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Malaysia Airlines mulling Haj pilgrimage flights for A380 superjumbos
Tuesday, 21 Oct, 2016
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Malaysia Airlines is in discussions to rent out its A380 superjumbos for religious charter services for Haj and Umrah pilgrimages.
The airline’s CEO Peter Bellew said it is in talks for a ‘wet lease’ arrangement with several religious travel groups that would use Malaysia Airlines crew to fly Haj and Umrah services.
Malaysia Airlines has six A380 aircraft but they no longer are effective for its operations as the airline has moved to a mostly short and medium haul operation.
Malaysia Airlines began discussions more than two months ago and expects to strike a deal before the end of the year.
Any deal would more than cover the jets’ operating costs, Bellew said.
"I believe it will happen," he told Reuters.
The carrier is talking with Airbus about reconfiguring its A380s to increase capacity from 544 seats spread over three classes, to 700.
The Haj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia while the Umrah pilgrimage can be done any time of year.
Up to one million Haj pilgrims fly to the Gulf every year, many of which originate from Malaysia itself and neighbouring Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim population.
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