MAS: Higher revenue, lower cost with A380s

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS), the country's
national carrier, said that the new Airbus A380 superjumbos would help
the company to improve its revenue and cost efficiencies.

"It
would help the company in many ways. First, is that the A380 is a really
good product, compared to what we have today. I think our customers
will be happy with what they see. So it will help us to get more
customers with the new aircraft.

"We are expecting to increase
our revenue with the A380. The aircraft has a much more modern
technology and has a lower cost per seat (compared to the 747), we
should also be able to see better efficiency in terms of numbers. So, it
would help us to increase our overall revenue and help us to reduce
our unit cost," said MAS managing director and chief executive officer
Tengku Datuk Seri Azmil Zahruddin Raja Abdul Aziz after visiting The New
Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd's head office here yesterday.

MAS
is expected to take delivery of six A380 aircraft in the second quarter
2012. The company has yet to finalise which route these A380s will
fly. For now, it appears that London, Sydney and Melbourne top the
consideration list.





"We have been looking at it. Certainly, London would be an obvious
choice, probably the first destination that we will use it on.

"Then,
we are looking at potentially Sydney or Melbourne, and possibly one
other point in Europe or maybe one other point in Asia. So, we have to
look at all the destinations and see which one makes the most sense,"
said Azmil Zahruddin.

On the possibility of the airline
increasing its flying frequency to key destinations in Indonesia, such
as Jakarta, Medan and Bali, Azmil Zahruddin said the matter is now on
the hands of both governments.

Both Malaysian and Indonesian
governments will also be discussing on the possibility of allowing MAS
to fly bigger aircraft into Indonesia. It currently flies its 737 to
cities like Jakarta five times a day.