KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines has reintroduced hot meals for some sectors after receiving additional equipment for in-flight food preparation.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that the airline is now bringing back their 'signature MH' dishes, such as satay, which is served in business class.
He stated that any inconveniences still faced by the national airline on other flights was deeply regrettable.
"However, Malaysia Airlines is working to fully restore the situation as soon as possible," he said in a Facebook post yesterday.
In the post, Loke also included a picture of his meal during his flight with Malaysia Airlines to Kuching to attend a Cabinet meeting and the Malaysia Day celebration last night.
Based on the shared image, the meal included satay, cake, bread, vegetable salad, and water.
Last Friday, Malaysia Airlines Bhd said they aimed to fully restore full meal services by mid-November this year.
The national airline said the reinstatement of hot meal services on domestic and international routes affected by the recent catering switch was expedited with the arrival of 10 new high-lift trucks earlier than scheduled.
Previously, it had expected to reintroduce hot food and beverage (F&B) offerings for all flights starting in the third week of September.
"Malaysia Airlines expects the arrival of 10 more high-lift trucks in the coming months while proactively enhancing and refining pre-packaged food components in the meantime," it said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Malaysia Airlines introduced a revised in-flight meal offering on routes previously served by its former catering provider.
This included peanuts and speciality drinks, packet drinks with pastries, chocolates, cookies, and pre-packaged hot meals served in disposable containers on trays.
Services on the London, Auckland, Jeddah, Madinah, Osaka, and Haneda routes continue to maintain their previous meal offerings.
Malaysia Airlines established a temporary distribution centre at KLIA to manage the collection of F&B items by their respective suppliers and transport food boxes to the aircraft via high-lift trucks.
The centre's operations are in line with standards set by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) and are certified by local health authorities for cleanliness and environment that complied with safety and food hygiene standards.
The airline's long-standing catering contract with Brahim's Food Services (BFS) ended on August 31 after negotiations between the two parties since the fourth quarter of last year did not result in a satisfactory agreement.