READY TO FLY
MAS says two A350XWB aircraft will start plying KL-London route in Q1 next year
MALAYSIA Airlines is gearing up to integrate into its fleet two Airbus A350XWB, which are scheduled for entry into service in December. They will ply the Kuala Lumpur-London route from the first quarter of next year.
MALAYSIA Airlines Bhd (MAS) is gearing itself for the integration into its fleet two incoming Airbus A350XWB aircraft in December.
MAS chief operating officer Captain Izham Ismail said the two aircraft, scheduled for sequential entry into service on December 5 and December 25, respectively, would service the Kuala LumpurLondon-Kuala Lumpur route.
The A350XWB would start plying the London route in the first quarter of next year, he added.
The national carrier is expected to take delivery of four more A350XWBs by June next year, but Izham did not furnish details as to which routes the additional aircraft will be servicing during a visit to the Airbus facility, here, yesterday.
MAS is training its pilots at the Airbus Asia Training Centre (AATC), here, ahead of the deliveries.
So far, 26 pilots have undergone the training. They are part of a total of 144 pilots identified to undergo the A350XWB flight simulation training.
Izham said all 144 pilots were expected to have completed their training by May next year.
MAS chief pilot training and flight operations officer Captain Andrew Poh Vi Ming said the incoming aircraft would first fly the Kuala Lumpur-Penang and Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok routes for at least a month.
Izham said MAS would take delivery of the two mid-sized widebody long-haul airliners in Toulouse, France, a week before their respective entries into service with the national carrier in Malaysia.
The six new A350XWBs, according to Izham, “is a leap that MAS is taking to be more efficient”, and to turn around the company.
He said the aviation sector was set to remain highly competitive.
“The aviation market is very unpredictable today. Consumers are very well-informed, average fare price has become very competitive and airlines will do lots of things to get customers onboard,” he added.