KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines Bhd will finally resume flights to the United States in March 2025 under a codeshare partnership with American Airlines.
According to AeroRoutes, Malaysia Airlines will operate the Kuala Lumpur (Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 1) - Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) route while American Airlines will operate Paris CDG - United States routes starting 22 March next year.
The routes include Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Dallas Forth Worth International Airport, Miami International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) Internarional Airport.
Both Malaysia Airlines and American Airlines are members of oneworld alliance.
Malaysia Airlines, an airline unit of Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), flew to several destinations in the United States since the 1980s including to Los Angeles and New York.
The national carrier axed United States routes in its network in 2014 as part of its business restructuring plan.
Malaysia Airlines used to fly to Los Angeles via Taipei until 2012 and then via Tokyo until 2014, and to New York Newark Liberty International Airport via Dubai until 2004 and then via Stockholm until 2014.
In November 2019, Malaysia was downgraded by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Category 2 from Category 1.
The downgrade was due to Malaysia's failure to comply with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards for safety matters, which includes lack of technical expertise, trained personnel and inspection procedures.
Any airline from a Category 2 status country is prohibited from applying to fly to new routes in the United States.
However in October 2022, the United States FAA upgrade Malaysia's IASA rating to Category 1 as the country complies with the ICAO standards.
The FAA said the Category 1 upgrade follows a thorough review of Malaysia's progress in improving its aviation safety oversight processes.
The FAA's IASA program focuses on a country's ability to adhere to international aviation safety standards and recommended practices.
The standards are set by ICAO, the United Nation's technical agency for aviation.
In September this year, Malaysia Airlines announced its return to Paris from Kuala Lumpur starting 22 March 2025 using Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
The airline will serve the European route four times weekly and increase to daily service from 29 March 2025.