By 1948, the domestic route network comprised Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Singapore, Kota Bharu and Kuantan, whereas international flights to Batavia, Bangkok, Medan, Saigon and Palembang were also operated.[3]: 363 In May 1949 (1949-05), Malayan Airways took over the Singapore–Kuching–Labuan–Jesselton route, which had been operated by the Royal Air Force since May 1946 (1946-05) and was the only air link between Singapore and Borneo.[5]: 147 The run was extended to Sandakan in October that same year.[6] In early 1950, the route network was 6,504 miles (10,467 km) long.[7]
Following the formation of Malaysia, Malayan Airways was renamed Malaysian Airways in November 1963 (1963-11).[8] On 14 May 1966 (1966-05-14), the airline officially became the national airline of Malaysia and Singapore, jointly operated by both countries.[9][10]
The company was re-christened again on 1 January 1967 (1967-01-01),[11] this time to Malaysia–Singapore Airlines (MSA).[12] MSA began to deploy its de Havilland Comet aircraft on the Kuala Lumpur–Singapore route, and also on services radiating from these two cities to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Perth and Taipei. These aircraft were used on selected domestic routes as well.[13] A year later, Jakarta and Sydney were already incorporated into the international route network, with the Singapore–Jakarta–Perth–Sydney service using a Boeing 707 that was leased from Qantas,[14] and by April 1969 (1969-04) Tokyo was included as well.[15] The inauguration of services to Colombo and Madras were announced in April 1970 (1970-04) for commencement in June that year[16] and flights to these two cities were operative by May 1971 (1971-05).[17]
Based at Subang International Airport, Malaysian Airlines System Berhad (MAS) was formed by the Malaysian government in April 1971 (1971-04) to succeed MSA, starting operations on 1 October 1972 (1972-10-01), a day after MSA became defunct over its splitting between MAS and Singapore Airlines.[18][19] The new airline's route network initially consisted of domestic flights plus international services to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Medan and Singapore.[18] By March 1975 (1975-03), Bandar Seri Begawan, Dubai, Haadyai, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, London, Madras, Manila, Sydney, Taipei and Tokyo were added to these destinations,[20]: 493 with Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Melbourne, Paris, Perth and Seoul also being served ten years later.[21]
In April 2000 (2000-04), from its main hub at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia Airlines operated scheduled services to domestic destinations including Alor Setar, Bakalalan, Bario, Belaga, Bintulu, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kota Bharu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Terengganu, Kuantan, Kuching, Kudat, Labuan, Lahad Datu, Langkawi, Lawas, Layang-Layang, Limbang, Long Lellang, Marudi, Medan, Miri, Mukah, Mulu, Penang, Pulau, Sandakan, Semporna, Sibu, Tarakan, Tawau and Tomanggong. International destinations served at the time included Adelaide, Amsterdam, Auckland, Bandar Seri Begawan, Bangkok, Beijing, Beirut, Brisbane, Buenos Aires, Cairns, Cairo, Cape Town, Cebu, Chennai, Chiang Mai, Darwin, Delhi, Bali, Dhaka, Dubai, Frankfurt, Fukuoka, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Hat Yai, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Jakarta, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Kaohsiung, Karachi, London, Los Angeles, Malé, Manchester, Manila, Melbourne, Munich, Nagoya, New York, Osaka, Paris, Perth, Phnom Penh, Phuket, Pontianak, Rome, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Surabaya, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo, Vienna, Xiamen, Yangon, Zagreb and Zürich.[22]
List
As of July 2024[update], Malaysia Airlines flies to the following destinations.[23]
^"Civil aviation news". Flight: 402. 1 May 1947. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2012. Malayan Airways are opening regular services in the Malay Peninsula to-day. Schedules will be flown daily between Singapore and Penang, and twice a week between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. There is also to be a weekly flight between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Bahru, and between Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan.
