Given the country’s distant location in Asia, long-haul air routes play an important role in keeping Malaysia connected on a global basis. Naturally, flag carrier Malaysia Airlines accounts for a considerable amount of this traffic, serving destinations all around the world with its widebody aircraft. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, it scheduled almost 10,000 flights this December.
Collectively, these services offered grand totals of 1,487,768 seats (at an average of just over 150 per flight) and 2,285,815,148 available seat miles (ASMs). While the carrier’s longer routes didn’t always have the highest operational frequencies, they often led the way in terms of seat capacity and ASMs thanks to the larger aircraft used and lengthy distances served. Let’s examine its furthest routes.
London Heathrow Airport sits at the top of the tree
According to Cirium’s data for the month of December 2024, the longest of Malaysia Airlines’ many routes served from its Kuala Lumpur International Airport
(KUL) connected the city with London Heathrow (LHR). The largest and busiest airport in the United Kingdom is situated some 6,593 miles (10,610 km) from Kuala Lumpur, with this distance being over 1,000 miles further than the next longest route.
Malaysia Airlines is the only airline currently operating scheduled flights between Kuala Lumpur International Airport and London Heathrow, with its two return flights a day on the route amounting to 62 round trips over the course of the month. These services will offer 17,732 seats and 116,907,076 miles in each direction, representing an identical offering to the previous two Decembers in 2022 and 2023.
The oneworld
member’s aircraft of choice on all of these flights is the Airbus A350-900, of which, according to present fleet data made available by ch-aviation, Malaysia Airlines currently has seven examples at its disposal. These modern widebody twinjets are 6.6 years old on average, and aeroLOPA shows that they have two different seating configurations. The one used on the route to London has:
- Four Business Suites laid out four abreast in a 1-2-1 configuration.
- 35 business class flatbeds laid out four or five abreast in a staggered 1-2-1/1-2-2 configuration.
- 247 economy class seats laid out nine abreast in a 3-3-3 configuration.
Malaysia Airlines
- IATA/ICAO Code
-
MH/MAS
- Year Founded
-
May 1st, 1947
- CEO
-
Izham Ismail
Photo: Karolis Kavolelis | Shutterstock
Departing Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia Airlines’ flights to London Heathrow leave at 09:25 (MH4) and 23:30 (MH2). With scheduled block times of 14 hours or just over, their arrivals into the British capital are respectively timed for 15:25 (the same day) and 05:35 (the next day). Returning, MH3 and MH1 leave London at 10:25 and 21:15, touching down at 07:15 and 18:20 the next day.
Auckland is isolated in second place
Over in New Zealand, Auckland (AKL) is home not just to the country’s largest and busiest airport, but also the second longest of Malaysia Airlines’ non-stop routes in December 2024. This facility is situated some 5,408 miles (8,703 km) from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, with this figure, much like its gap to London Heathrow Airport in first place, being around 1,000 miles further than the next longest route.
Photo: alphonsusjimos | Shutterstock
Another similarity when comparing Malaysia Airlines’ longest and second longest routes from Kuala Lumpur International to London Heathrow and Auckland is the fact that the carrier has a complete monopoly on both of them. Indeed, the 36 outbound and 35 inbound flights that Malaysia Airlines is operating from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland and back this month are the only non-stop ones available.
A contrast with the London route, however, is the fact that the carrier’s aircraft of choice when flying to New Zealand is not the Airbus
A350-900, but, rather, the European manufacturer’s older A330-300 model. Malaysia Airlines has 15 of these at its disposal with an average age of 12.6 years old, and they are configured in a two-class configuration featuring 27 business class seats and 263 in economy class.
Photo: alphonsusjimos | Shutterstock
Malaysia Airlines’ flights from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland depart at either 08:30 (MH133) or 20:45 (MH145), with a handful of days at the start of December seeing both rotations operated. With flight times of just under 10 and a half hours, their arrivals into New Zealand are respectively scheduled for 23:55 the same day and 12:05 the next day. As for the inbound direction, these operate as follows:
- MH132 leaves Auckland at 01:40 and arrives in Kuala Lumpur 11 hours and 10 minutes later at 07:50.
- MH144 leaves Auckland at 13:50 and arrives in Kuala Lumpur 11 hours and 10 minutes later at 22:00.
