Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International) is planning to take its first B737-8 in July 2023, followed by three more units in August, October, and November 2023, Malaysia Aviation Group Chief Executive Izham Ismail told The New Straits Times daily.

The state-owned Malaysian carrier ordered twenty-five B737-8s from Air Lease Corporation in 2022, replacing an earlier order directly from Boeing (BOE, Washington National). Deliveries were originally scheduled to start in early 2023. The carrier no longer has any direct orders for narrowbody aircraft from Boeing. As its current narrowbody fleet comprises forty-three B737-800s and a further four placed with subsidiary Firefly (FY, Penang), the airline openly admitted that it would place another narrowbody order for a further 25 aircraft.

Izham has now underlined that while the plan is still in place, Malaysia Airlines is not wedded to Boeing.

"The remaining twenty-five aircraft are not an option for B737-8s. There was no option from Boeing. We'll decide on the technology - will it be another twenty-five MAX 8 or some other aircraft, we'll decide," Izham said.

He revealed that Malaysia Airlines would also consider the C919 as a potential compliment to the B737-8s. However, Izham did not go into details as to when the second part of the order could be placed.

Chief Executive (Airlines) Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi recently told ch-aviation that further steps regarding narrowbody fleet renewal would be tied to the new government strategy permitting larger aircraft at Kuala Lumpur Subang.