DUBAI
Malaysia Airlines is close to launching a new airline that will use its six Airbus A380s to fly passengers undertaking the Haj and Umrah, Chief Executive Peter Bellew said.
Bellew told Reuters that all the key personnel, apart from a chief executive, have been appointed and are likely to be announced in the next two weeks as Malaysia Airlines finalises plans set in motion last year. The A380s will be fitted with more than 700 seats in an all-economy layout but can be reconfigured in “four to five days” to 635 seats across economy and business class, Bellew said. The new charter airline will have to operate Haj and Umrah flights around 180 days to 190 days a year to break even, but Bellew said he expects to attract external investors and that the charter carrier will also operate non-pilgrimage flights.
