Malaysia Airlines Maiden A380 Flight Takes Into Sky

SEPANG (Selangor,Malaysia), July 2 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) launched its maiden Airbus A380 flight to London on Sunday night with Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin sending off the passengers on the flight at a glittering ceremony, here. The superjumbo will be on a thrice-weekly KL-London service before going daily in August. Also present at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for the rousing sending off were Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha and Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya. Muhyiddin said the launch of the Airbus A380 flight showed that the government paid great attention to providing world-class service for both Malaysians and tourists. "This is a milestone for the country and we hope to achieve the 30 million tourist arrivals targeted next year," he said. The 73m-long A380 can carry up to 494 passengers and offers one of the best seating arrangements of the industry for its first-class cabin. MAS is the eighth carrier in the A380 club, after Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Air France, Lufthansa, Korea Air and China Southern Airlines. MAS will be the second carrier to operate this aircraft when it becomes a full member of the oneworld alliance by the end of this year. The airlines has ordered six A380 aircraft, four of which will be delivered by the year-end and the balance in 2013. The KL-London route is the first destination for the A380 and to be followed by KL-Sydney towards the end of November. There are also plans to fly the A380 to Narita, Tokyo and/or Beijing for the other new additions to the Malaysia Airlines fleet. -- BERNAMA