Malaysia Airlines has become the first airline to offer a first-class cabin on Airbus’s A350-900 widebody aircraft.
The Malaysian flag carrier took delivery of its first of six A350s today from lease company Air Lease Corporation, ahead of the aircraft’s deployment on its Kuala Lumpur-London Heathrow route on January 15 next year.
A total of four first class seats (pictured above) are available in the three-class aircraft, alongside 35 business (pictured below) and 247 economy class seats. The first class seats use Thompson Aero Seating’s Vantage XL design, while business class features the same Vantage seating that appears in business class on the airline’s A330s.
“We are very excited to welcome this new addition to our family,” said Malaysia Airlines’ CEO, Izham Ismail. “With its technological advancements, the A350-900 is an important milestone for us on this journey, helping boost our competitiveness on our long-haul flights. The addition of the A350-900 also underlines our commitment to operate a young and modern fleet.”
Malaysia Airlines will be deploying the aircraft on its regional routes starting next month, ahead of its long-haul debut on the carrier’s London route in January, which will kick off once the airline has its second A350 (the route requires two aircraft in order to operate at Malaysia Airlines’ current schedule). The carrier currently operates two daily flights on the route, both operated by A380s, with the second service due to get the aircraft in March.
Travellers looking to experience the aircraft before then can see the A350 on the following routes from December 9 to January 14: Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok (MH782/MH783), Kuala Lumpur-Penang (MH1140/MH1145) and Kuala Lumpur-Singapore (MH613/MH616).
