Malaysia Airlines to become less dependent on travel agents
Malaysia Airlines is looking to cut its distribution costs by selling more tickets direct to passengers rather than via travel agents as part of its turnaround plan, which will also see it introducing a new, discounted business class concept.
The airline, which has already announced plans to shed 6,000 jobs, slash unprofitable routes and sell or lease its A380s, said this week that it is planning to strip out services business class passengers usually take for granted, such as lounge access and frequent flyer miles, in exchange for lower fares.
It is part of new CEO Christoph Mueller’s vision for the ‘new’ airline to become a ‘value carrier’ that offers a base fare with optional high-end services, he told AviationWeek.com.
"We want to go modular so that people can build their own product," Mueller said.
"Customers might book a business-class seat, but opt out of the miles or lounge access. Or they could take a day flight in economy to Australia and return in business overnight. Our current systems cannot deliver that."
If it comes off, it is a fairly radical move as although the concept is widely used for economy class, it has rarely been implemented for business class product.
However, Mueller said the first step would be to introduce a new IT infrastructure that brings with it an improved booking engine, which would allow passengers to build their own product.
He said Malaysia Airlines will rely predominantly on direct distribution, selling tickets directly to consumers rather than through travel agents.
Even before the twin tragedies of MH370 and MH17, the airline had been racking up losses due to intense competition from low cost carriers such as AirAsia offering low base fares and unbundled services.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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