With the termination of the joint business agreement between British Airways and Qantas following the new alliance of the Australian carrier with Emirates, Malaysia Airlines is likely to fill up the empty seat on the Kangaroo route for British Airways. With better possibilities for the British carrier to be back in Kuala Lumpur…
BANGKOK-The announcement of the Qantas/Emirates partnership and the termination of the joint business operation on the strategic “Kangaroo route” (UK-Australia) between British Airways and Qantas is likely to make one airline happy: Malaysia Airlines. The Malaysian national carrier has already been well positioned to capture traffic from London to Australia and New Zealand. The airline flies twice daily of London, including one daily frequency conducted in its brand new Airbus A380. The A380 flight was launched in June but upgraded to a daily frequency two weeks ago. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines proposes up to eight daily connections to Australia and Auckland, New Zealand.
Connections via Kuala Lumpur will become even more attractive from November 26, Malaysia Airlines will start daily ‘A380 all the way’ flights between Sydney and London via Kuala Lumpur from November 25 when MAS will also run its Airbus 380 on flights MH122/123 to Sydney. Connections on the Kangaroo Route is likely to gain significance following MAS official integration to Oneworld before the end of the year. MAS will then look like the most suitable partner to replace Qantas in Singapore for British Airways. It might even pave the way for BA to reconsider a reopening of its operations to Kuala Lumpur, a destination it used to fly until the late nineties. The airline could first set up a code-share with MAS before being physically present again in the Malaysian capital.
Ironically Qantas possible replacement by MAS for British Airways was fostered by the Australian carrier which sponsored the candidacy of Malaysia Airlines into Oneworld global alliance.
Malaysia’s First A380 Touches Down in KL International Airport on May 30,30 May 2012. The airline has an order for six Airbus A380 offering a configuration of 494 seats comprising 8 First Class and 350 Economy Class seats on the main deck and 66 Business Class and 70 Economy Class seats on the upper deck.
Table: Connection in October 2012 for Malaysia Airlines from London LHR to Australia and New Zealand
|
Adelaide |
Daily except 1 |
22:00- 07:10 |
MH1-MH139 |
|
Auckland |
1-3-4 2-5-7 |
12:00- 23:45 22:00-11:45 |
MH3-MH133 MH1-MH131 |
|
Brisbane |
2-4-5-6-7 |
12:00-19:45 |
MH3-MH135 |
|
Melbourne |
Daily Daily |
12:00-21:10 22:00-08:05 |
MH3-MH129 MH1-MH149 |
|
Perth |
Daily 3-5-6 |
12:00-15:00 22:00-00:15 |
MH3-MH125 MH1-MH127 |
|
Sydney |
Daily Daily |
12:00-19:50 22:00-09:00 |
MH3-MH141 MH1-MH123 |
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
