Malaysia Airlines To Order More Aircraft

Malaysia Airlines is preparing to boost its fleet through a prospective new aircraft order and the continued delivery of next-gen planes.

The carrier says it will take delivery of up to seven Boeing 737 MAX jets in the next few months, all of which will be the middle ground -8 variant.

Thanks to these latest deliveries, the carrier hopes to have 11 MAX jets in its fleet by year’s end.

These expectations come thanks to revised forecasting and delivery dates at Boeing, which is behind in producing and delivering MAX jets to customers worldwide.

Malaysia Airlines, like most other customers, is working closely with the American manufacturer to find ways to mitigate the overall impact because of the delays.

Some airlines have sought compensation, and others have switched aircraft orders to other variants to get planes sooner. Malaysia Airlines believes that all things considered, it’s working diligently to overcome the impact of output delays.

Despite this diligence, the airline is also frustrated by the delays and has made that clear several times. However, the airline looks at the delivery timeframe it’s aware this could be optimised far more, but this cannot happen currently.

Malaysia Airlines is looking to add additional single-aisle jets to boost its fleet and, crucially, double its commitment to narrowbody planes, further to the 737 MAX delivery timeframe.

When speaking with Business Insider, the chief of MAG discussed the upcoming issuing of a request for proposals to leading manufacturers. These RFPs are expected to be launched toward the conclusion of the 2024 calendar year as the airline continues to review performance and market demands.

Malaysia Airlines, therefore, joins a host of others looking to secure delivery slots sooner rather than later as popular aircraft types begin being sold out through to the 2030s.

Adding other aircraft already on order, such as the Airbus A330neo, which will commence scheduled passenger flights with the airline in the coming months, is an important step in the right direction.

While commitments to the widebody exist, the airline believes that a new purchase could certainly enhance its single-aisle fleet of next-gen aircraft.