And now for something completely different
Malaysia Airlines’ third longest route in December 2024 stands out considerably from its first two, namely for the fact that it doesn’t serve, like the others, at the Malaysian flag carrier’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport hub. Instead, its Malaysian terminus is Senai International Airport (JHB) in the south of the state of Johor, with its destination being Jeddah International Airport (JED) in Saudi Arabia.
Photo: alphonsusjimos | Shutterstock
This route is 4,548 miles (7,320 km) in length, and operates as part of a complex routing that Malaysia Airlines is serving five times in December 2024. This sees the service combined with the carrier’s route between Senai and Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) in Medina, which has a distance of 4,544 miles (7,313 km). According to Flightradar24, the diagram works as follows:
- MH150 from Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah (13:50 – 18:30).
- MH155 from Jeddah to Senai (20:00 to 10:05 the next day).
- MH162 from Senai to Medina (11:35 to 16:20).
- MH153 from Medina to Kuala Lumpur (17:40 to 07:35 the next day).
According to Cirium’s data, four of the five rotations on this complex diagram in December 2024 are using the Airbus A330-200. Malaysia Airlines configures these twinjets in a two-class layout with 19 seats in business class and 268 in economy class, and the carrier has six examples at its disposal at an average age of 17.2 years old. Meanwhile, the fifth rotation is operated by the larger A330-300 model.
Photo: alphonsusjimos | Shutterstock
Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines’ Saudi Arabian routes from Kuala Lumpur are shorter, with the distances from there to Jeddah and Medina clocking in at 4,393 miles and 4,389 miles (7,070 km and 7,063.5 km) respectively. These are served more frequently, with 29 flights from Jeddah to Kuala Lumpur and 31 from Kuala Lumpur to Medina. The other direction has five more each to line up with the Senai flights.
Sydney is the last route in excess of 4,000 miles
Situated in southeastern Australia, Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) is the most far-flung destination whereby Malaysia Airlines faces direct competition on its non-stop flights from Kuala Lumpur International. This aerial corridor measures 4,088 miles (6,580 km) in length, and Malaysia Airlines is serving it 61 times in each direction this December. Competition comes from AirAsia X, with 41 round trips.
Photo: KeleX Pictures | Shutterstock
For the most part, Malaysia Airlines is using its two-class 290-seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft to connect Kuala Lumpur with Sydney this month. Indeed, these European widebody twinjets account for 59 of the 61 round trips, offering 17,110 seats and 69,945,680 available seat miles in each direction. Meanwhile, the three-class 286-seat Airbus A350-900 accounts for the other two round trips, and these offer:
- 572 seats each way.
- 2,338,336 available seat miles in each direction.
Photo: alphonsusjimos | Shutterstock
Like its flights to Auckland in neighboring New Zealand, Malaysia Airlines’ Sydney flights depart at the start and end of the day when operating twice daily (every day but one in December). Lasting just under eight and a half hours, they leave Kuala Lumpur at 09:10 and 23:00, landing at 20:35 and 10:20 (the next day). Coming home, they leave at 12:10 and 22:15, landing at 17:45 and 03:50 (the next day).
Melbourne has been in the news
The last of Malaysia Airlines’ longest non-stop passenger routes that we shall examine is its direct link between Kuala Lumpur International and Melbourne Airport (MEL). This aerial corridor is 3,917 miles (6,304 km) in length, and the Malaysian flag carrier scheduled 66 flights in each direction on the route this December. This put it ahead of the likes of AirAsia X (40 rotations) and Batik Air Malaysia (15 rotations).
Much like the routes covered thus far, the Airbus A330-300 is a key player when it comes to Malaysia Airlines’ flights between Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Melbourne. Indeed, this twin-engine widebody airliner accounts for 44 outbound and 43 inbound flights this month, alongside its A330-200 counterpart with six outbound and seven inbound flights. Meanwhile, the A350-900 has five round trips.
Photo: Airbus
However, where Melbourne stands out among Malaysia Airlines’ portfolio of long-haul routes is for the fact that, earlier this month, it was the destination for the carrier’s inaugural flight with the A330-900 from the A330neo series. This next-generation widebody aircraft will ultimately end up operating 11 round trips between Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne this December. It features a two-class layout, offering:
- 28 business class flatbeds laid out four abreast in a 1-2-1 configuration.
- 269 economy class seats laid out eight abreast in a 2-4-2 configuration.