Nice to see Malaysia Airlines Group (MAG) move forward with long held ambitions to launch a 2nd Europe route.
The timing of Friday's announcement may seem strange given MAG just slashed capacity by 20% to ensure operational stability. However, by the time Paris is launched in late March the group should be on a more solid footing, as I explained in the Astro AWANI interview last week:
“Most of the operational issues they have been facing can be resolved in the next few months as they get aircraft back into service. It should be short term ... and the airline will be on a better footing next year.”
https://lnkd.in/ekG7b-8R
MAG also expects to take delivery of its first 6 A330-900neos by end Mar-2024, freeing up A350 capacity for Paris. Based on current OAG schedules, MAG’s A350 fleet is now used for double daily services to Doha and London along with 2 weekly Narita flights. Doha and Narita are among the initial A330-900 routes.
MAG initially planned to use its A350 fleet to launch a 2nd Europe route after London in 2018. At the time Paris was a frontrunner along with Amsterdam. Related CAPA analysis that I wrote in Jun-2017: https://lnkd.in/eCD-Z_Zd
Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) dropped Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Istanbul and Paris in 2015/early 2016 as part of a major restructuring that led to the establishment of MAG, replacing MAS. The restructuring also included lease deals for 6 new A350-900s, which were delivered from Nov-2017 to Jul-2018.
While MAG quickly implemented the plan to transition both London frequencies from A380s to A350s, the 2nd Europe route never materialized. MAG started relooking at a 2nd Europe route in 2022 with initially Istanbul the frontrunner. However, the launch of Doha in May-2022 was so successful it decided to add a second Doha frequency in Aug-2022 instead of moving forward with a new Europe route.
MAG therefore continued to use A350s for medium haul routes (prior to COVID it was Narita, Osaka and Sydney). A 7th A350 (a used ex-SAS -900) was added in late 2023, resulting in 28 widebodies including 15 A330-300s and 6 ex-Air Berlin A330-200s (added in 2018). Prior to the restructuring MAS had 34 widebodies, including the same 15 A330-300s, 13 777-200ERs and 6 A380s (taken back by Airbus as part of the 2022 deal for 20 A330-900s).
MAG’s widebody capacity was 94% recovered in Aug-2024 (vs Aug-2019), based on OAG data. But overall international seat capacity was 103% recovered last month (prior to the recent cuts), due to more 737 flights and 737 densification. MAG now has 51 737s (includes 4 MAXs) vs 48 in 2019.
MAG now has 57 international destinations & 62 routes (excludes charters) vs 47 & 53 in Sep-2019. MAG has been expanding its international network over the last year, launching 13 destinations with a focus on South Asia & SE Asia.
Paris will not be easy commercially as SE Asia-Europe market conditions are now normalizing. However, Paris will help feed Australia/NZ and MAG’s expanded regional network.