In 2022, Malaysia Airlines placed an order for 20 Airbus A330neos. There’s now a major update, as the airline has doubled that order, meaning the oneworld airline must have some serious growth plans.
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Malaysia Airlines has 40 Airbus A330neos on order
In August 2022, Malaysia Airlines placed an order for 20 Airbus A330-900neo aircraft, with 10 of the planes being purchased directly from Airbus, and 10 being leased from Dublin-based Avolon. Now, in July 2025, the airline has doubled that order, with an additional 20 firm orders. This means that the airline now has 40 of these aircraft on order.
The Kuala Lumpur-based airline took delivery of its first of these jets in November 2024. So far, four have been delivered to the airline. The plan is for the first 20 to be delivered through 2028, and the next 20 to be delivered between 2029 and 2031.
Prior to taking delivery of the latest generation Airbus A330neo, Malaysia Airlines had a fleet of 20 A330s, including seven A330-200s and 13 A330-300s. These planes are an average of around 15 years old, and the plan is for A330neo aircraft to progressively replace these.
We can expect to see Malaysia Airlines operate the A330neo on many flights within Asia, as well as on flights to the South Pacific and the Middle East. In theory, the planes also have the range to operate many routes to Europe, though that’s not shared as a priority with these aircraft.
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 8,100nm, while the A330-900neo has a range of 7,350nm
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 exclusively go with that jet.
Here’s how Datuk Captain Izham Ismail, Group Managing Director of Malaysia Airlines Group, describes this increased order:
“The A330neo continues to deliver the right balance of operational efficiency, range, and cabin comfort to support our network and growth strategy. With its enhanced fuel efficiency and flexibility across both regional and long-haul routes, the aircraft is a strong fit for our evolving market needs. It also allows us to offer a product that aligns with our premium positioning – streamlined, modern, and designed around passenger comfort and expectations. This additional order reinforces our long-term vision of building a future-ready fleet that supports sustainable growth, delivers consistent value to our passengers, and strengthens our competitiveness in key markets.”
What to expect onboard Malaysia Airlines’ A330neos
Malaysia Airlines is equipping all 40 of its Airbus A330-900neos with 297 seats. This includes 28 fully flat business class seats with direct aisle access, plus 269 economy class seats.
In business class, Malaysia Airlines is offering reverse herringbone seats with doors. Specifically, the airline has selected the Collins Aerospace Elevation product, which is essentially a rebranding of the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond product. This is the same product you’ll find in British Airways’ Club Suites, as well as in Etihad’s A350 business class. As you can see, the cabin looks nice, though the finishes seem quite generic.
This is an exciting new product for the airline, and represents quite an improvement over Malaysia Airlines’ old business class. The A330neos also have Wi-Fi, plus all the features you expect on a new aircraft, like larger overhead bins.
How the A330neo fits into Malaysia Airlines’ fleet
Malaysia Airlines should have a pretty young fleet in the coming years. Before the A330neo, Malaysia Airlines’ fleet consisted of:
- Seven Airbus A350, which are an average of seven years old
- 20 Airbus A330s, which are an average of 14 years old
- 52 Boeing 737s, which are an average of 12 years old (these planes are in the process of being refurbished); this includes 40 737-800s and 12 737 MAX 8s
Malaysia Airlines used to have six Airbus A380s, but the airline retired those years back.
When it comes to fleet renewal:
- Malaysia Airlines is going to replace A330ceos with A330neos
- Malaysia Airlines is making good progress with taking delivery of the 50 Boeing 737 MAXs it has on order, which are progressively replacing existing 737s
A fleet of A350s, A330neos, and 737 MAXs, sounds pretty modern to me. But what’s really quite surprising here is that the airline isn’t just replacing its existing A330s, but is literally doubling that portion of the fleet. That represents some major growth for the airline.
Malaysia Airlines has such a small ultra long haul fleet (with A350s), while it’ll have such a big fleet of wide bodies intended to operate within the Pacific region. Then again, I guess the A330neos can operate most of the long routes that the airline could be considering.
Bottom line
In 2022, Malaysia Airlines placed an order for 20 Airbus A330-900neos. Now in 2025, that order has been doubled, to 40 of these aircraft. While the initial order of 20 jets will replace existing A330s, the additional order for 20 more jets represents pure growth for the airline, so expect a lot of new routes to be added between now and 2031.
I’m looking forward to flying on this jet, especially given the new onboard product the airline is offering!
What do you make of Malaysia Airlines’ fleet refresh with the A330neo?
I’m booked on the new aircraft flying KUL to AKL next Feb. Looking forward to trying it after flying the A350 from LHR to KUL earlier this year, after BA postponed the route. It was a much better experience than flying BA.
It's a huge relief to see then diversify away from 737-MAX. It had become more difficult for me to fly with Malaysia in SEA as a result of my lifetime 737-MAX ban (for reasons of principle following the MCAS deceptions).
I am surprised that MH still are not launching a premium economy product.
