04.10.2022 - 01:52 UTC
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed reports that Malaysia has regained its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Category 1 rating. It follows Malaysia's Ministry of Transport (MOT) and its aviation safety agency, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), launching a social media blitz on the weekend, saying that three years after its downgrade to Category 2, the country had regained the top rating as of October 1, 2022.
Malaysia lost its Category 1 ranking after the FAA identified 58 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards issues, 25 of which were promptly addressed. However, the outstanding 33 issues still apparent during a reassessment in the same year resulted in the downgrade. A Category 2 ranking doesn't prevent a country's airlines from continuing existing operations to or from the US, but it does prevent them from expanding services or new airlines commencing flights to the US.
"The past two years have been an important period for CAAM as the entire organization has been restructured while various efforts have been undertaken to strengthen its workforce, documentation and develop...
30.09.2022 - 00:40 UTC
Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), the parent company of Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur Int'l), is returning its six inactive A380-800s to Airbus in a deal reportedly reached during recent negotiations to acquire twenty A330-900Ns. The first of the A380s - 9M-MNA (msn 78) - only arrived at the airline in 2012. Collectively, they were deployed on select routes to Europe, Australia, and within Asia.
Malaysia Airlines parked its A380s in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. In July 2021, the airline issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) soliciting bids for the sale of the six planes but attracted no serious interest.
In mid-August 2022, MAG ordered twenty A330neo jets on behalf of Malaysia Airlines. A total of 10 planes will be directly purchased from Airbus with a back-to-back sale/lease-back arrangement with Avolon, while the remaining 10 will be leased directly from Avolon. When the deal was announced, there was no mention of the fine print facilitating the A380s return. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, all...
15.08.2022 - 22:53 UTC
Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) has placed an order for twenty A330-900s for its wholly-owned subsidiary Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur Int'l). A total of 10 aircraft will be directly purchased from Airbus with a back-to-back sale/lease-back arrangement with Avolon, while the remaining 10 will be leased directly from Avolon.
"The acquisition of the A330neo is a natural transition from our current A330ceo fleet. The A330neo will not only provide fleet modernisation and enhanced operational efficiency but will also meet environmental targets through reduced fuel-burn per seat, while keeping passenger safety and comfort at its core," Chief Executive Izham Ismail said.
The Malaysian flag carrier currently operates six A330-200s (14.8 years old on average) and fifteen A330-300s (10.2 years), the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. All of the A330ceo will be gradually replaced by the -900s. The airline leases all -200s and six -300s, and owns the remaining nine -300s.
The A330neo, which are scheduled to be delivered to MAG starting from the third quarter of 2024 through...
08.07.2022 - 16:29 UTC
Philippines AirAsia (Z2, Manila Ninoy Aquino Int'l) plans to launch more direct flights to the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo and is looking into opening a route to Sandakan as part of these ambitions, according to chief executive Ricardo Isla.
The Capital A (ex-AirAsia Group) subsidiary currently operates one route to Malaysia, flying 2x weekly from Manila Ninoy Aquino Int'l to Kota Kinabalu, according to the ch-aviation capacities module. Kota Kinabalu is the capital of Sabah.
"We want to sustain the travel momentum, and for Sabah we are not just looking at beaches but eco-tourism and agrotourism, which are educational. We are looking into the prospect of opening a new destination in Sandakan, which has one of the highest Filipino populations in Sabah, as part of our expansion plans," Isla said during a news conference held in Kota Kinabalu together with the Sabah Tourism Board on July 5.
However, Sandakan is only a domestic airport. Thai AirAsia links it with Kota Kinabalu (23x weekly) and...
