Project Amal to take off in 2019
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines Bhd’s newly-rebranded “Project Amal”, which caters specifically for haj pilgrims to Mecca, will be in full swing in 2019.
Project Amal, previously known as Project Hope, was projected as the world’s first airline to cater specifically for haj pilgrims travelling to Mecca.
The new charter airline will also be registered as a separate entity, boasting a different logo, colour scheme and staff.
“We have already appointed the Project Amal management team and is in the process of getting its Air Services Licence (ASL) and subsequently its air operator’s certificate (AOC),” said Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Peter Bellew at a special briefing, here, yesterday.
He said Malaysia Airlines’ main shareholder, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, would undertake a feasibility study before launching the new airline in 2019.
“It is just good governance for us to conduct this feasibility as unfortunately there are no ‘roadmaps’ on how to undertake airline specifically for haj pilgrimages before,” he said.
Bellew said there was significant interest from new investors wanting to invest in Amal, but did not reveal more details.
“We have seen our largest number of pilgrims with over 40,000 allocations from the Saudi government this year. Of that, we have carried 30,000 pilgrims this year and that has been the largest number we have moved yet.”
He said Malaysia Airlines, alongside low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd, was also now engaging with Shanghai Airport Authority with regards to flight delays and cancellations from the Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
Meanwhile, Bellew said the final quarter of the year was “looking good” in terms of yield recovery.
“We are expecting some 10 to 15 per cent of passenger increase in our international routes, excluding Asean, next year. We have seen the Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia routes doing well, and massive recovery from Singapore.” Lidiana Rosli