MAS plans route expansion within 6 hours of Kuala Lumpur

MalaysiaA Airlines (MAS) will continue to grow its footprint in the Asia-Pacific region over the coming years, with a particular focus on destinations within six hours' flight of Kuala Lumpur.

Duncan Bureau, senior vice president sales & distribution, commercial at MAS, said the airline will increase its frequencies and add new routes within South-east Asia, India and Australia.

The airline has restarted services from Kuala Lumpur to Darwin on November 1 with five-times-weekly services and plans to further increase frequencies, after having terminated services to the Northern Territory in 2002.

Duncan added that the airline’s narrow body fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft will grow from the present 39 to 55 by 2015 and the additional aircraft used to service said routes within six hours’ flight time from Kuala Lumpur.

The airline will improve aircraft utilisation by upping operations of its B737-800 fleet from the present 11.5 hours daily. This will be done by cutting its current 1.5 hour turnaround time, revealed Duncan. MAS has already raised utilisation from nine hours daily to its current rate over the past 18 months.

-TTG Asia.