Malaysia Airlines Set To Transport 15,000 Malaysian Pilgrims Beginning July 14

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 (Bernama) – Malaysia Airlines is set to transport over 15,000 Malaysian pilgrims for this year’s Haj season with the first flight scheduled to depart KL International Airport (KLIA) to Jeddah and Madinah on July 14, 2018. For this season it would be mounting 80 flights between Kuala Lumpur and Jeddah as well as Madinah on the A380-800, it said In a statement Thursday, the airline said it would also be operating 88 feeder flights utilising its B737-800 aircraft to transport 13,200 pilgrims from Alor Setar, Penang, Johor Baru, Kota Bharu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, and Kuala Terengganu to KLIA. In anticipating the first Haj flight, Malaysia Airlines together with Malaysian pilgrims fund board (Tabung Haji) had trained more than 400 of its staff including its cabin and technical crew, ground handlers as well as operational employees to provide pilgrims superior ground and in-flight services throughout their journey to the Holy Land, it said. Chief Executive Officer Izham Ismail said the airline A380-800 has a seat configuration of 494 seats, which allowed them to transport a high number of pilgrims without compromising on comfort. “Our Haj travellers are usually the more senior and elderly. For some, this might even be their first time flying on an aircraft or travelling outside Malaysia. This can be very stressful for the pilgrims, so having a sense of familiarity is important to them. "Malaysia Airlines strives to provide pilgrims the comfort of home as soon as they board our aircraft and it is our hospitality that makes them feel right at home. Our trained crew and ground staff are experienced to cope with the demands of Haj travels to ensure pilgrims are well taken care of and that they have the best journey for pilgrimage," he said. The last Hajj flight to the Holy Land will depart KLIA on Aug 15, 2018 and the second phase of the operations will commence on Aug 29 and will be completed on Sept 25 2018, the airline added. -- BERNAMA