Malaysia Airlines fleet

This is an overview of the current and historic fleet of Malaysia Airlines excluding its subsidiaries.

Current fleet

Overview

As of July 2016, the Malaysia Airlines fleet (excluding their cargo aircraft) consists of the following aircraft:^[1]

Malaysia Airlines Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Orders	Options	Passengers				Notes
				F	C	Y	Total
Airbus A330-300	15	—	—	—	36	247	283	Two (9M-MTE and 9M-MTO) in Oneworld livery. New interior introduction began March 2016 and expected to be completed in September 2016.[2]
					27	263	290
Airbus A330-900neo	—	—	2	TBA				Two options to be leased from Air Lease Corporation.[3]
Airbus A350-900	—	6	—	TBA				To be sourced from Air Lease Corporation. Delivery from 2017.,[4][5]
Airbus A380-800	6	—	—	8	66	420	494	The A380 fleet will be used on charter routes once the airline receive its new Airbus A350.[6]
Boeing 737-800	56	—	—	—	16	144	160	9M-MXC in Oneworld livery and 9M-MXA in retro livery.
					16	150	166
Boeing 737 MAX	—	25	25	TBA				Deliveries from 2020, options a mix of models 8 & 9
Total	77	31	27

Aircraft types

Airbus A330-300

Malaysia Airlines operates one variant of the Airbus A330: the Airbus A330-300EX (15 in the fleet). This aircraft is used to fly medium-to-long-haul routes, such as Tokyo, Osaka, Delhi, Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, Beijing, Shanghai and many more cities. The first aircraft was delivered in 1995.^[7] They have been refurbished.

12 Older Airbus A330 aircraft are painted in the old Malaysia Airlines livery, with the airline logo on the tailfin. The older Airbus A330 have been phased out of the fleet. Two Airbus A330 (9M-MTE and 9M-MTO) are currently painted in Oneworld livery. New Business Class seats will be fitted starting from end March 2016 and is expected to be completed by September 2016.^[8]

Airbus A330-900neo

Malaysia Airlines have options to lease two Airbus A330-900neo. They will be used for medium haul flights, complementing the existing A330-300s in the fleet.

Airbus A350-900

Malaysia Airlines will lease 6 Airbus A350-900 starting 2017.

Airbus A380-800

Malaysia Airlines Airbus A380-800

Malaysia Airlines signed a contract with Airbus to purchase 6 Airbus A380s in 2003. The airline expected to receive its first Airbus A380 in 2007, but delivery was delayed due to manufacturing problems. On 3 October 2006, upon completion of a review of the A380 program, the deliveries were pushed approximately two years back to 2009.^[9][10]

Malaysia Airlines and Airbus agreed on compensation and a new schedule for the deliveries on 31 March 2008, considering the new overall plans of the airline, with the deliveries to be made in 2011.^[11][12][13] However, Airbus postponed the delivery of the first A380 a second time. The first A380 was delivered in June 2012 and features all-new livery to highlight MAS' 'wau' kite design element.^[14] The first A380 commercial flight commenced on 1 July 2012 flying from Kuala Lumpur to London, with Kuala Lumpur - Sydney flights following on 25 September 2012.^[15]

The A380 has 8 seats in first class at the front of the lower deck, 66 business class seats on the upper deck and a total of 420 economy seats across both decks, with 350 on the lower deck and 70 upstairs.^[16] Children under 12 will not be allowed to travel in the upper deck economy cabin.^[17] Malaysia Airlines originally wanted to introduce Premium Economy class into the A380, but end up with having more Economy Class seats as a result.

On 30 April 2015, it was announced that Malaysia Airlines would seek to sell or lease out all six of its Airbus A380s due to its ongoing financial crisis.^[18][19] But Malaysia Airlines new CEO Christoph Mueller announces that it's too early to sell out the fleets. In May 2015, Mueller announced that Malaysia Airlines would continue to use four A380 aircraft on its London route (MH 1-4), with the remaining aircraft being use for chartered flight to Madinah.

