Malaysia Airlines Bhd. plans to
shift its fleet from large aircraft to smaller planes as part of a
revamp after two crashes last year prompted the government to take the
company private.
“Our aircraft
size is too large because these aircraft were purchased when the
connecting market between Europe and Australia was firmly in the hands
of
Southeast Asian carriers,” Chief Executive Officer Christoph
Mueller
said in an interview Wednesday at parent Khazanah Nasional Bhd.’s Kuala
Lumpur headquarters. Southeast Asian carriers,” Chief Executive Officer Christoph
“We need to reinvent ourselves with regards to the
fleet, not necessarily the fleet size but the aircraft size.”
It
has taken the industry 10 years to have a fleet rollover, he said,
citing 747-400s as an example of an aircraft replaced not with A380s or
747-800s but with smaller planes.
The carrier is in the market to sell two Airbus A380 superjumbos as it seeks to align its network with demand, the CEO said. Mueller, who joined Malaysia Airlines in March, was tasked with turning around a flag carrier that was racking up losses even before before flight MH370 disappeared in March last year and MH17 was shot down over Ukraine