Most of the more successful regional asian competitors have discovered the benefits of having such a product - CX, SQ etc
I have very low confidence MH can make this work. They are a corrupt organisation and the politics of doing business as a state owned business in Malaysia will prevent them from prospering.
The 330NEO has turned out to be one of Airbus' best investments. They spent just $2 billion to develop it from the 330CEO which was their best-selling widebody and are now easily looking at 500 plus sales.
The 330NEO is fairly readily available and Airbus is pricing it well below the A350 or B787 because it is not a carbon fiber aircraft but is fully competitive with either of the new new generation widebodies on...
The 330NEO has turned out to be one of Airbus' best investments. They spent just $2 billion to develop it from the 330CEO which was their best-selling widebody and are now easily looking at 500 plus sales.
The 330NEO is fairly readily available and Airbus is pricing it well below the A350 or B787 because it is not a carbon fiber aircraft but is fully competitive with either of the new new generation widebodies on flights up to 12 hours - which is precisely where MH says it will use its 330NEOs.
The additional range of A330neos is almost obsolete because they're too slow. A330s are as slow as narrowbodies and they take 30min to an hour longer on long-haul flights.
The crew expenses have increased greatly since pandemic, and the additional 30-60min flight duration of A330s offset the cost saved in fuel.
A330s are just not ideal for long-haul flights.
the difference is less than 20 mpn which adds about 20 minutes on a flight over 12 hours- and MH is not going to use the 339 on flights of that length.
DL switched its SEA-TPE flight from a 339 to a 359 so a direct comparison can be made.
the 359 does carry much more cargo at longer lengths which is undoubtedly why few airlines with extensive longhaul networks are going to...
the difference is less than 20 mpn which adds about 20 minutes on a flight over 12 hours- and MH is not going to use the 339 on flights of that length.
DL switched its SEA-TPE flight from a 339 to a 359 so a direct comparison can be made.
the 359 does carry much more cargo at longer lengths which is undoubtedly why few airlines with extensive longhaul networks are going to rely solely on the 330NEO.
It is also worth noting that Airbus has a substantial advantage to Boeing in E. Asia and part of that is because of the poor US relationship with China where Airbus is expected to sell even more 330NEOs.
"and the additional 30-60min flight duration of A330s offset the cost saved in fuel."
I'd love to see the math you're using to come to that conclusion.
You should know that B777 are as slow as the A330
The B787 and A350 are the only 'fast' widebody twin jet.
Standard cruise for A330 is 0.82M; for 777 is 0.84M; and for both 787 and A350 is 0.85M.
The difference between all of them is effectively negligible. No airline is making their longhaul purchase decisions based on that, at all.
It would be nice if they could experiment with bringing back some sort of a first class product on these new jets, even if it’s only just four seats in a 1-2-1 configuration on a limited number of aircraft and routes.
Alas, dare to dream…
Unfortunately they realised that they were offering a first class cabin for senior government people on discounted fares, points redemptions, and staff travel. It's just not financially viable unless you're filling the seats with people paying full tick for the privilege.
Yesterday also Air Asia also ordered up to 70 A321 XLR.
MH's hard product is quite dated, this will be a good boost. Their A330s are in the weird 1-2-2 config and having narrowbody recliners hurts it a lot when SQ is operating widebodies and narrowbodies that have direct aisle access.
Overall, MH service isn't actually that bad. Having flown it recently a few times, I think they really do try their best.
I think it lacks the high level of refinement and discipline to its...
MH's hard product is quite dated, this will be a good boost. Their A330s are in the weird 1-2-2 config and having narrowbody recliners hurts it a lot when SQ is operating widebodies and narrowbodies that have direct aisle access.
Overall, MH service isn't actually that bad. Having flown it recently a few times, I think they really do try their best.
I think it lacks the high level of refinement and discipline to its peers like SQ or CX in the region, but I don't dislike MH. They're definitely a beneficiary of Oneworld with their JAL joint venture as well.
Malaysia's new business class looks better than DeltaOne.
Airbus has upgraded them twice, since those numbers.
A338 now offers 8,100nm
A339 now offers 7,350nm
@ ConcordeBoy -- Good catch, missed the updated numbers. Updating that now, thanks.
So why would you say that they're only going to be sending them as far as the Middle East? KUL-CDG is less than 6500, so the 339 should be able to cover virtually any European destination that might interest MH (I mean, sending it to SCQ which is 7099 miles from KUL would be cutting things a bit fine, but I suspect there aren't many Malaysians wanting to do the Camino de Santiago by air).
@ Throwawayname -- That's what the airline claims. In the press release, states the following about the A330-900neo order:
"The expanded widebody fleet will enhance connectivity and drive network development across key markets in ASEAN, China, India, and Australasia – strengthening Malaysia Airlines’ position as a leading premium carrier in the Asia-Pacific region."
That statement is open to interpretation- I read it as setting out that their strategic priority is to develop the network to the East of India and that they're not about to start massive expansion across destinations in Europe, Africa, the Americas, or even the Middle East. It doesn't necessarily mean that they have no intention of sending the A339 to CDG, LHR, Germany, or IST.