Malaysia Airlines announces strategic global partnership with Manchester United

In a significant move to enhance its global reach, Malaysia Airlines today signed a strategic, multi-year partnership with the Manchester United football club as its Official Commercial Airline. Through this partnership, Malaysia Airlines is poised to extend its renowned Malaysian Hospitality to Manchester United’s vast community of over 1.1 billion fans and followers worldwide by leveraging co-branded marketing initiatives to boost brand recognition to a diverse global audience, while delivering quality service and immersive experiences associated with both brands.

At the same event held in tandem with MATTA Fair 2024, Malaysia Airlines also announced the launch of flights to three new destinations to Malé, Maldives (MLE), Da Nang, Vietnam (DAD) and Chiang Mai, Thailand (CNX).

The airline will provide enhanced connectivity from its main hub in Kuala Lumpur with new direct flights to MLE, DAD and CNX with tickets available for sale beginning 22 March 2024. The airline will commence its daily flights to MLE beginning 1 August 2024; daily flights to DAD beginning 24 September 2024 and five times weekly flights to CNX beginning 15 August 2024.

This will mark the airline’s 13^th destination in South Asia and 16^th in ASEAN as it seeks to boost its presence within key markets, strengthening its position as the gateway to Asia and beyond in line with its commercial elevation journey. As a member of the oneworld® alliance, Malaysia Airlines currently offers superior connectivity to more than 900 destinations in 170 territories across the globe.

In the same event, the airline also unveiled its new A330neo Business Class and Economy Class seats as part of its fleet modernisation plan, ahead of the first aircraft’s scheduled delivery in Q3 2024. The new A330neo cabin will feature many ‘firsts’ for the airline and historically in its fleet. Among those is the introduction of the Collins Aerospace Elevation Business Class seats, featuring an all-suite cabin with individual privacy doors, as well as wireless charging pods available at all 28 of the Business Class seats. The airline is set to become the world’s leading carrier to feature Elevation seats on the A330 airframe, solidifying its position as an industry leader in passenger experience and innovation.​

Meanwhile, the award-winning Recaro CL3810 Economy Class seats feature an ergonomic design and enhanced support, coupled with thoughtful amenities such as coat hooks, cup holder and ample stowage for added cabin comfort and practicality. The seat covers throughout the cabin will feature the airline’s signature songket motif, paying homage to Malaysia’s cultural heritage by seamlessly blending tradition with contemporary style. The A330neo will comprise 297 seats (28 in Business Class and 269 in Economy Class, of which 24 seats come with extra legroom). Shoppers attending MATTA Fair can experience these new seats for a limited time only, as they will be displayed at the MAG Arena (Level 3, MITEC, Kuala Lumpur) until 24 March 2024.

Datuk Captain Izham Ismail, Group Managing Director of Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), said: “Malaysia Airlines has undergone a chequered journey over the last decade, however through it all, our resilience has remained steadfast. Having stabilised our balance sheet and recording our strongest-ever financial year performance since the past decade, we are now in a stronger position to steer our focus towards accelerating investments into our product and service delivery to elevate the customer experience.

With our Manchester United collaboration, the expansion of our network to three new routes, and the unveiling of the new cabin seats on our new A330neo; this sets the benchmark of exciting things to come as we redefine what it means to travel onboard Malaysian Hospitality. These milestones not only set a new standard in the airline’s transformation journey but also promise a future filled with unparalleled experiences beyond the confines of the aircraft. As we move forward, our focus remains unwavering on delivering excellence and fostering continued growth, ensuring that every aspect of our service exceeds expectations and leaves a lasting impression for our valued passengers.”

Below is the flight schedule for the airline’s three new routes: