This was first rumored last week, and is now official…
In this post:
Malaysia Airlines orders Airbus A330neo
Malaysia Airlines has placed an order for 20 Airbus A330neo aircraft, with 10 of the planes being purchased directly from Airbus, and 10 being leased from Dublin-based Avolon. The Kuala Lumpur-based airline intends to take delivery of these new planes between late 2023 and 2028, so it’ll be a pretty gradual delivery timeline.
Malaysia Airlines currently has a fleet of 21 Airbus A330s, including 15 A330-300s and six A330-200s. These planes are an average of around 11 years old, and the plan is for A330neo aircraft to replace these.
Malaysia Airlines plans to configure its A330neos with roughly 300 seats, in a two cabin configuration (so business class and economy, but no first class or premium economy, which shouldn’t come as a surprise). The airline intends to use the A330neos for flights within Asia, as well as flights to the South Pacific and Middle East.
Here’s what Malaysia Airlines CEO Izham Ismail had to say about this order:
“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. This is a significant milestone as MAG moves towards the successful execution of our Long-Term Business Plan 2.0 to position itself as a leading aviation services Group within the region.”
For context, the A330neo has both the -800neo and -900neo variants:
- The A330-800neo has a standard three-cabin capacity of 257, while the A330-900neo has a standard three-cabin capacity of 287
- The A330-800neo has a range of 7,506nm, while the A330-900neo has a range of 6,550nm
The A330-900neo has been much more popular with airlines than the A330-800neo, and has seen exponentially more orders. So it’s not surprising to see Malaysia Airlines go with that jet.
How this fits into Malaysia Airlines’ fleet
Malaysia Airlines should have a pretty young fleet in the coming years. Currently Malaysia Airlines’ fleet consists of:
- Six Airbus A350, which are an average of four years old
- 21 Airbus A330s, which are an average of 11 years old
- 43 Boeing 737s, which are an average of 10 years old (these planes are in the process of being refurbished)
- Malaysia Airlines had six Airbus A380s, but the airline doesn’t plan on flying these anymore
In the future:
- Malaysia Airlines will replace current A330s with A330neos
- Malaysia Airlines has 50 Boeing 737 MAXs on order, which will replace existing 737s; these are expected to be delivered between 2024 and 2026
A fleet of A350s, A330neos, and 737 MAXs, sounds pretty modern to me. Now, I’m not sure this addresses Malaysia Airlines’ profitability issues and financial struggles over the years, but that’s a whole different story.
Bottom line
Malaysia Airlines has placed an order for 20 Airbus A330-900neos, which will be delivered to the airline starting in late 2023. The airline is planning on using these planes to replace existing A330s, which are 10+ years old. The planes will fly within Asia, as well as to the South Pacific and Middle East.
Now I’m curious to see what Malaysia Airlines has planned for the onboard product.
What do you make of Malaysia Airlines’ A330neo order?
The A330NEO is a very economical long-range aircraft that replaces and then some what the 777-200ER originally did but burns 30% less fuel. Airbus has done an incredible job of increasing the performance of the A330 over decades.
I think the A330neo is an economical decision and fits well into the fleet strategy. But the fleet was not the main issue. More importantly they had to do favours to government officials, which went as far as to operate a route like KUL-CPT-EZE, because one of them had a farm in Argentina and wanted to fly direct ... This route, as well as some other perks have gone, but some are persisting.
What you mentioned is a story of the past. Which 'perk' routes are persisting these days?
Could you replace the range figures for the a330neo family, they have both seen a increase in range through increases in MTOW
I have no idea why this is a wise investment when their current A330 fleet is already so young
The range numbers given for the A330N are rather out of date.
Ever since the 251tonne weight variant went on offer, the range numbers for the A339 are at 7,200nm (the same as a 744, which is amazing for an A330) and the A338 is at 8,150nm.
Given the situation that Malaysia Airlines finds itself in, this would seem to be a logical move. They don't need massive aircraft right now, but they do need modern widebodies. The A330 is a great choice for them. It's reasonably priced, adaptable, and can fulfill most missions that Malaysia needs it for.
On a side note, the A330-800 neo is a real beauty of an aircraft. While I understand why the 900 may get...
Given the situation that Malaysia Airlines finds itself in, this would seem to be a logical move. They don't need massive aircraft right now, but they do need modern widebodies. The A330 is a great choice for them. It's reasonably priced, adaptable, and can fulfill most missions that Malaysia needs it for.
On a side note, the A330-800 neo is a real beauty of an aircraft. While I understand why the 900 may get more buys, the capacity difference isn't that much to skew the order figures as much as they are. And the 800 series has a great range. Not expecting them to do this, but I'd be delighted to see MH have some 800's as part of their order. They'd be good for slightly thinner yet long routes on which you could charge higher fares.
Exponentially more orders, what does this even mean?
Basket case airline, getting another fleet type, makes total sense!
Basket case airline, getting another fleet type? They are replacing A330CEO with A330NEO for god sake.
Could someone please address why an airline would order a A330neo over an A350 or vice versa and why some might choose to operate both, like Delta. Also are they a common type rating?
350 is more expensive, harder to fill due to larger capacity, and is more fuel efficient on longer routes.
Yes they have a common type rating.
Days like this are when I think this airline's strategy makes no sense. These have negliglble capacity compared to the A380s. Tons of air travel in Asia, tons of people who are willing to travel, no point in buying a tiny plane when you can just fly something much larger with a product that everyone prefers over some boring A330.
If Malaysia Airlines could fill A380s and fly them profitably they would still operate them. They have been a financial drain on Malaysia Airlines as well as several other operators. Do you think every airline that doesn’t operate A380s is losing money because people would prefer to fly on them over “boring” smaller aircraft with massively lower operating and ownership costs?
Better financing deals on new aircraft; both Airbus and Boeing make it attractive for the buyer’s balance sheet to buy new aircraft. CFO gets a bigger bonus by swapping financing terms, COO doesn’t have to worry about expanding capacity, CEO gets a result this year instead of building up the airline over several years. Customers wanting the A380, or shareholders wanting actual growth over the long term, doesn’t really come into it
While not as charismatic or grand looking, A330s are much better layout in regular economy or sometimes premium economy than a380 or 747. You cannot beat 2-3/4-2 regular economy seating for comfort and accessibility.
If outside first or business class then I always try go for the 2 seat by window Cabin that is of the typical a33/40 or 767s.
If airlines like LH or AF couldn't make the A380 work, there is no way MH can make it work operating out of a smaller hub with more appetite on budget flights than business and full fare....... What you are claiming doesn't exist on demand for travel in Asia.
@Ben is there a problem with the website, I can’t see any new posts but linking through from your email they do show up, but if I click “breaking travel news” the last post is your chase sapphire 48month post?
Ok so I logged off and logged in again all the posts appeared, all resolved but might be a code bug.
I had the same issue last week
Sometimes when I click on the website from Google and the site loads, it is not updated with recent posts. I have to refresh it which is when it loads (and the new posts will say 1/2/3 hour(s) ago, which is how I know they were not just posted).
This is on my phone btw. I've had this issue multiple times, and it started after the site redesign.