Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has today acquired 36 new ATR 72-600 aircraft for RM3 billion from ATR, the turboprop manufacturer
based in Toulouse, France.

MAS Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said ATR had already committed into delivering three turboprop aircraft next year, another five the following year and six in 2015.

"Of the total 36 aircraft, Firefly will be getting 20, while MasWings will get 16," he told a press conference on Firefly's network expansion today.

Ahmad Jauhari said an advantage of the turboprop operation was its ability to turn around very quickly, in less than 30 minutes, translating into increased flight frequencies.

"Nowadays, people travel at their own convenience, so frequency is becoming more important," he said, adding that the new aircraft acquisition would be funded internally, within the MAS group.

Meanwhile, Firefly CEO Ignatius Ong said the brand new series of fleet would boast state-of-the-art innovations with the latest glass cockpit technology similar to the A380 panels and it is also reputed to be one of the most fuel efficient aircraft in existence, resulting in lower carbon emissions.

"We expect the new aircraft to generate robust growth for both community airlines in the next three years, increasing our fleet from 12 to 20 in the next three years, which is a 40 per cent capacity growth.

"Currently, our average load factor is 70 per cent, however, our existing routes which focus on business destinations such as Penang, Kota Baharu and Singapore, are always full during the peak hours," he said.

MASwings CEO Datuk Capt Mohd Nawawi Awang said the new acquisition was timely, given its target to increase its passengers to two million in the next three years, compared with its target of 1.5 million passengers for this year.

"We're also expanding our domestic presence and increasing flight
frequencies from towns within Sabah and Sarawak, as well as the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) region," he said.

Mohd Nawawi said MASwings currently has 10 aircraft, which would be replaced in accordance with the delivery of the new turboprop aircraft.

"We're also acquiring another six aircraft for our expansion plan, prior to receiving the new aircraft, which would hopefully be completed by March next year," he added. -- Bernama