SINGAPORE – Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd (MAG) has yet to make a decision on its Airbus A380-800 superjumbos that are still up for sale, its group chief executive officer Capt Izham Ismail said.
“We are in conversations with potential buyers. There are inquiries and that remains confidential,” he told reporters when asked about the status of the group’s six A380-800 aircraft.
Izham was met on the sidelines of Aviation Festival Asia 2022 where he was one of the panellists speaking on a topic titled “Flying with confidence – what’s next for airlines in Asia?”
MAG, the parent of national carrier Malaysia Airlines, had on July 12, 2021, issued a tender notice for interested parties to acquire its A380 aircraft and/or components.
The sale follows the group’s decision to retire its A380 fleet, post a restructuring exercise that was completed in March 2021.
The group is following the due process in evaluating submissions by prospective bidders and expects to complete the exercise in the fourth quarter of 2021.
MAG’s wholly owned unit, MAB Pesawat Sdn Bhd, is tasked with conducting an open tender for the sale of the aircraft and/or its components whereby interested parties should submit their proposals by August 12, 2021.
Izham said all six superjumbos were currently grounded.
Asked about manpower crunch in the aviation industry globally, Izham said it has somewhat affected airlines to increase their capacity.
He said some international airports were facing a shortage of resources and thus airlines could not raise capacity even if they had airplanes.
“Some airlines have put their aircraft on long-term parking (during the pandemic) and now they are bringing them back. It is not overnight as it takes 30-90 days to bring it to service. Those are the challenges that airlines are facing,” he said.
“Malaysia Airlines is fortunate to have a very collective decision not to retrench our people during the pandemic. What we did was we reduced senior executive salaries to support the lower incomes… everybody is intact with us.
“We knew rather how bad (the situation was), we need them when the pandemic is over. We didn’t let go of anybody. Malaysia Airlines is under control. We have pilots… we have got everything,” he said.
Izham said the group “is communicating with the airport operator aggressively. MAHB (Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd)… we are quite close together.”
He noted that MAG had also made a “very cautious decision that we didn’t want to put our aircraft on a long-term parking.”
Izham said the group currently has a fleet of 102 planes, of which Malaysia Airlines has 87, while the balance is operating under MASwings and Firefly’s brands.
“Malaysia Airlines is not a big airline. All our fleets are actually flying… it has been flying even during the pandemic,” he said.
Izham said the airline aims for its capacity to be about 76% by year-end.
“We are now looking at 50% (capacity). Today, Malaysia Airlines’ passengers flown is 30% better than our forecast,” he added.
In April, it was reported that MAG was planning to increase its aircraft capacity by an additional 15% on top of the 20% of the pre-Covid-19 level projected for the month, in light of Malaysian borders reopening on April 1. – Bernama, June 14, 2022
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