MAS soars to new heights
SUBANG: Malaysia Airlines is set to become the first full-service airline in the world to operate the B737-800 with the new Boeing Sky Interior. The interior design is similar to that installed in the B787 Dreamliner and features the use of mood lighting to enhance passenger comfort. Other improvements include a higher ceiling, larger windows, leather seats, touch-screen inflight entertainment units, individual power supply, bigger stowage bins and USB ports for electronics. The aeroplane is listed at US$70mil (RM217mil) and can accommodate 16 seats in business class and 144 in economy class. It will make its inaugural flight next Monday to MAS’ new eastern hub in Kota Kinabalu where it will be based, followed by a commercial flight to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan. “This is a refreshing product for customers. Its interior is different, it has better technology and is more environmentally-friendly,” MAS chairman Tan Sri Munir Majid told reporters after the first Boeing B737-800 touched down at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah airport here yesterday. Also present at the event were MAS CEO Tengku Datuk Seri Azmil Zahruddin and the three pilots who flew the plane back from Seattle, USA. The B737-800 project flight operations manager and lead pilot Capt Muhammad Affindy Abd Rahman said everything about the aircraft, including its livery, was designed to be more economical.
“It flies higher, faster and carries more cargo than older models but is more fuel-efficient. “The livery was also chosen because it uses less paint, thus making the plane lighter. Capt Muhammad Affindy said the pilots enjoyed flying the plane. “It’s like driving a BMW,” he said. MAS has ordered 54 more B737-800, in addition to 25 Airbus A330-300 and six A380 that will be delivered in stages to replace its older fleet.
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