Malaysia Airlines is looking to lease widebody planes to boost its network from next year and will make a decision on a order of new planes for delivery from 2019 later this year, the carrier’s chief executive said.
Peter Bellew said load factors – or how full its planes are – were 81 per cent in January and 80 per cent in February and that bookings for April, May and June were looking solid.
“My problem now is I don’t have enough seats and I don’t have big enough aircraft,” Mr Bellew said in London on the sidelines of a meeting with an unnamed airline to discuss options to lease planes.
The national carrier is emerging from a turnaround after twin tragedies since 2014, when flight MH370 disappeared in what remains a mystery, and flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine.
He said Malaysia Airlines wanted to lease six A330s or 777s for use from 2018 and a further six for 2019 and that the carrier saw a good chance to get some good rates.
“Some airlines in the Middle East and Turkey have grounded aircraft so it’s a good time for Malaysia Airlines to be looking for these type of aircraft,” Mr Bellew said.
He also said he planned to make a decision on an order for 25 to 30 new A330neo or 787 widebody planes by the end of the first half of this year to replace its A330s from the end of 2019.
The 787 would allow it to resume non-stop flights to Europe, but the pricing of either jet is not yet where Malaysia would like it to be, he said.
The restrictions announced this week on bringing larger consumer electronic devices into plane cabins on some routes from Middle East and North African countries could also push some carriers to cancel aircraft orders, Mr Bellew said, saying that it could impact business travel bookings.
“If you’re not getting the business class seats filled up, you will end up not operating flights over time and then you won’t need as many planes,” he said.
Mr Bellew said he expected the restrictions to create chaos for the first few days, but also impact demand for travel to the United States.
“In a strange way, it could benefit us. There is no hassle coming to Malaysia,” he added.
* Reuters
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Day 3, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Lahiru Gamage, the Sri Lanka pace bowler, has had to play a lot of cricket to earn a shot at the top level. The 29-year-old debutant first played a first-class game 11 years ago. His first Test wicket was one to savour, bowling Pakistan opener Shan Masood through the gate. It set the rot in motion for Pakistan’s batting.
Stat of the day – 73 Haris Sohail took 73 balls to hit a boundary. Which is a peculiar quirk, given the aggressive intent he showed from the off. Pakistan’s batsmen were implored to attack Rangana Herath after their implosion against his left-arm spin in Abu Dhabi. Haris did his best to oblige, smacking the second ball he faced for a huge straight six.
The verdict One year ago, when Pakistan played their first day-night Test at this ground, they held a 222-run lead over West Indies on first innings. The away side still pushed their hosts relatively close on the final night. With the opposite almost exactly the case this time around, Pakistan still have to hope they can salvage a win from somewhere.
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● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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UAE - India ties
The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China
Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion
The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India
Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015
His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016
Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017
Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25