MAS, Thai Airways drop major routes

Malaysia Airlines is abandoning one of its most renowned routes as of May 29.

According to eTN, the carrier made the announcement via a press release on Saturday, stating the Kuala Lumpur-Frankfurt route would be no longer.

The symbolic route has been flown by the carrier without interruption since 1977, and is currently taking off daily aboard a Boeing 777.

The Malaysia Airlines’ flight represents 44% of all the capacities offered between both cities, according to eTN, which represents 6400 seats every month.

Competition on European routes in particular have been strong as of late, particularly with Lufthansa jumping on the non-stop Frankfurt to KL bandwagon last year.

Lufthansa has also decided to step up its frequencies on the route to a daily flight, according to the website.

According to a MAS statement, the revised network plan is in line with the carrier’s overall strategy to focus more on regional services, keeping its global connectivity strong with its Oneworld alliance and partners.

“Our challenge is to ensure MAS operates and utilizes its fleet at an optimum level, as well as maximize revenue on every route it flies,” Malaysia Airlines’ chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said in the statement.

The airline continued to operate a number of routes that were both unprofitable and low yield, with little passenger flow through to other routes in the network, according to eTN.

Other recently closed routes include the Kuala Lumpur to Kochi service, as well as the services to Krabi and Kunming.

On top of this announcement, Thai Airways International has also set out to look at ceasing several unprofitable routes, with eTN reporting that Madrid is due to be taken off the schedule in autumn, while the twice a day flights to London has been dropped off to once daily.

Other recently closed routes from Bangkok include Johannesburg in January, Moscow at the end of March, and the Phuket-Seoul route.

The airline is due to remove its oldest aircraft from its fleet, and reduce its staff by voluntary retirement, while additionally stripping its non-core assets like hotels and catering services in non-aviation sectors, according to eTN.

According to director-general of the State Enterprise Policy Office, Kulit Sombatsiri, Thai Airways International is expected to turn the corner by 2016 following its rehabilitation.

On the flip side, Garuda Indonesia is still looking to venture further into destinations such as Paris and Frankfurt, despite losing dollars last year.

Both countries are expected to be targeted, according to eTN, as they pose major economic powerhouses for Indonesia, and the carrier is awaiting the arrival of three new Boeing 777-300ER in July, taking its B777 fleet to nine.

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europe frankfurt garuda indonesia kuala lumpur malaysia airlines thai airways international