Malaysia Airlines has been a loyal customer of Paris airports for decades. The Malaysian airline had opened its Paris CDG-Kuala Lumpur route in 1976 in a DC10. Forty years later, in 2016, the carrier ceased its servicesdue to financial difficulties and painful restructuring.
All European routes had been abandoned, with the notable exception of London Heathrow. Yet at the time, Paris was the busiest route in Malaysia Airlines' network in continental Europe. In 2015, the airline welcomed nearly 292,000 passengers.
But the planned (and hoped-for, given Airbus's difficulties) delivery of new aircraft A330-900 (A330neo) will be making a comeback on the European continent with the expansion of its fleet. The airline is due to take delivery of 5 aircraft by 2025, with the very first aircraft arriving in October to serve the Kuala Lumpur-Melbourne route.
The flight to Paris will be launched on 23 March.. It will be available daily and is already on sale on the company's online sites and other distributors.
The arrival of the A330s will free up A350-900 aircraft on the intercontinental network. Malaysia Airlines will therefore be flying an Airbus A350-900 to Paris with two classes of service (business and economy). Each of these is subdivided into two segments. Up front, passengers can choose between a Business Suite (4 seats) and Business Class (35 seats). Economy Class will have 27 seats with extra space (Economy Extra Legroom) and 222 seats in Economy. Total capacity will be 286 seats.
The carrier has announced its intention to also reopen its routes on Milan and Madrid. Presumably later in 2025.
With Malaysia Airlines, Paris CDG will once again benefit from five non-stop routes to South-East Asia. The greatest capacity is for links on Bangkok (Air France and Thai Airways International) and Singapore (Air France and Singapore Airlines). Vietnam follows with Saigon (Air France and Vietnam Airlines) and Hanoi (Vietnam Airlines).
