Malaysia Airlines To Retire Its Airbus A380 Fleet In The Coming Months

Malaysia Airlines will be retiring its Airbus A380 fleet in the coming months, according to a report by Reuters. In a statement by Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) CEO Captain Izham Ismail, the group’s management is convinced that the aircraft “doesn’t fit” with its newly announced Long Term Business Plan 2.0 (LTBP 2.0) – a five-year plan (2021 – 2025) that is set to transform MAG into Asia’s leading travel and aviation services company.

“We are cognizant of the challenges to sell this aeroplane, but we are still looking at ways and means to dispose of our 380 fleet,” he commented. Aside from opting to sell all six of MAG’s A380 double decker jumbo jets, Izham initially assigned them to the group’s subsidiary brand Amal. For those unfamiliar, Amal offers scheduled and charter services to Jeddah and Madinah from Kuala Lumpur for both Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.

Airlines retiring Airbus’ A380 models isn’t something uncommon. This is mainly due to the aircraft being a VLA (very large aircraft) that aptly supports a large passenger capacity – a niche that has been rarely utilised by airline companies even before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, ever since the mid-2010s, its role was already effectively taken over by newer widebody twin jets such as the Boeing 777X and Airbus A350, which offer similar range and greater fuel efficiency.

Aside from Emirates and a handful of others, most airlines have opted to ground their Airbus A380 aircrafts. According to website Simple Flying, some of these planes were flown to a long term storage facility in Teruel, Spain. The publication added that only three A380s have been fully dismantled for parts and other resources.

That being said, the fate of Malaysia Airlines’ six A380 jumbo jets are not known at this time. Prior to the announcement, at least one aircraft from the fleet was converted to transport air freight under its sister company MASkargo.

Meanwhile, Captain Izham Ismail also noted in the same Reuters report that the group will accept fully updated Boeing 737 MAX deliveries from 2024 or possibility earlier. MAG is expected to have 83 aircrafts in total by 2025, in line with its LTBP 2.0 plan – with hopes of breaking-even financially and be cash productive by 2023.

Donald Trump Planning To Launch New Social Media Platform In The Coming Months

Not being accepted to any of the mainstream social media platforms, it appears that former US president Donald Trump is planning to launch a social network of his own. According to Deadline, which cited a Fox News interview with Trump’s aide Jason Miller, the new unnamed platform will launch within two to three months.

Miller did not specify any details, but claims that the new network would “redefine the game” and attract a large audience. It is also likely that Trump is gunning to have his platform appeal to US conservatives who have been seeking alternative social networks such as Parler, which allows them to express their ideals without “biased” moderations.

As noted by Deadline, another significant challenge that Trump may face is gaining a potential infrastructure that is willing to support his new service. Ever since his banishment from several social media platforms due to his alleged involvement in inciting violence during the US Capitol riot, tech companies have distanced themselves from the former US president. These include major cloud service providers such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google, as well as former business affiliates such as Shopify and Stripe.

Trump’s move to establish his own social media network will definitely raise eyebrows, and most would also foresee it to be a potential failure – provided that if it ever does launch. However, it is also possible that such speculations would backfire. Despite all odds, he was elected as the 45th US president after all –  so there’s a huge chance that his upcoming platform may gain a strong following regardless.