Malaysia Airlines eyes new Boeing jets should China reject them

Reuters

Sun, Apr 20, 2025, 9:02 PM 2 min read

SEOUL (Reuters) -Malaysia Airlines' genitor company, Malaysia Aviation Group, is talking to Boeing astir acquiring caller jets that go disposable if Chinese airlines halt taking deliveries, its managing manager told Malaysian authorities quality outlet Bernama.

Boeing appears to beryllium returning immoderate of its 737 MAX jets to the U.S. from China, wherever it had placed them up of transportation to Chinese customers.

Neither Boeing nor China has commented connected wherefore the jets are returning, and it is not wide which enactment made the decision.

Malaysia Airlines did not instantly respond to a Reuters petition for comment.

If Boeing transportation slots go disposable arsenic a effect of the tariff warfare betwixt the United States and China, MAG views this arsenic a model to unafraid earlier-than-expected deliveries, Bernama reported MAG's Izham Ismail arsenic saying.

"MAG is successful speech with Boeing astir whether we tin instrumentality implicit those slots," Ismail told Bernama.

Airlines globally are bare for caller planes but look extended transportation times due to the fact that of post-pandemic proviso concatenation bottlenecks, and a accumulation slowdown astatine Boeing owed to enhanced regulatory scrutiny and a labour strike.

MAG, owned by Malaysian sovereign wealthiness money Khazanah Nasional, has been steadily increasing and renewing its fleet and aims to run a narrow-body fleet of 55 caller procreation 737 MAX craft by 2030.

Last month, it said it would bargain 18 737 MAX 8 and 12 737 MAX 10 aircraft, with an enactment to acquisition a further 30 jets.

It besides has a woody to lease 25 737 MAX jets from Air Lease Corp betwixt 2023 and 2026.

Ismail said immoderate imaginable statement to instrumentality connected further planes from vacated transportation slots would not beryllium portion of that Air Lease Corp deal, and MAG would request to spell to the superior marketplace to rise further funds.

(Writing by Lisa Barrington. Editing by Gerry Doyle)