Malaysia Airlines’s pilgrimage service gives jumbos new life

Malaysia Airlines Airbus SE A380s are flying fully loaded on trial services taking Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

This had prompted the carrier to announce that it will establish the operation as a new division as early as the end of 2018.

The surprise success of the religious-charter service provides another fillip for the double decker, which won a new lease on life last week from Emirates, the plane’s biggest customer, with its first order in two years. The Asian company had been using two of its six A380s to transport people to Mecca for the year-round umra pilgrimage since November, CEO Izham Ismail said.

The planes would eventually be used for the annual hajj gathering, one of the world’s biggest travel events.

“I felt we needed to go to market fast,” said Ismail. “We’ve been flying these charters daily to Jeddah or Medina and we fill them up every day.”

Airbus floated the prospect of killing the A380 if it failed to win more business for the plane from Emirates. It is also in talks with British Airways and is keen to see the Malaysian plan open up a new market. It is pitching a model with as many as 700 seats, up from 498.

Ismail said that would have to wait until 2020, when the A380s would be out of service for maintenance.

The current density might in any case be sufficient, he said.

“The passengers who go to the umra and hajj are often elderly, so we can’t cram them into a tin can,” he said in London. “We can keep the current configuration and offer a product that’s superior to the current hajj product.”

Fares would still be lower than for a normal commercial ticket, although there was an appetite for business-class perks among some pilgrims, Ismail said.