MAS to transport more than 15,000 pilgrims

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS) is set to transport more than 15,000 Malaysian pilgrims for this year’s haj season, with the first flight scheduled to depart Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for Jeddah and Madinah today.

Its chief executive officer, Captain Izham Ismail, said the national carrier was honoured to be selected by Tabung Haji to serve Malaysian pilgrims to perform their haj this year.

“Our A380-800 has a seat configuration of 494 seats, which allows us to transport a high number of pilgrims without compromising on comfort.”

He said haj travellers were usually the elderly, and for some, it might be their first time getting into an aircraft or travelling outside Malaysia.

“This can be stressful for the pilgrims, so having a sense of familiarity is important to them. Malaysia Airlines strives to provide pilgrims the comfort of home as soon as they board our aircraft and it is our hospitality that makes them feel right at home.”

Izham said MAS crew and ground staff were experienced to cope with the demands of haj travels to ensure pilgrims were well taken care of so that they had the best journey for pilgrimage.

In anticipating the first haj flight, MAS, together with TH, had trained more than 400 staff, including cabin and technical crew, ground handlers, as well as operational employees, to provide pilgrims superior ground and in-flight services throughout their journey to the holy land.

MAS said it would mount 80 flights between Kuala Lumpur and Jeddah, as well as Madinah on the A380-800.

The airline would operate 88 feeder flights using its B737-800 aircraft to transport 13,200 pilgrims from Alor Star, Penang, Johor Baru, Kota Baru, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Kuala Terengganu to KLIA.

MAS said the last haj flight to the holy land would depart KLIA on Aug 15, while the second phase of the operations would start on Aug 29 and end on Sept 25