Malaysia Airlines has temporarily grounded its brand new Airbus A330neo after completing four commercial flights. Business Times reported that the aircraft had faced a series of technical issues since its inaugural flight to Melbourne on 19th December 2024.
Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) Managing Director Datuk Captain Izham Ismail told Business Times that three technical issues related to the quality level of factory production and delivery level had been identified. He was quoted saying that Malaysia Airlines has suffered a series of technical issues arising from poor quality work from the factory and this has impacted Malaysia Airlines’ inaugural flight.
He said the aircraft is currently grounded for repairs and he urged Airbus and Rolls-Royce to investigate the root cause of these issues on the brand new aircraft. He added that OEMs must be held accountable and the fact that this is happening to a brand-new aircraft is not acceptable.
Expressing his disappointment, Izham elaborated that the root cause is coming from the factory and it is affecting the reputation and brand of Malaysia Airlines, which is unfair. He emphasised that safety is paramount and they will not risk anything on safety.
He also told Business Times that the situation was also unfair to the travellers who have paid to fly Malaysia Airlines with their new A330neo especially now when it is peak holiday season.
According to Flightaware, the new A330neo with the registration 9M-MNG had flown two return trips between Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne. The last recorded flight was MH148 which departed from Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport on Saturday 15:10 local time and arrived in KLIA at 20:20.
Unfortunately, yesterday’s (21st December) evening flight MH149 from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne was cancelled.
According to the airline’s current flight listing, they will be flying two MH149 flights from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne using its larger Airbus A350 aircraft.
From the looks of it, the airline has still scheduled to use the Airbus A330neo for the KL to Melbourne flight (MH149) tomorrow, 23rd December 2024 at 22:30.
Malaysia Airlines has faced a series of aircraft delivery delays from both Airbus and Boeing which has impacted its fleet modernisation plans. Initially, the flag carrier was supposed to receive three A330neo by the end of this year and the first aircraft was supposed to arrive in Q3 2024. MAG has placed orders for 20 Airbus A330neo which are leased via Avolon.
Malaysia Airlines has taken delivery of its 5th Boeing 737-8 last week. In total, Malaysia Airlines is expected to receive 25 new 737-8 and the first aircraft commenced commercial service back in November 2023.
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