it is to replace the A333s on the more premium routes like NRT/ICN and maybe AKL. That frees up the A333s for use on lower yield routes.

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Perhaps it is to replace the A333s on the more premium routes like NRT/ICN and maybe AKL. That frees up the A333s for use on lower yield routes.

That doesn't make sense. MH's 333 is 27J247Y configuration whilst AB's 332 is 19J271Y configuration. Why would they want less dense J cabin on a route that has stronger J demand.

 

It's meant to be used for regional flights with strong Y demand. OTOH, the 332 might replace the 333/738 on the BKK/DPS/DAC/CAN/TPE runs and second daily on HKG/PVG. I also know one member here will rejoice if they replace 332 with 738 on MH126/127 :D

Edited by Craig

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That doesn't make sense. MH's 333 is 27J247Y configuration whilst AB's 332 is 19J271Y configuration. Why would they want less dense J cabin on a route that has stronger J demand.

 

It's meant to be used for regional flights with strong Y demand. OTOH, the 332 might replace the 333/738 on the BKK/DPS/DAC/CAN/TPE runs and second daily on HKG/PVG. I also know one member here will rejoice if they replace 332 with 738 on MH126/127 :D

:acute: :acute: :acute:

 

MH126/127 re-upgauge for sure! (wishful thinking)

 

The close proximity to "hairy legs" on the 738 is way too much to bear on a 5hr 30min run. :bad:

Edited by Ashley Lee

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That doesn't make sense.

 

Don't ever discount anything! MAB is perfectly capable of doing things that does not make sense! ;)

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Y cabin density flooring will be reconfigured. Currently the air berlin 40+ xl economy seats have too much leg room of 36inch while the remaining standard economy seats are too tight at 30inch seat pitch.

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Would target to get on flights with these versus the 1-2-1/1-2-2 Vantage.

Yes...the AB product is 1-2-1...but it's not nearly as fancy as it sounds. Certainly not in the same league as the 1-2-1 found on SQ/CX/QR etc.

 

For starters, there's very little storage space (unless you can balance everything you have on a tiny ledge). You'd be hard pressed to be served a drink without having to deploy the tray table. On MH you have at least 1 sizeable surface to place your stuff on.

 

The "real" window seats are private-ish but are very claustrophobic. Then we have the middle seats which are too intimate.

 

The centre "honeymoon" seats are so close together that you're practically in Y. If you're a couple, fine. But it's incredibly awkward when you're next to a stranger and your knees touch when you're both sleeping. Even if you're not in full flat mode, you're quite literally shoulder to shoulder with your neighbour. You don't have this issue with the paired seats on MH.

 

If it's a choice between a 738 and this 332, of course I'd take the latter, but I wouldn't trade the 333 for this.

Perhaps it is to replace the A333s on the more premium routes like NRT/ICN and maybe AKL. That frees up the A333s for use on lower yield routes.

That doesn't make sense. MH's 333 is 27J247Y configuration whilst AB's 332 is 19J271Y configuration. Why would they want less dense J cabin on a route that has stronger J demand.

 

Don't ever discount anything! MAB is perfectly capable of doing things that does not make sense! ;)

So you think MH can improve yields by slashing J capacity while adding more Y, on routes which are more "premium, as you said?

Edited by Chris Tan

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Y cabin density flooring will be reconfigured. Currently the air berlin 40+ xl economy seats have too much leg room of 36inch while the remaining standard economy seats are too tight at 30inch seat pitch.

 

Are they going to standardise it to all 32 inch?

 

Some notes about AB's A332:

- AB has a total of 7 in the fleet so let's guess which one that MH did not take.

- The fleet is old. The oldest aircraft is 18 years old, while the youngest is 11 years old.

- All are configured 19J 271Y with AB.

- It's nice that MH sourced these aircraft from AB, who is a fellow oneworld member. At least MH can claim that it is in a way supporting the alliance.

- Pictures of the aircraft suggested that they are wifi enable. I hope MH will not disable this function.

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:acute: :acute: :acute:

 

MH126/127 re-upgauge for sure! (wishful thinking)

 

The close proximity to "hairy legs" on the 738 is way too much to bear on a 5hr 30min run. :bad:

From FMT:

 

“The leased aircraft would be replacing the narrow-body Boeing 737-800s, which currently served the Mumbai, New Delhi, Bali and Perth routes."

 

BOM/DEL/DPS/PER will take up about 2-2.5 frames - so the have another 3.5-4 frames for other regional flights.