In August 2016, Peter Bellew, the new CEO of MAB announced that one A380 was retrofitted with new economy plus seating, but ticketing will only begin when all A380s have been retrofitted. MAB's Economy plus is essentially the same seat as the existing economy, albeit with more legroom (38" vs 32"). Catering and services remain the same as economy. Economy plus will also be fitted onboard the yet-to-be-delivered A350-900s.

Boeing 737-800

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800

Malaysia Airlines' Boeing 737-800 aircraft fly to regional South-East Asia and domestic destinations. The 737-800 order was announced at the Farnborough Air Show on 16 July 2008. In February 2009, Malaysia Airlines already received two leased 737-800s; and another one in March. Malaysia Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737-800 on 1 November 2010. New Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft will be painted in new Malaysia Airlines livery and will be equipped with Boeing Sky Interior and new blue seats for Golden Club Class and red seats for Economy class. Aircraft registered 9M-MX* and 9M-MS* is owned by MAS plus equipped with PTV in every seat, 9M-ML* and 9M-FF* are leased from lessor. 9M-MLM to 9M-MLV is equipped with PTV in every seat. Malaysia Airlines have announced that they will be reducing the amount of 737's to 45 by 2016 as the 11 737 without sky interior are to be retired. Total of 15 aircraft owned by MAB, the rest 41 are leased from lessor plus.

Boeing 737 MAX

On 27 July 2016, Malaysia Airlines has announced the purchase of 25 Boeing 737 MAX jets, consisting of 25 firm orders and 25 option for both MAX 8 and MAX 9 models. The order, priced around 5.5 billion dollars, is expected to commence on 2019, replacing some of the B737-800 currently in service.^[20]

Historical fleet

List of aircraft that Malaysia Airlines and its predecessor companies have flown in the past.^[21]

Malaysia Airlines Retired Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Exit From Service	Notes
Airbus A300	6	July 1995	1 leased from Air France while another one leased from Scandinavian Airlines.
Airbus A310	1	October 1990	Leased for a short period from Royal Jordanian.
Airbus A330-200	5		Replaced by A330-300
Boeing 707	10	December 1980	replaced by A300.
Boeing 737-100	5	September 1972	Malaysia Singapore Airlines(MSA) fleet. Transferred to Singapore Airlines on Oct 1st,1972.
Boeing 737-200	23	1994	Replaced by Boeing 737-400/500 series. One crashed in 1977.
Boeing 737-300F	2		Converted as Freighters for MASKargo.
Boeing 737-400	46	2014	Introduced in 1989. Phased out as of 15 June 2014 and replaced by Boeing 737-800.
Boeing 737-500	9	October 2000	All 737-500 fleet were decommissioned.
Boeing 737-700 BBJ	1	June 2003	Handed over to Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). Registration :9M-BBJ.
Boeing 737-800	4		2 leased from Travel Service including OK-TVC.
Boeing 747-100	1		The only 747-100 in Malaysia Airlines fleet.
Boeing 747-200	(20)	October 2005	Some converted for MASKargo.
Boeing 747-300	1	April 2002	The only 747-300 in Malaysia Airlines fleet.
Boeing 747-400	20		Currently stored, two examples 9M-MPB and 9M-MPD were painted in a bright red 'Hibiscus' livery and had the words 'An experience redefined' as well. Repainted back to original livery in 2008. Expected to return to service when the Airbus A380 will be going into maintenance. 9M-MPP is now ready for operating to London in May 2016.[22]
Boeing 777-200ER	17 (2 Written off)	March 23, 2016	9M-MRK and 9M-MRI were scrapped by GA Telesis. 9M-MRO went missing on 8 March 2014 operating Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 9M-MRD (painted in a Heliconia blue livery with the words 'Freedom of space' from 2005 until 2008) was written off after being shot down over Eastern Ukraine operating as Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Malaysia Airlines retired the last 777-200 and ends the 777 operation after 19 years in service. Many 777's have been sold to different airlines (among them VIM Airlines of Russia) and some are being stored at MAS Hangar 006 at KLIA.
Bristol Britannia	9	1963	Malayan Airways leased from BOAC 1961-1963
Britten Norman Islander	4		Replacing the Twin Pioneer aircraft for rural air services in Sabah & Sarawak. Later It was replaced with Twin Otters.
de Havilland Comet	7	November 1969	5 operated by Malaysian Airways/Malaysia-Singapore Airlines 1965-1969. 2 leased to Malaysia-Singapore Airlines from BOAC 1967-1969.
de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver			Operated by MAL under Federated Air Service (FAS).
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter	7	August 2006	All retired.
Fokker F27	20		Replaced by Fokker 50.
Fokker 50	12	August 2006	Retired from active duty on 25 April 2010. One crashed while operating as MH2133.
Douglas DC-3			ex-Borneo Airways fleet were added to current MAL DC-3 fleet upon the absorption of Borneo Airways in 1965.
Douglas DC-4			ex-Borneo Airways fleet.
Lockheed Super Constellation			Malayan Airways fleet.
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30	7	March 2000	1 leased from World Airways.
McDonnell Douglas MD-11	6	March 2000	All leased from World Airways - 3 passengers aircraft, 2 Convertible Freighters, and 1 freighter (the last three for MASkargo).
Twin Pioneers	2		Ex-Borneo Airways fleet,after the absorption of Borneo Airways into Malaysian Airways.
Vickers Viscount	2	September 1963	Used for Malayan Airways (Former name of Malaysia Airlines) from 1959-1963.