^"Brevities". Flight: 521. 20 October 1949. Retrieved 20 December 2012. Malayan Airways, Ltd., has extended to Sandakan the twiceweekly Kuching-Labuan-Jesselton service. The new schedule commenced on October 5th after successful proving flights had been made on September 2nd and 3rd.
^"Brevities". Flight: 155. 2 February 1950. Retrieved 20 December 2012. The privately owned company, Malayan Airways, has now increased its unduplicated route mileage to 6,504. The fleet consists of seven DC-3S, and the equivalent annual utilization per aircraft with no scheduled night flying, has now reached a figure of 1,666. Services are operated to Sarawak, North Borneo, Burma, Thailand, Indo-China and, domestically, within Malaya, Facilities are also provided at Singapore for a number of other operators, including B.O.A.C. and Pan American Airways.
^"Singapore-Malaysia agreement". Flight International: 865. 26 May 1966. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2012. The agreement making Malaysian Airways the joint national airline of Malaysia and Singapore was signed on May 14.
^"Joint Malaysian operation". Flight International: 810. 12 May 1966. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2012. Malaysia and Singapore have agreed to operate Malaysian Airways as a joint airline for the two countries. The official announcement will be made when the two Governments have completed formal ratification of the agreement.
^"Air transport". Flight International: 235. 16 February 1967. Archived from the original on 17 December 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2012. The first of Malaysia-Singapore Airlines aircraft to have the carrier's new name is this Singapore-registered DC-3, 9V-RAN. The name of the airline was officially changed from Malaysian Airways on January 1.
^"MAL's new name". Flight International: 117. 26 January 1967. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012. Malaysian Airways has now been renamed Malaysia-Singapore Airlines Ltd. This is in keeping with the carrier's new status as a national airline for both Malaysia and Singapore.
^"MSA to Ceylon". Flight International: 729. 30 April 1970. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2012. Malaysia-Singapore Airlines will inaugurate twice-weekly service from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to Colombo and Madras in June, using Boeing 707s.
^"Date for division". Flight International: 74. 20 July 1972. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2012. The date for the split-up of Malaysia-Singapore Airlines is September 30, it was announced last week. The two successor airlines, Malaysian Airline System and Singaport [sic] Airlines, will begin operating on 1 October.
^ abcThomas, Geoffrey (12 December 2011). "Malaysia Airlines unveils plan to regain profitability". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012. MH said it will suspend loss-making routes, including services to/from Cape Town, Johannesburg and Buenos Aires.
^ abc"Other News - 12/15/2006". Air Transport World. 18 December 2006. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2012. Malaysia Airlines suspended its Kuala Lumpur-Cairo service. It will maintain a marketing presence in Cairo and serve it via codeshare. It also will cancel its KLIA-Stockholm Arlanda-Newark service on Jan. 15.
^ abcThomas, Geoffrey (19 December 2011). "Malaysia cuts routes to stem losses". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2012. Beginning in January, the airline will scrap the following routes: daily Langkawi–Penang–Singapore; 2X-weekly Kuala Lumpur–Karachi–Dubai; 2X-weekly Kuala Lumpur–Dubai–Damman; daily Kuala Lumpur–Surabaya; 3X-weekly Kuala Lumpur–Johannesburg; 2X-weekly Kuala Lumpur–Cape Town–Buenos Aires; and 3X-weekly Kuala Lumpur–Rome route.
^Vlassis, Gus (3 April 2001). "Olympic's privatisation again in doubt as new Athens hub opens". Athens: Flightglobal. Flight International. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. South Korea's new Incheon International airport opened for business on 29 March. The airport, built at a cost of $5 billion, will initially be able to handle 27 million passengers and 1.7 million tonnes of cargo annually. Some 50 km west of the capital Seoul, the airport will handle international traffic while the older Gimpo airport it replaces is to remain open for domestic traffic.
^"Other news". Air Transport World. 1 October 2009. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Bangkok's Don Muang International is in negotiations to establish several aircraft maintenance facilities and a terminal for private jets. The 95-year-old airport has been served by just a few domestic LCC flights since Suvarnabhumi International opened in 2006.
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