Malaysia Airlines has announced the launch of flights to Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris, marking the airline’s return to the French capital after more than nine years.
This route, which will commence on 22 March 2025, represents Malaysia Airlines’ 68th destination.
The service will operate four weekly flights, operating from Kuala Lumpur international Airport Terminal 1 using the A350-900 aircraft, and starting daily flights a week later from 29 March 2025. The airline already utilises the A350-900 on key routes like London, Doha and Tokyo.
It was reported that Malaysia Airlines stopped flights to Paris, and Amsterdam in Netherlands back in January 2016, as part of its phasing out strategy for its B777 fleet at the time. Termination for the Paris flights at the time ended a route that Malaysia Airlines had served for 35 years since 1981.
Datuk Captain Izham Ismail, Group Managing Director of Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), said, “Our expansion into Europe marks a significant milestone for Malaysia Airlines. With the arrival of additional widebody aircraft starting this Quarter 4, we are ready to bring this long-awaited city back into our network. While the European market is highly competitive, we see tremendous potential for this route to attract key travellers, not just from Malaysia but also from neighbouring regions”.
20% of flight capacity suspended till December 2024
The launch of its Paris flights is good news for Malaysia Airlines as it went under the spotlight in recent weeks amid flight delays and rerouting, which culminated in the carrier cancelling some flights and reducing flight frequencies till December 2024, involving 20% of its capacity.
This exercise affected services across three airlines — Malaysia Airlines, Firefly and Amal — within Malaysia, as well as Southeast Asia, North Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Greater China, South Asia and the Middle East.
MAG said that its decision to cut capacity was made proactively in response to challenges such as supply chain disruptions, global shortages of spare parts, and delays in new aircraft deliveries, which in turn impacted its fleet planning.
The Malay Mail reported that the airline expects to receive five new Airbus A330neo aircraft in 2025, with the first arriving in October instead of September.
The A330neo, Airbus’ next-generation wide-body aircraft, is set to gradually replace the airline’s A330-200 and A330-300 models. MAG has placed orders for 20 A330neos, which are expected to enter the fleet in stages until 2028.
In addition, MAG also placed an order for eight new Boeing 737-8 aircraft. However, as of August 29, 2024, the airline had only received four of the 13 Boeing aircraft it was scheduled to receive this year.
Despite these challenges, MAG remains committed to modernising its fleet and improving its services. It said the introduction of the Airbus A330neo is expected to provide passengers with a more comfortable and fuel-efficient experience, which MAB hopes will boost its reliability and competitiveness.
Experts believe that while MAG can recover from its operational challenges in the coming months, more must be done to ensure its sustainability in the long-run.
