Malaysia Airlines to reactivate B747 for London route ?

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  • Anonymous
    Guest

    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    Fans of the B747 may soon have the opportunity to once again fly this iconic aircraft to Kuala Lumpur from London Heathrow.

    Malaysia Airlines is short of aircraft capable of flying non-stop between Kuala Lumpur and Europe.

    Its B747s were retired from active service some time ago while its B777-200s were recently withdrawn when the carrier axed its Amsterdam/Frankfurt/Paris CDG routes.

    Although Malaysia Airlines has a fleet of six A380s, four of these are rostered for the London route while the other two operate pilgrim flights to Saudi Arabla.

    But now Malaysia Airlines finds that its A380s must undergo scheduled maintenance starting next month.

    Initially it was thought that the airline would have to cancel a number of flights to London while the A380s were out of service.

    But reports now suggest that one of the carrier’s B747-400s (currentlly parked at KUL) will be restored to service to temporarily
    replace one of the out-of-service A380s.

    Dutch aviation website luchtvaartnieuws.nl [NL] says this is a “striking” move because the B747 was replaced by the A380 on the London route back in 2012.

    Judging by the photo shown on China Aviation Daily, Malaysia Airlines is currently painting this B747-400 is a retro livery from the 1970s.

    http://www.chinaaviationdaily.com/news/51/51435.html

    http://www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl/nieuws/categorie/2/airlines/malaysia-airlines-brengt-boeing-747-terug-in-dienst

    At the time of writing it was unclear which, if any, flights this B747-400
    will be operating to London.

    And neither is it clear whether or not Malaysia Airlines will be updating the onboard accommodation on the B747-400..


    Mazin26
    Participant

    I wonder if the planes are still fuel efficient enough in this day and age and are the cabins noise on par with the new Airbus and Boeing. Points for trying though as MAS used to be my favourite airline back in the day and there was a time when the KUL-LHR sector was always full twice a day and the planes was 747-400


    JohnHarper
    Participant

    Wouldn’t it be more likely that a 744 was configured with a high density lay out and used for Hadj flights and the A380s continue to serve London?


    Mazin26
    Participant

    I think SAUDIA used to configure the 741 for Haj and Umrah flights. It was a single class plane


    EU_Flyer
    Participant

    JohnHarper – 20/03/2016 14:00 GMT

    +1

    Why annoy all those customers to/from London expecting an A380?


    Mazin26
    Participant

    I guess it is like the MH370 flight, no one will really know the answer to that Alex_Fly


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    But if this B747 were intended for pilgrim flights then why go to the expense and trouble of a retro livery ?


    cityprofessional
    Participant

    Arguably it’s an improvement vs the A380 in First (in the nose) and in Economy (well, 2 inches extra legroom)

    I guess they could offer Business passengers to change to the other London flight if they preferred the A380


    Mazin26
    Participant

    True that AMcWhirter why go through all the trouble. Any comments from MAS themselves?

    cityprofessional why do you say its an improvement?


    cityprofessional
    Participant

    747 is an improvement over the A380 because there was more legroom in economy, and more window seats/less disturbance from staff/galleys in the nose for first

    Arguably the two smaller business cabins (incl upper deck) are more intimate than the dormitory on the A380, although seats weren’t fully flat

    The IFE screen quality is not so good, but to be honest MH never paid much money for content, so you’re not missing anything. Bring a book…


    DerekVH
    Participant

    I would not agree that the 747 would be an improvement for First Class. They may of course change the seating/layout but the MH 747 was very open with 12 seats whereas the 380 has only 8 very spacious private suites.


    Mazin26
    Participant

    Well I think IFE back in 1996 (the last time I sat in an MAS 744) was good enough and today’s 777 IFE’s are not much different. So regular MAS customers won’t miss much.


    SimonS1
    Participant

    I always find it strange that when planes are recommissioned the airline is more preoccupied with how the outside looks rather than the inside!


    LetsFlyNow
    Participant

    I read on Wikipedia ( yea,i know not so reliable) that MAS has 21 aircraft in storage/ parked. I’d assume that one has to be a norm. config 747 that they’d use for LHR routes and not just the high density ones used for Hajj trips.

    It’s not like there’s been a huge market for the 747s and it’s only in the last year that with falling oil prices, airlines decided to keep them abit longer in service. I bet many airlines have theirs parked somewhere without a buyer.

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