References

1. "Malaysia Airlines". ch-aviation.
2. "Malaysia Airlines new business class Airbus A330 - Australian Business Traveller". Australian Business Traveller.
3. "Malaysia Airlines to become an Airbus A350 operator". World Airline News.
4. "Errors - Australian Business Traveller".
5. https://sites.google.com/site/a350xwbproduction/orders
6. Schofield, Adrian (1 June 2016). "Malaysia's Fleet Plans Include A380 Phaseout By 2018". Aviation Daily.
7. "Malaysia Airlines Active & Retired A330". Air Fleets.net. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
8. http://www.ausbt.com.au/new-malaysia-airlines-business-class-set-for-sydney-launch
9. "Airbus confirms further A380 delay and launches company restructuring plan". Airbus S.A.S. 3 October 2006. Archived from the original on 14 October 2006. Retrieved 3 October 2006.
10. "Malaysia Airlines Says no Decision on Superjumbo A380s". CNBC. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2008.
11. "Malaysia Airlines to buy 55 Boeing planes for 3 bln dlrs: report". Afp.google.com. 30 March 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
12. Airbus A380 delivery schedule: on Airbus website
13. "MAS says Airbus compensation over A380 delay to be shared". NSTonline. 25 July 2008. Archived from the original on 28 July 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
14. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203034708/http://www.traveldailyasia.com/AsiaPacificNews/Detail.aspx?Section=15547. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
15. "MAS Airbus A380 on Sydney Kuala Lumpur flights from September". Australian Business Traveller. 27 March 2012.
16. http://www.ausbt/malaysia-airlines-mas-airbus-a380-on-sydney-kuala-lumpur-route-from-september-business-class-seating-configuration-revealed
17. "Malaysia Airlines declares kid-free zone on new MAS Airbus A380 - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class — Australian Business Traveller". Ausbt.com.au. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
18. Flynn, David. "Malaysia Airlines puts its entire Airbus A380 fleet up for sale". Australian Business Traveller. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
19. Hamilton, Scott. "Malaysia Airlines fleet restructuring". Leeham News & Comment. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
20. "Malaysia Airlines orders Boeing 737 MAX jets in $5.5 billion deal". Reuters. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
21. "AeroMalaysia: Malaysia Airlines: Former Fleet" Archived 14 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
22. "Malaysia Airlines reactivates B747-400 to cover A380 downtime". www.ch-aviation.com. Retrieved 20 September 2016.

External links

Media related to Malaysia Airlines at Wikimedia Commons