Malaysia Airlines System Berhad is the government-owned flag carrier of
Malaysia.
Malaysia Airlines operates flights from its home base, Kuala
Lumpur
International Airport and its secondary hub in
Kota Kinabalu. It
has its headquarters on the grounds of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in
Subang,
Selangor.
Despite a financial restructuring exercise in 2006,
Malaysia Airlines
maintains a strong presence in Southeast
Asia, East
Asia, South
Asia,
Middle East and on the Kangaroo Route between Europe and Australasia.
Malaysia Airlines also operates transatlantic flights from
Kuala Lumpur
to Buenos Aires, via Cape Town. It operates transpacific flights from
Kuala Lumpur to Los Angeles, via Taipei. In 1997, the airline flew the
world's longest non-commercial, non-stop flight from Boeing Field in
Seattle to
Kuala Lumpur, flying eastward passing the European and
African continents and breaking the "Great Circle Distance Without
Landing" record for an airliner on a Boeing 777-200ER, longer than the
record held by the Boeing 777-200LR.
Malaysia Airlines non-aeronautical revenue sources include maintenance,
repair and overhaul (MRO), and aircraft handling.
Malaysia Airlines has
two airline subsidiaries: Firefly and MASwings. Firefly operates
scheduled flights from its two home bases Penang
International Airport
and
Subang International Airport. The airline focuses on tertiary cities
although has recently launched services to Borneo from
Kuala Lumpur
International Airport. MASwings focuses on inter-Borneo flights.
Malaysia Airlines has a freighter fleet operated by MASKargo, which
manages freighter flights and aircraft cargo-hold capacity for all
Malaysia Airlines' passenger flights. MASCharter is another subsidiary
of
Malaysia Airlines, operating charter flights using
Malaysia Airlines'
aircraft. After recovering from past losses,
Malaysia Airlines is keen
on merger and acquisition (M&A) activities: particularly airlines in
the
Asia Pacific region.
Malaysia Airlines was ranked second with score
88 in Aviation Week's Top Performing Companies which accurately
measures financial viability of an airline.
Since its inception in 1963, after Malayan Airways was separated into
two parts,
Malaysia Airlines has built up a strong brand name in the
aviation industry for service and safety, coupled with numerous awards
from international bodies such as Skytrax.
Malaysia Airlines is
accredited by
International Air Transport Association with IOSA (IATA
Operational Safety Audit) for its operational safety practices.
Malaysia Airlines is one of the seven airlines to be ranked as a 5-star
airline by the indepedent research consultancy firm Skytrax.
Malaysia
Airlines is also listed among Skytrax's Quality Approved Airlines.