FLEET DEVELOPMENTS: Malaysia Airlines to Introduce A380 on London Route

Malaysia Airlines has revealed that London is likely to be the first scheduled destination to see passenger Airbus A380 services as the carrier has modified its GDS inventory, displaying the type on the Kuala Lumpur – London Heathrow route from July 2012. It appears that the Super Jumbo will initially be used on three rotations per week from July 2 but will increase to a daily schedule from August 15, most likely following the arrival of a second aircraft.

Malaysia Airlines has six A380s on order and will configure the Rolls-Royce Trent 900-powered aircraft in a three class 503-seat configuration offering capacity for eight passengers in First Class, 52 in Business Class and 443 in Economy. Alongside London, it is also expected to use the aircraft on its Amsterdam and Sydney routes, all of which are operated on at least a daily basis.

Malaysia Airlines uses its Boeing 747-400s, currently its largest aircraft, on the twice daily Kuala Lumpur – London Heathrow route, while a mix of 747s and 777s are used on the other two flights. It carried an estimated 152,000 O&D passengers to/from London in the past year; approximately 47,000 to/from Amsterdam and 121,000 to/from Sydney.

It is the sole operator on the London and Sydney routes, although AirAsia X does provide indirect competition to London, albeit serving Gatwick Airport. KLM also offers a daily schedule on the Kuala Lumpur – Amsterdam route, but Malaysia Airlines dominates with a 53 per cent share of the traffic.