Malaysia Airlines welcomes its first Airbus A330neo (A330-900) which marks a new milestone in the airlines’ fleet modernisation exercise. The highly anticipated widebody aircraft with the registration number 9M-MNG, arrived at KLIA this evening with a specular escort.
The A330neo’s delivery flight MH5039, departed from Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse, France at 8.52pm 28 November 2024 local time and it arrived home at KLIA at 4.52pm 29 November 2024.
Before arriving at KLIA, it was escorted by Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighter jet and performed a spectacular flypast, offering plane spotters an extraordinary sight. Upon arrival, the aircraft was greeted with a water salute.
The delivery flight from Toulouse had a flight time of 13 hours and it was piloted by Captain Khairul Syukri Khalid, Captain Azim Sham Che Din, Captain Zainuddin Hussein and Captain Najwan Reshan Nahdan Rengganathan.
The newly arrived A330-900 is the first of 20 aircraft leased from Avolon via Malaysia Aviation Group. The new widebody aircraft from Airbus features improved Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines and new aerodynamic wing design which will help improve operation efficiency while reducing fuel consumption and emissions by up to 25%.
As reported earlier, the new A330neo aircraft will be delivered in stages and gradually replace the airlines’ existing A330 fleet.
The new Malaysia Airlines A330neo will feature all-new economy cabin with 269 seats and all-new business class cabin with 28 seats featuring sliding privacy doors and wireless charging pods.
The new A330neo will be deployed for routes in Asia Pacific and selected routes in the Middle East. MAG is the 20th to operate the A330neo globally and Airbus has delivered over 140 units of the aircraft worldwide.
So far there are no details yet on the A330neo’s first commercial flight. The aircraft was previously expected to arrive in Q3 2024 and first flight to Melbourne was previously set for 25th November 2024.