Edited by Craig

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From FMT:

 

The leased aircraft would be replacing the narrow-body Boeing 737-800s, which currently served the Mumbai, New Delhi, Bali and Perth routes."

 

BOM/DEL/DPS/PER will take up about 2-2.5 frames - so the have another 3.5-4 frames for other regional flights.

Yay. Finally a reason to visit Dr Lee in PER :p

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So you think MH can improve yields by slashing J capacity while adding more Y, on routes which are more "premium, as you said?

The events of the recent past has taught me never to assume anything about MAB.

 

B789 MoU did not make much sense as it was such a small order and the B789's range is not needed for regional routes. Ex-AB A332s make a lot of sense because they had PW engines but don't make so much sense because they have too much range for regional use and it has lower pax capacity than the A333s that MAB already flies.

 

We don't know what is in the minds of the MAB management or whether there is some invisible hand pushing them. MAB did not say whether they will tweak the cabin configuration or not. So I assume that anything can happen to adapt these second hand aircraft for MABs use.

 

All I am saying is don't discount anything - with MAB, we can expect the unexpected! ;)

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Are they going to standardise it to all 32 inch?

 

Some notes about AB's A332:

- AB has a total of 7 in the fleet so let's guess which one that MH did not take.

- The fleet is old. The oldest aircraft is 18 years old, while the youngest is 11 years old.

- All are configured 19J 271Y with AB.

- It's nice that MH sourced these aircraft from AB, who is a fellow oneworld member. At least MH can claim that it is in a way supporting the alliance.

- Pictures of the aircraft suggested that they are wifi enable. I hope MH will not disable this function.

 

 

 

 

Quoting PB's statement to the media: "The six aircraft will have a two class configuration, 287 seats with 19 fully lie flat Business Class seats, brand new IFE on all seats and WiFi."

So I guess the wifi will still be there

Edited by Rabloo

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Some notes about AB's A332:

- AB has a total of 7 in the fleet so let's guess which one that MH did not take.

- The fleet is old. The oldest aircraft is 18 years old, while the youngest is 11 years old.

- All are configured 19J 271Y with AB.

- It's nice that MH sourced these aircraft from AB, who is a fellow oneworld member. At least MH can claim that it is in a way supporting the alliance.

- Pictures of the aircraft suggested that they are wifi enable. I hope MH will not disable this function.

This is what the MAB Press Release said about the aircraft:

 

As per the LOI, the A330-200s will be leased for six years from 2018 to 2023 and will mainly be used to up-gauge several high-demand medium haul routes. The aircraft features are very similar to Malaysia Airlines’ current A330-300 fleet with exactly the same Pratt & Whitney engines. Malaysia Airlines is negotiating a maintenance support programme with Pratt & Whitney. The six aircraft will have a two class configuration, 287 seats with 19 fully lie flat Business Class seats, brand new IFE on all seats and WiFi.
I believe Air Berlin leased all their aircraft - so MAB did not buy them from Air Berlin.
What is also interesting is that Air Berlin has also leased two A339 Neos - At this point MSN 1844 and 1861 have been allocated to Air Berlin. I wonder if MAB will also take over this lease commitment and begin the process of replacing their A333 fleet.

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The events of the recent past has taught me never to assume anything about MAB.

 

B789 MoU did not make much sense as it was such a small order and the B789's range is not needed for regional routes. Ex-AB A332s make a lot of sense because they had PW engines but don't make so much sense because they have too much range for regional use and it has lower pax capacity than the A333s that MAB already flies.

 

We don't know what is in the minds of the MAB management or whether there is some invisible hand pushing them. MAB did not say whether they will tweak the cabin configuration or not. So I assume that anything can happen to adapt these second hand aircraft for MABs use.

 

All I am saying is don't discount anything - with MAB, we can expect the unexpected! ;)

There is a huge jump in capacity from 738 to a333. A332 fit in between.

 

As for a332 range, unless mab could get Airbus to customize to reduce the range else the extended range has little or no impact operationally.

 

With mab small network, it make sense to introduce European destination with smaller capacity a332 than a359.

 

With a332 leased for 6 years implying 787 is unlikely to join soon. Whatever it is, mab remain the same. Please

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yes these 6 A332s from Air Berlin are fairly old from 12 years to 18 years old with an avergae age of 15.2 years as seen from AB fleet details. That means most of these planes are older than MAB current A333s. This would also translate to more maintenance issues and likely some unscheduled maintenance that will affect MAB fleet.

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