Malaysia Airlines has announced plans to expand its long haul network, which is something we haven’t otherwise seen the airline do in recent years.
Malaysia Airlines adds Kuala Lumpur to Paris route
As of March 22, 2025, Malaysia Airlines will launch a new service between Kuala Lumpur (KUL) and Paris (CDG). The route will operate 4x weekly for the first week, and will then start operating daily. The service will have the following schedule:
MH21 Kuala Lumpur to Paris departing 11:40PM arriving 6:40AM (+1 day)
MH20 Paris to Kuala Lumpur departing 11:25AM arriving 6:10AM (+1 day)
The 6,492-mile flight is blocked at 13hr westbound and 12hr40min eastbound. Malaysia Airlines will use the Airbus A350-900 for the route, featuring 286 seats. This is comprised of four business class “plus” seats, 35 business class seats, and 247 economy seats.
Malaysia Airlines’ Paris service represents a route resumption, as it was last served in early 2016. Paris will be the oneworld carrier’s 68th destination. Currently the carrier’s only other service in Europe is to London (LHR), which it serves twice daily. Back in the day the airline also served Amsterdam (AMS) and Frankfurt (FRA), but there are no indications of that service returning.
Here’s how Datuk Captain Izham Ismail, the Managing Director of Malaysia Airlines Group, describes this new service:
“Our expansion into Europe marks a significant milestone for Malaysia Airlines. With the arrival of additional widebody aircraft starting this Quarter 4, we are ready to bring this long-awaited city back into our network. While the European market is highly competitive, we see tremendous potential for this route to attract key travellers, not just from Malaysia but also from neighbouring regions.”
“By launching direct services from Kuala Lumpur to Paris, we reaffirm our position as the flagship airline and strengthen our role as the gateway to Asia and beyond. This route will be served by our state-of-the-art A350-900 aircraft, which already operates on key routes like London and Doha, delivering a world-class travel experience to our passengers.”
Malaysia Airlines’ long haul struggles
Malaysia Airlines has had a really rough decade, so it’s nice to see things slowly moving in the right direction. To recap the challenges:
- In 2014, the airline had two Boeing 777s crash (including the mystery of MH370, plus MH17 being shot down), and the carrier’s reputation really tanked after that
- While Malaysia Airlines had started taking delivery of Airbus A380s in 2012, this turned up to be “too much plane” for the airline, and the carrier kept switching strategies with the jet, and the planes spent years parked, before formally retiring the fleet during the pandemic
- For years, Malaysia Airlines’ only modern, operational long haul aircraft were a fleet of six Airbus A350-900s, which isn’t exactly a whole lot to work with
- Throughout this time, the government of Malaysia basically gave the airline enough money to avoid liquidation, but not enough to run the airline successfully
Fortunately things are slowly starting to look up at the airline, in my opinion. Malaysia Airlines will soon start taking delivery of modern new Airbus A330-900neos, the carrier is introducing new premium products, and Malaysia Airlines has started flying to Doha, which is a smart place to funnel passengers through.
Bottom line
Malaysia Airlines will finally be returning to Paris, as the carrier commences daily flights from Kuala Lumpur as of March 2025, using Airbus A350s. Malaysia Airlines’ long haul fleet has been limited for many years, so I guess the upcoming delivery of some Airbus A330-900neos will free up aircraft that can be used for this service.
I wish Malaysia Airlines luck on this route. While the airline has a monopoly on this specific route, the Europe to Southeast Asia (and beyond) market is incredibly competitive…
What do you make of Malaysia Airlines resuming Paris flights?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.