MAS: Please Contact Us Before Criticising The Airline
A senior official from the national carrier admitted to theSun that things could have been better, but things did not turn out as planned.
"Please rest assured that whatever we did was to ensure the safety of our passengers. There is no reason for us to come up with such a decision merely to draw criticism and ridicule upon ourselves," he said.
He explained that the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam would normally take about 11 hours but due to adverse weather over the flight path it took some 14 hours plus.
"This is close to the maximum endurance of the airline's Boeing 777-200. As passenger safety was the priority that is why the decision was made," he said.
The official added that this only affected the Paris and Amsterdam flights as they were using the B777-200 while the London flights with the A380s were not affected.
He said as it was the holiday season, the priority for the airline was to get the passengers booked on MAS to their destination to allow them to spend the holidays with their family and friends.
"At this point, it was either we limit the luggage or the number of passengers," he said.
When contacted an airline expert said the only other option for Malaysia Airlines in this situation would have been to land midway and refuel.
"However this would have required other technicalities, like permission from the airports concerned which include landing and take-off slots. Plus, it would have also delayed their arrival times," he said.
In a statement issued on Monday, the national carrier said it had been forced to operate longer routes to Europe, which combined with strong headwinds in excess of 200 knots had an effect on the planes.
The official said with tailwinds the aircraft can arrive at its destination at times an hour earlier but with strong headwinds the aircraft may arrive at its destination two hours later.
"We have to be careful especially when dealing with strong headwinds," he said.
He hoped that the media especially the local media will not simply jump on the bandwagon and criticise the airline.
-theSundaily