Almost a decade after scrapping all flights to Europe, Malaysia Airlines is making a bold return to the continent with the launch of daily direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Paris.
The Oneworld airline’s flights to Paris will begin in March 22 2025, with travellers making the 14-hour journey on an Airbus A350; tickets are expected to go on sale later today.
No airlines currently offer non-stop between the Malaysia and French capitals; Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines are considered to hold the lion’s share of the stop-over market via their respective hubs.
Flights will initially run four times a week – Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, out of KL – from March 22, and then toggle up to a daily service from March 29.
- MH21 will depart Kuala Lumpur around 11.45pm to reach Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport at 6.40am the next morning
- MH20 will be wheels-up from Paris at 11.25am, arriving into KLIA before 7am the following day
Business class return fares from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide will start at $7,899, and from Perth at $6,999 (economy return fares are $1,699 and $1,599, respectively), with free WiFi available to all passengers.
Malaysia Airlines will continue its current twice-daily A350 service to London.
“We have been evaluating European destinations for the past few years,” Captain Izham Ismail, CEO of the Malaysia Aviation Group, remarked at a media conference held in Kuala Lumpur this morning.
Paris was a “very strong” performer, especially for “connecting Australia and New Zealand… we feel very strongly that Paris is best for our growth plan.”
“While the European market is highly competitive, we see tremendous potential for this route to attract key travellers, not just from Malaysia but also from neighbouring regions.”
Although there’s been speculation that Madrid and Milan could follow, “and we have candidates for Europe which we continue to evaluate, in 2025 it is very unlikely we will have another European route,” Ismail added.
The Paris-bound aircraft will be one of Malaysia Airlines’ original A350s, which sport a former first class cabin rebranded as Business Suites along with 35 standard business class seats.
Malaysia Airlines’ A350 business suites (left) and business class (right)
The KL-based airline intends to upgrade its A350 fleet with doored business class suites beginning in early 2026.
Malaysia Airlines’ new A330neo and A350 business class.
These will be the same high-privacy berths which will debut on the factory-fresh A330neo fleet from October.
Malaysia Airlines’ new A330neo and A350 business class.
Malaysia Airlines expects to have three A330neos by the end of 2024, and the full complement of 20 in its hangers by the end of 2026; CEO Ismail has previously indicated the carrier is conducting a follow-up order beyond those initial 20 jets.
David Flynn travelled to Kuala Lumpur as a guest of Malaysia Airlines