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Malaysia Airlines’ inaugural A330neo service has arrived in Adelaide as the carrier expands its Brisbane flight schedule.
Flight MH139 was the first Adelaide service to use Malaysia’s 297-seat A330-900s, with 9M-MNK touching down in Adelaide at 7am local time on Thursday morning. The flight was 89 per cent full according to Malaysia Airlines figures, and follows Malaysia going daily to Adelaide in February.
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“We’re excited that Malaysia Airlines has chosen to fly its brand-new Airbus A330-900neo aircraft on this route. The combination of the stunning new business class cabin and the award-winning economy class cabin offers premium comfort and an improved living space,” said Adelaide Airport executive general manager of people, culture and customer, Dermot O’Neill.
“Today’s new aircraft launch reinforces Malaysia Airlines’ longstanding commitment to our market. It’s a wonderful outcome for South Australians travelling to Malaysia and beyond, and to the overseas visitors travelling to Adelaide using the airline’s extensive route network.
“In addition to business and leisure traffic, we know this service is popular with international students flying from Malaysia and further afield including India, China, Nepal and Vietnam. Being a wide-body jet, it also creates greater export opportunities for our local producers.”
Bryan Foong, CEO of airline business at Malaysia Aviation Group, said the deployment of A330neos into Adelaide “represents a strategic milestone for Malaysia Airlines, underscoring strong market confidence in our next-generation fleet and premium proposition”.
“It reflects our continued focus on fleet modernisation, sustainable aviation, and delivering a consistently elevated customer experience anchored in Malaysian Hospitality, while strengthening connectivity between Malaysia and Australasia,” he said.
“As we enhance our network and onboard product in line with our long-term growth strategy, we are also proud to support the Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign by further positioning Malaysia as a preferred gateway to the region and beyond.”
Malaysia is also preparing to deploy A330neos into Brisbane as it progressively ramps up services from five to six per week starting 16 August and daily starting 25 October, having reintroduced its Brisbane route late last year.
According to Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff, the move shows “the strength of Queensland’s international market, despite uncertainty from the ongoing Middle East conflict”.
“Airlines are making strategic decisions about where to place capacity and Malaysia Airlines increasing Brisbane flights so soon after launch shows the confidence in our market,” he said.
“Brisbane continues to gain momentum as a resilient and fast-growing hub, and these additional services capitalise on the strong demand for travel by Queenslanders and visitors coming to explore Brisbane and beyond.
“We also look forward to welcoming the next-generation A330neo to our skies. This is exactly the kind of modern, quieter aviation future we want to see operating in Brisbane.”
The carrier operates more than 70 flights per week into Australia, including three daily services to Sydney and Melbourne, double daily to Perth, daily to Adelaide, and five times per week to Brisbane, and has said it sees load factors above 90 per cent on Australian services.
An open skies agreement between Australia and Malaysia came into effect this year.
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