Malaysia Airlines has just ordered 20 A330-900neos from Avolon Holdings (lessor) to renew its long-haul Airbus A330 fleet. The advantage: little to no additional training will be required as the similarity between both aircraft is almost 100%. 10 of the aircraft will be bought by Malaysia Airlines and will be sold and leased back.
Additionally, Malaysia Airlines secured options for 20 more aircraft.
According to Airbus, the airline plans a 300-seat layout in a two-class configuration, which is similar to TAP Air Portugal with 298 seats for example. The aircraft is set to start arriving in 2024 according to Avolon. They will feature the typical Rolls Royce engine.
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Alongside this, it is expected that Malaysia Airlines will be introducing a new cabin for both business and economy class. The current business class was revealed in 2016 with no changes to economy class and is already starting to show its age.
Itâs about time they decide to introduce a more modern product that could compete with regional competition seen in Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines.
It is also possible that they opt to split their fleet into two, with one portion of it receiving a more dense layout for regional flights within Southeast Asia and East Asia, while the less dense and more premium heavy layout will see deployment on a number of routes to the Middle East and Oceania.
From people in the know that were kind enough to give me a run down on the possibilities with the A330neo, it is possible to operate as far as Istanbul without a payload restriction.
Should they opt to reintroduce routes to their more popular destinations in Europe, for example, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris, a cargo restriction will likely have to be imposed. Worst-case scenario, if winds are extremely strong and airspace deviations lead to longer flight times, passenger load restrictions might even be imposed.
This was latter was last seen when Malaysia Airlines had to operate the A330-300 to Auckland instead of their usual A330-200 when they were due for major maintenance works. As many as 15% of seats had to have been left open due to the weight constraints set.
Would it not be better for MAS to use the A359 on those routes?
Seems to me the A339 will operate within Asia
That being said, does anybody know if the A359 will be put on new routes in Europe/North America?
Currently it is only London, but will they come back to their pre-pandemic routes?
Cost outweighs the benefits of deploying a plane of virtually the same capacity on.
They will act as a 1:1 replacement to the current A330-200 and A330-300 in the fleet. They are primarily flying on routes within Southeast Asia, Oceania, East Asia and the Middle East.
There are only 6 A350-900s in the fleet. Half of them will be dedicated their flagship service to London while the other half will be used on routes to their more premium destinations within Asia such as Korea and Japan. There are no official plans on returning to Europe or North America as it stands.
London was the only European route that they operated to pre-pandemic. Everything else was cancelled as part of a cost-cutting measure when they went billions into debt. As mentioned above, there are no plans to operate any other routes but the new fleet will give them a new opportunity to an extent.
It is also important to factor that they have a further option for 10 A330neos or A350 with rights expiring well past 2027. By then, it is expected that a majority of their A330neo fleet would be in operation with their final A330ceo being retired then. It should also be expected that they have a better understanding of what their fleet requirements are when an expansion is deemed necessary.
There is also a need to renew their current cargo fleet. As it stands, it is a fleet of 3 A330-200F. With Airbus now offering their A350-1000F, itâs their most logical successor to what theyâve got at the moment.
As it stands, they are still billions in debt. They are operationally cash flow positive but their losses have been minimised. With a goal of clearing debts where needed and hopefully going net income positive, this will still be years, if not decades away. A poorly run airline with horrific managerial decisions carved the way, though I hope that this is now in their past.
Word behind the scenes from those in the know are possibly looking to activate a further option clause for 20 more A330-900neo with an entry into service no earlier than 2028, with deliveries planned through beyond 2030. This may bring Malaysia Airlines a total fleet size of 40 A330-900neo on top of another 10 A330-300 that they are planning to retain, alone making Malaysia Airlines the largest operator of the A330-900neo and one of the largest operators of the A330 family in its history.
Having also been one of the first operators of the type, with their first planes being delivered in 1997, they have a very long history with the type and to see them continue with it is a testament to its place in the alternative route where A350 and B787 delivery slots may often be less viable with respect to demands in the near term.
it seems like they have updated the livery for the A330neo as well
the Wau logo on the tail and the âmalaysiaairlinesâ font on the fuselage are the same as their current A330ceos
