After studies on which new large aircraft to order, the Malaysia Airlines seems to have chosen the Airbus A330neo to compose its long-haul fleet.
For two months Malaysia had no preference as to which aircraft would replace its aging fleet of Airbus A330s. The company was looking for a new aircraft that was more economical and could fly further.
The company already has Airbus A350 aircraft in its fleet, with six aircraft of this type in the fleet. Choosing an Airbus aircraft is a 'natural' issue, as the company operates aircraft from the manufacturer including the previous version of the A330.
Malaysia also evaluated the Boeing 787, which should have its deliveries resumed later this week, the only Boeing aircraft that the company operates is the 737-800.
In 2017, the Malaysian flag carrier had an initial deal valued at $2,25 billion for eight Boeing 787 aircraft, but the deal never continued and the reason for it was also unclear.
The Airbus A330neo was also chosen for financial reasons, such as crew training. In addition, the operating costs of the A330neo are lower than those of the A350, and it is also the aircraft most used by the company for international flights, so the investment in the A350 would not be as efficient.
The factor that also weighed in the choice was the time for the delivery of the aircraft, the Airbus A350 would take a few years, even being faster than the Boeing 787, the Airbus A330neo has the fastest delivery with greater availability of slots.
Malaysia also took advantage of the conditions to use the slots left by AirAsia, which withdrew orders for the A330neo. The company should formalize the order next week and also provide further details.
With information from Simple flying
