KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd (MAG) is planning to increase its aircraft capacity by an additional 15%, on top of the 20% of pre-Covid-19 level capacity projected for this month, in light of Malaysian borders reopening.
The airline group expects that by the end of the year, capacity would reach 70% of pre-Covid-19 levels, said MAG group chief executive officer Izham Ismail.
MAG is the parent company of Malaysia Airlines Bhd.
Izham said that with the trend of higher demand (inbound) coming from India, the United Kingdom and Europe into Malaysia, the airline is looking at eventually reaching 80% capacity.
“Looking ahead until the middle of this year, it has been encouraging…of course the conflict in Europe as well as the impact of high oil prices, those factors come into play, but in the context of movement, it has been encouraging.
“Our domestic business is just like our competitors in Malaysia, we are also looking at very high load factors moving between Sabah and Sarawak,” he told reporters after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Malaysia Airlines Bhd and Perbadanan Kemajuan Kraftangan Malaysia here today.
He said the airline group has seen bookings picking up in the last couple of weeks since the government announced the reopening of the country’s borders on April 1.
Meanwhile, in her speech, Kraftangan Malaysia director-general Aididah Ibrahim said the MoU is aimed at promoting and marketing local handicraft products through several initiatives that will benefit handicraft entrepreneurs as well as national airline customers, through Malaysia Airlines’ digital platform Journify.
Journify is an e-commerce platform developed by Malaysia Airlines to facilitate tourists in finding shopping locations, places to eat, tours and other information of interest on Malaysia.
“Starting February 22, 2022, Kraftangan Malaysia through Syarikat Pemasaran Karyaneka Sdn Bhd has participated in the Journify application and until now a total of 63 units of handicraft products have been uploaded to be promoted and marketed,” she said.
She said that among the product categories were textile crafts, forest products, metal products, land products, and various handicrafts, comprising fashion and accessories, home decor, corporate souvenirs and tourism products.
“This number will be increased gradually until it reaches the mutually agreed target of 100 units,” she added. – Bernama, April 4, 2022
