Malaysia Airlines will be swapping out its Airbus A380 aircraft for newer, smaller, and more efficient A350 aircraft. The Airbus A380 aircraft are huge, and Malaysia Airlines has been unable to fill all those seats due to the economic strife that it has suffered over the last few years. It’s so much easier to fill a smaller 300 seat aircraft than a larger 500 seat one. The airline has been focusing more on becoming a smaller, regional based air carrier, and reducing its longer haul routes. It will continue to operate its flagship Kuala Lumpur – London route, which will switch over from the A380 to the A350 in January, 2018.
The airline had 6 A380 aircraft, and will wind up replacing them with 6 A350-900’s from Air Lease Corporation. The first of the six was delivered to Malaysia Airlines on November 30, 2017. The airline will be the first A350-900 operator to offer First Class on the aircraft. It will be configured in a three class layout of 4 in First Class, 35 in Business Class, and 247 in Economy Class. The A350 benefits from a carbon fibre fuselage and wings, and newer fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce engines. This offers an improved operational efficiency and a 25% reduction in fuel burn and emissions.
Malaysia Airlines has been suffering from financial turmoil ever since the air carrier was rocked by the twin loss of aircraft that occurred in 2014. On 8 March 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared while enroute to Beijing, China from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Boeing 777-200ER aircraft dissappeared with the loss of all 239 on board. The aircraft was last reported heading out to sea from Penang after its computer course was changed on-board. That was followed by Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 being shot down by rebels on 17 July 2014 while flying over the Eastern Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. That aircraft was also a Boeing 777-200ER.
