KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines has reiterated that it has a firm order of 25 Boeing 737 aircraft with everything else being optional.
The funding for the 25 aircraft is planned on a sale-and-operating leaseback or simple operational lease, the national carrier said yesterday.
Malaysia Airlines said it had made 25 firm orders for the 737-MAX8 aircraft and 25 options last year, citing that the aircraft were ordered as pure replacements for existing planes, beginning from 2019.
“The 737 MAX aircraft has been designed to offer customers exceptional performance, flexibility and efficiency, with lower per-seat costs and an extended range that will open up new destinations,” it said.
Malaysia Airlines currently has 54 aircraft in its fleet of 737-800 with 48 operating. Six of the aircraft are being handed back to lessors in December 2017 and are currently going through a lease return maintenance programme.
“In 2018, we will operate 44 737-800 aircraft daily, with three in maintenance and one available spare. The 48 operating aircraft in the 737-800 fleet start reaching end of lease from early 2019,” it said.
In June 2017, Malaysia Airlines entered into a new agreement with Boeing to allow it to choose new larger 737-MAX10 aircraft for 10 out of the previous firm order of 25 737-MAX8.
“With this agreement, we can decide to take either the MAX8 or MAX10. The MAX10 aircraft are expected to commence delivery in early 2021,” it said.
The airline added that a recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would potentially add eight of the widebody Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft to its fleet. This is to add capacity to its widebody fleet and provide a high level of quality on its most lucrative routes.
“The options and various arrangements including the recent MoU with Boeing, will allow us to have some flexibility in deciding, which aircraft suits our operational environment best,” it said.
Malaysia Airlines said the eight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft have a list price of US$2.5 billion (RM10.50 billion) and it would negotiate extensively to ensure the best value on confirmation of order.
It said if the order is confirmed, the initial 787-9 Dreamliner deliveries are planned for operating Asian services, citing that the growth of the Malaysian economy and the increasing globalisation would allow these aircraft to commence new long haul services from 2020 onwards if sufficient profitable demand exists.
Malaysia Airlines said it would continue to carefully evaluate all options available to ensure its purchases make both business and operational sense.
“This is necessary and in line with ongoing prudent fleet management and cost containment efforts across the group,” it noted.