Malaysia Airlines has agreed to buy eight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and eight Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets as the Oneworld airline looks to boost services on its busiest routes.
Malaysia Airlines may double an order of 25 of the single-aisle 737 Max 10 over the next five years, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak Najib said at a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday before the announcement.
The agreement – worth US$3.06 billion at list prices that exclude customary discounts – marks a victory for Boeing in a competition that had been viewed as favoring rival Airbus.
Malaysia had been in talks for the European planemaker’s A330neo wide-body jets but had been unable to reach a deal on price, Chief Executive Officer Peter Bellew said in an interview in June.
Najib said there is a “strong probability – not possibility – probability that we will add 25 more 737 Max 10 in the near future. So within five years, the deal will be worth beyond US$10 billion.”
Taken private by the nation’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, the carrier has been trying to win back customers following two fatal air crashes in 2014. The carrier, on track to become profitable in 2018, has been adding more services in Asia after cutting jobs and unprofitable long-haul routes to keep the business afloat.
The airline leased six Airbus A350s to offer flights to London from the first quarter of 2018.
It has also ordered 737 MAX 9 and MAX 10 aircraft from Boeing with deliveries expected in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
The company should be cash-positive in the second half of 2018, Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Peter Bellew said in July.
The airline is focusing on business class and premium cabins as well as transporting passengers from other carriers to increase revenue, he said. China, India, Japan and Taiwan are its growth markets, and the airline will add more routes to these destinations over the next few years, he said
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
14 Jan 2014
Total posts 340
Hmmmmmm as a passenger I'm no fan of the Nightmareliner.. MUCH prefer the experience on the A350. Wider cabin, wider seats... can't argue with that.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
Hmmmmmm as a passenger I'm indifferent between the "Nightmareliner" and the 350XtralongWaitforBuyer. NO preference in experience between 787 vs 350. Only 5inches wider cabin, and 0.56inche wider seats make little diff between the 2... can't argue with those actual specs published by Airbus & Boeing.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2017
Total posts 5
Sat on Ethiopian, Royal Brunei B787-8 and SQ A350. No difference in seating width that 1inch did not difference. However i do find leg room affects my comfort a lot.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@jarz:
23 Feb 2015
Total posts 260
If you are a hub airline does the 787 make sense? I would have thought They would be better with a combo of 380s and short distance carriers?
31 Mar 2014
Total posts 397
The A380 clearly hasn't worked for them...
06 Jan 2015
Total posts 66
The major reason the 380 hasn't worked is due to the twin incidents which hit the airlines total passenger numbers and yield hard.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Aug 2012
Total posts 2199
The A380s were never going to work for MH. They bought them for prestige.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@watson374:
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@devilish:
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@Steve987:
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
14 Dec 2016
Total posts 42
A380's aren't a thing anymore. They are about as desired as the Hindenburg in 1938.
03 May 2013
Total posts 682
Agree the 787 isn't as good as an A350 as far as pax experience goes. Great aircraft but you actually feel a difference in the A350 where as in the 787 the feeling is negligible.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@Joe:
Malaysia Airlines - Enrich
21 Mar 2014
Total posts 22
In the last paragraph it states " The airline is focusing on business class and premium cabins ". In the past I have been a loyal MAS customer but having just flown with them a couple of weeks ago their Business Class really needs improving if they want to compete with other major airlines. Some may find my complaints trivial but not providing pre flight champagne, and no alcohol at all on flights under 3 hours, is well below current industry standards. All airline bosses should take a Qatar Airlines flight in Business Class to see how it should be done!!
CX
05 Jun 2012
Total posts 127
On long haul they do "offer" pre-flight champagne, but not proactively. It doesn't come round on the trays, but if you ask, it is provided. This has happened on my last three LH flights (ever since I spotted another passenger with champagne)
Malaysia Airlines - Enrich
21 Mar 2014
Total posts 22
Yes, we were told they only offer on A380 flights!!
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2017
Total posts 5
Champagne is offerred on MH BKI-NRT flight on the 738 J cabin had it few months ago which was surprising. But believe MH nids to buff up its service. TG 2 hour flight from KUL-BKK and i had selection of wine offering on economy class. The same sector flight on MH i got alcoholic drinks and little turbulence resulted in immediate suspension of hot beverages. Not only that cabin crew down to 4 on most 738 flights causes slow service and airline think puny lunch box with stink up meals for 2 hour flight works to reduce the workload for them.
