Parliament Q & A " Whether MAS reorganisation included plans to replace old aircraft" asked Ku Li

Replacing Old Aircraft Part Of MAS' Ongoing Plan August 28, 2007 14:51 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has plans to replace its aircraft in line with its ongoing aircraft revamp exercise, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar said the national carrier had received several proposals from aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus to replace its B737-400 planes.

He was replying to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (BN-Gua Musang) who wanted to know whether MAS' reorganisation included plans to replace old aircraft."In line with its five-year plan, MAS plans to buy long-range narrow-body aircraft to enable it to operate in new sectors which are not suitable for Airbus 330 and Boeing 737-400 aircraft," he said.To a question from Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) on an incident where a MAS aircraft had to make an emergency landing due to a faulty landing gear, Tengku Azlan said the matter would be investigated and assured him that the airline would not compromise on passengers' safety.

On delays in MAS flights recently, Tengku Azlan said they were due to several factors including flight rescheduling, and the introduction of a new passenger service system and technical problems.He said that as a result, in July, the MAS flight punctuality rate dropped to 62 per cent compared with an average of between 82.9 per cent and 88.1 per cent.

Tengku Azlan said MAS had addressed the problem by introducing new flight schedules with adequate buffer time and mobilised its engineers from Subang to the KL International Airport (KLIA) to enable repair work to be carried out quickly."For this month, the MAS flight punctuality rate has improved to 82 per cent," he said.-- BERNAMA