Malaysia Airlines has suspended plans to restart direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam in partnership with KLM.
The Oneworld member previously hoped the Dutch city would become a second European destination for its new Airbus A350s, alongside London.
In July 2017, then-CEO Peter Bellew told Australian Business Traveller that plans to expand to Amsterdam, Paris or Frankfurt would work only in partnership with another airline.
"If we can form a joint venture with another airline it might make sense, because it's the ideal way to get another European destination" he said. "The only way I can see it succeeding would be to work closely with another carrier."
“If not, we’ll use them for something like services to Shanghai and Tokyo,” Bellew added. “We’re still evaluating Auckland, but we took a major hit on yield with Emirates and Qatar (flying to Auckland).”
Malaysia Airlines’ A350 network has now been redrawn with an Asian focus, with daily flights between Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo’s Narita Airport starting from May 5, 2018.
The Tokyo route is expected to eventually see an uptick to 12 A350 flights per week, while Osaka is also being considered as an A350 city.
Auckland – a previous front-runner in the Asia-Pacific A350 stakes – has been crossed off the list and will retain its current Airbus A330-300 flights rather than see the ex-Airberlin A330-200s rostered onto the route, due to what’s been described as “galley limitations on the A330-200s for flights over seven hours.”
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
29 Mar 2014
Total posts 78
I'm curious what kind of galley limitations there could be. How come no other airline with the -200 has ever complained about this?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Aug 2012
Total posts 2204
I believe that it just means that the ex-AB A332 frames they have don't have the galley space because they were optimised for trans-Atlantic flights (i.e. they can only accommodate one main meal service with a snack, not two main meals), which are quite a bit shorter than MH's KUL-AKL route; this isn't a new problem at all, as QF's frames have the same issue, which is why only two A332s can do the SYD-PEK route.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 621
@watson374:
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Malaysia Airlines puts Amsterdam A350 plans on ice