Malaysia Airlines (MAB) announced that it has temporarily ceased offering a checked baggage service on flights to Amsterdam and Paris due to "safety reasons".
According to the airline, unseasonably strong headwinds have limited MAB’s ability to carry baggage in cargo and are forcing the carrier to consume more jet fuel. It should however be noted that no other carrier has instituted restrictions on checked baggage for flights to Europe thus far.
Effective immediately (until further notice), economy passengers will only be able to take a single piece of carry-on luggage (7kg), while business and first class passengers will be able to bring two pieces of baggage on board totalling 14kg.
Passengers are technically still able to check in their baggage, however, MAB has warned that the luggage will arrive at a later date.
The airline has also highlighted that due to the current operational constraints, connecting passengers transferring onto other Oneworld member carriers with through check-in may also have their baggage offloaded.
A380 flights to London are unaffected by the temporary baggage policy change
MAB’s flights to London will continue to offer checked baggage service, as the services are operated by the Airbus A380 and the size of the aircraft allows for it to be unaffected by the weight restrictions. Flights to Amsterdam and Paris are served by the smaller B777, which will soon be retired (see here).
Passengers that wish to change their travel dates during the affected period may do so, but applicable change fee and fare difference will apply.
Update: Malaysia Airlines has since confirmed that the baggage restrictions have been lifted. According to the airline's official Twitter account: "Baggage allowance restriction for all flights to EU has been uplifted. Flight operation is back to normal."
For more information, visit malaysiaairlines.com
Clement Huang
