'MAS rebranding exercise at early stages'

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is now focusing more on long and short haul flights under different brand names, said Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The prime minister said the original MAS brand was being maintained for the long haul flights, while for the latter, it is operated under the brand name of Firefly.

He said as MAS' rebranding exercise was still at the early stages, it was too soon to determine the overall cost involved.

"Under this rebranding, short haul flights wwill use smaller planes like the Boeing 737-800 to enable MAS to provide a wider premium network with better frequencies to enhance cost and operation efficieny," he said in his written reply to Wee Choo Keong (Ind-Wangsa Maju) in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Wee had wanted to know the cost entailed for MAS' rebranding following a share swap between MAS and Air Asia under the Comprehensive Collaborative Framework (CCF) agreement between the two airlines.

Najib added that MAS would also be introducing a new image for the Airbus A380 superliner which is scheduled to start operations in July this year, and in the process increase paqsenger load through continuous marketing strategies to return to profitability. -- Bernama