• Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 Getty
    Malaysia Airlines
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    MH/MAS
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Kuala Lumpur International Airport
    Year Founded:
    May 1st, 1947
    Alliance:
    oneworld
    CEO:
    Izham Ismail
    Country:
    Malaysia

In this week's least surprising news, Malaysia Airlines hasn't managed to offload any of its six A380s after advertising them for sale online. The Kuala Lumpur-based airline has had the planes for sale since July last year and has periodically plugged them ever since to potential buyers on mainstream and social media platforms. But there aren't many people in the market for a used A380 these days.

Reported nibbles but no takers for Malaysia Airlines A380s

Malaysia Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer Captain Izham Ismail spoke to media at the Aviation Festival Asia 2022 in Singapore this week. He confirmed the airline's six Airbus A380-800s remain grounded and, while declining to discuss details, said talks regarding their sale remained ongoing.

"We are in conversations with potential buyers. There are inquiries, and that remains confidential," he said.

Malaysia Airlines only took its first A380 in May 2012 - just over ten years ago. The remaining jumbos arrived relatively swiftly, with the last delivered in March 2013. There were grand plans for the A380 at the airline, including using them to position Malaysia Airlines as a top-tier premium long-haul carrier.

But the plane never really made its mark at Malaysia Airlines. The A380 did decent business flying the seasonal Hajj charters and operating Umrah flights to Jeddah and Medina. Malaysia Airlines also scheduled the plane on regular runs to London (LHR), Sydney (SYD), and Seoul (ICN). However, the A380 never lived up to expectations at Malaysia Airlines.

Malaysia Airlines Airbus A380-800 Inflight With Blue sky Backdrop
The A380s size and engines give it a different noise profile. Photo: Getty Images

A case of bad timing for Malaysia Airlines' A380s.

The fundamental problem for Malaysia Airlines was that the A380s arrived too late to capture the wave of early 2000s tourism into Southeast Asia. In the time between ordering the planes and taking delivery of them, the market and its operational economics had substantially changed. Malaysia Airlines essentially bought six enormous and costly white elephants.

The onset of COVID-19 promptly saw the A380s grounded, and they've stayed that way ever since. Early in 2021, rumors began circulating Malaysia Airlines was looking to offload its A380s. The rumors proved true when Malaysia Airlines issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) in July asking for bids on the six A380s. The initial deadline for bids was mid-August. That deadline came and went, with all six A380s staying put at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL).

What was potentially a relatively dull business-to-business transaction hit the headlines when Malaysia Airlines began spruiking the planes on their social media channels. There were estimates the Malaysia Airlines A380s could be sold for a rock bottom US$100 million each, but still no takers.

Signs of life at Malaysia Airlines

However, all is not lost at Malaysia Airlines. Malaysia is re-opened to international tourists, and they are starting to return. Malaysians are also on the move. Both markets are helping fill planes at Malaysia Airlines, albeit not their A380s and still not at pre-pandemic levels. Captain Ismail says the airline has held onto all of its employees and except for the jumbos, its entire fleet is operational across the various Malaysia Airlines Group brands. Capacity is now running at around 50% of pre-pandemic levels, which is better than forecasted as recently as two months ago, and that figure is expected to hit 76% by the end of 2022.

Meanwhile, if you still have a lazy one hundred mill to spare after this week's sharemarket crash and are in the market for an eye-catching plane, you know who to reach out to.

Source: The Malay Mail