Malaysia Airlines - Enrich
21 Mar 2014
Total posts 22
Champagne seems to be hit and miss with MH. On the ADL to KL sector two years ago no champagne, last year champagne and this year once again no champagne!! When we told the crew we had it last year they didn't believe us, but having said that, they certainly made up for it once in the air and couldn't do enough for us. If they were consistent with their policy it wouldn't be so embarrassing when requesting it and then being knocked back!! I feel sorry for the crew with constant policy changes. MH crew are usually great, it's just a pity the product isn't.
30 Aug 2017
Total posts 32
CX
05 Jun 2012
Total posts 127
That's interesting, and shows how subjective this judgment can be.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
08 Aug 2016
Total posts 54
787 and the A350 don't have the same seat width in economy they just have the same seats per row.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@freshthoughts:
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
13 Jan 2015
Total posts 580
Didn't you know that Airbus have a special witch doctor they contractor their voodoo work out to?
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@kabe100:
20 May 2015
Total posts 579
This is very surprising. The A330-900neo could've theoretically reached even Dublin so I guess Boeing must have offered a really good deal on the 787-9s (or perhaps on additional 737 MAXes?). On the bright side, this may allow MAS to launch a flight to Vancouver or Seattle but that's unlikely to happen in the first place.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@StudiodeKadent:
24 Apr 2016
Total posts 23
I don't really get this business plan. The CEO said the market they want to expand to is in India, China, Japan and Taiwan. These are regional routes that A330-900NEO are made for.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@Volkov:
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2017
Total posts 5
Think the A330-900 to replace A330-300 are still in motion based on insider notion just it wont happen anytime soon. They're trying to fill in the gap left between the oversized bus a380 and b772 and the B787-9 fills that gap perfectly with the bargaining price.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@jarz:
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
08 Aug 2016
Total posts 54
totally political, the Malaysian PM is meeting with trump this week and the PM is the subject of a US investigation into his corrupt US assets.
Cathay Pacific - Asia Miles
27 Nov 2012
Total posts 45
Bad decision by MH, to many types. Should go all narrow body airbus, or Boeing, and do the same with wide bodies, obviously a hand in the back pocket, or bad management call!!!
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@deethom:
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2017
Total posts 5
All Boeing/Airbus fleet does not work for legacy carriers it doesn't work when revenue and mixed yield on various sectors required various type of aircraft operation. What the airline should do is check up its management and overloaded procurement costs instead and pile of dung contracts that have bled the airline and get its customer and first line level service in check. They have the hard product but bean counter has taken a toll on service.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
18 Jun 2015
Total posts 57
Pile of baloney, Malaysian PM is under scrutiny for $1 transferred into his bank account from a development fund. Pledging $3 billion now and then saying there's a possibility of ordering up to $10 billion puts Trump in a very bad position to criticise the PM. Smart move though!
16 Feb 2016
Total posts 30
Is there type commonality with the 737max and 789s? Perhaps that proved to be a factor.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@aturnbull:
03 Sep 2017
Total posts 49
MH is constantly competing with SQ. And MH tends to lose out on it's level of service.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Sep 2017
Total posts 5
SIN and KUL are entirely different market. While volume is there yield paying passengers in KUL are so low and marketed more towards Leisure and budget travelers. Luftansa, Air France have already terminated KL while British Airways have downgage the B777 to B789. Malaysians themselves willing to go premium carriers have already flocked to gulf carriers(Them offerring promo price way below MH level to europe) while the remainders are budget hunters which LCC carriers are taking advantage of. MAS is unable to go full head with SQ and CX level and are already at a loosing battle with gulf carriers in ticket base price, with this kind of demand all it could do is maintained a small proper fuel efficient fleet like the A339neo or B789s.
03 Sep 2017
Total posts 49
In the end, it's a case of many layers of Catch-22 situations.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@KinHo:
03 Sep 2017
Total posts 49
Hi FLX1,
03 Sep 2017
Total posts 49
Getting the right aircraft fleet for the airline definitely tough!
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