MAS Airline Dedicated For Haj/Umrah To Start Flying Pilgrims By End-2018

KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines' new dedicated carrier for its Haj and Umrah flights is expected to begin operations by the end of next year, said MAS Chief Executive Officer, Peter Bellew. He said the first of the aircraft to carry religious pilgrims to the Holy Land comprising both Malaysias and from around the globe should be available for the Umrah around by December 2018 and January 2019. "We will be able to take the six aircraft and actually customise them with extra areas for prayers, for people to wash, to literally have the space and enjoy the experience of travelling to Saudi Arabia as they go on their pilgrimage," he said. The MAS CEO was responding to questions during an interview with Bernama Economic Service Deputy Editor-in-Chief Mikhail Raj Abdullah on the maiden 'Biz Talk' show, BNC's new business programme. The 30-minute show, hosted by Mikhail and Masrenny Masri, is aired every Friday at 8.30pm over Astro's CH502,Hyppy TV, MYTV and can be surfed on www.bernama.com. BNC will also air a 30-minute full special interview with Bellew at 8.30pm on Monday, April 17, over Astro's Ch502, Hyppy TV, MYTV where Bellew also talks about the company's restructuring, route expansion and various other matters. Bellew, who took over as MAS CEO on July 1, 2016, said that for the new Haj airlines, otherwise known as Project Hope, MAS would refurbish six Airbus A380 aircraft for the Haj/Umrah packages. "But the cost would also be kept down for people travelling because we will have a large aircraft with good economical number of seats," he said. Bellew said MAS was operating the A380 to Saudi Arabia on the pligrimages and it has been very successful. "Currently, we have them just under 500 seats and they can be set up over 600 seats and that's what we are planning to do in 2018. We will replace the seating and put in a new set-up, add extra seats. "And also for the authorities in Saudi Arabia, it will give a very much better use of the airport landing slots and the areas at the gates. "So we will be able to manage a lot people to get to and from Malaysia or other parts of the world on the pilgrimage and keep the cost down," he said. "MAS would offer pligrimage flights to passengers from all over the world," he said. "It will be handled by Malaysians and operated by Malaysian engineers. We have great initial interest, I think it will be a tremendous use of the aircraft and a great success," he said. Bellew said the six aircraft would be refitted in the middle of 2018 and the first of the aircraft should be available for the Umrah around by December 2018 and January 2019. "The interesting bit about it for Malaysia is that it would create about 600 to 700 new jobs for Malaysians to work on this new airline as we will need new pilots, cabin crew, engineers and create some spin-offs in the country," he said. When asked why there was a need for a dedicated airline for such flights, Bellew said: "From all over the world at the moment, a lot of the pilgrims on the Haj and Umrah flights are travelling on 15-, 20-year-old aircraft.” He said the Saudi authorities are much happier to see Malaysia Airlines coming in with very new A380 aircraft that can move a lot people in great comfort, at quite a reasonably low cost and make very good use of the facilities in Saudi Arabia. "We targeted that aircraft and it is really well-suited to do this. It will give people an incredible comfort on board. We gonna be able to tailor-make the aircraft. "We can have extra prayer areas onboard and there will be areas to wash hence the experience for people travelling in the pilgrimage will be second to none. "There is business all over the world for this airline and it will be a great use of a fantastic aircraft that I believe has not found its best uses yet," he said. Bellew said MAS also hoped to announce soon the senior staff who would be running the new airline and that they were still searching for a CEO. When asked if the new airline would be a wholly-owned subsidiary, Bellew said, there will be other stakeholders and there has been a significant interest internationally. "A lot of the operations for the Haj and Umrah at the moment are by many different airlines, some of which are operating very old aircraft. "So, we believe this will be a fantastic use, we are working extremely closely with Airbus. The CEO of Airbus was here recently in Malaysia and we are very close to coming into an agreement with them to keep the cost down on maintenance and operation of the aircraft over the next 10 to 15 years," he said. -- BERNAMA