KUALA LUMPUR: British Airways is strengthening its network in Southeast Asia starting with the resumption of flights to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok this year.
British Airways chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Sean Doyle said its return to Malaysia and Thailand signify a big step for the airline as its ambitions is to expand its footprint in the region.
"It's very important for a global carrier like us to expand our network in Asia as quickly as we could. As more aircraft come on stream in the next couple of years, we'll certainly look East as well as looking West as we expand," he said.
Doyle was speaking at oneworld alliance briefing during the International Air Transport Association (IATA) 80th annual general meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit recently.
British Airways will return to Kuala Lumpur on Nov 10 with daily flights from London Heathrow using its Boeing B787-9 aircraft while its thrice weekly Bangkok flight will resume from Oct 28 from Gatwick Airport using the B777-200ERs (extended range).
The airline axed Kuala Lumpur from its route network in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic after resuming direct flights in May 2015. Prior to 2015, the carrier last flown to Malaysia's capital in 2001.
British Airways expects to receive six B787-10 aircraft, which was converted from options into firm orders by the carrier's parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG) in July 2023.
The planes are slated to be delivered between 2025 and 2026.
IAG also added another six B787-10 options into British Airways' order book.
The airline also has an orderbook of 18 B777-9s with options for another 24 and three Airbus A350-1000s with an option for 10 aircraft.
In March this year, British Airways announced a £7 billion (RM42 billion) transformation plan, which included new aircraft and cabins, improved customer service and operational performance, sustainability efforts, as well as new website and mobile app.
The plan also included new First Class suite and new premium airport lounges for the airline to bounce back to its heydays of being one of the world's best airline.
Doyle said British Airways is seeing improvements in its service and operations, particularly on its on-time performance (OTP).
"We're making very good progress. We've also rolled out a number of customer benefits such as free WiFi messaging and improvements in catering. We've announced the opening up of routes in Lagos, Dubai and Miami."
"So, very encouraging progress we're making but there's a lot more to come," Doyle said.