Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd (MAG) said to have resolved the technical issues with its new Airbus A330neo and expect to receive 19 aircraft gradually from this month until 2026.
Malaysia Airlines faced operational setback as its brand-new Airbus A330neo (9M-MNG) was grounded for a minimum 48 hours in December 2024 inviting criticism in the country.
The first Airbus A330-941 aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000-72 engines, suffered a series of technical issues after its inaugural flight to Melbourne on December 19th, and the technical issues were attributed to the aircraft manufacturer Airbus and its engine supplier Rolls-Royce.
MAG managing director Izham Ismail had blamed the OEM suppliers and identified 3 technical issues those were “due to the quality level of factory production and delivery level.”
At that time, Izham Ismail released a statement, saying :
"The aircraft is currently grounded for repairs. We need Airbus and Rolls-Royce to investigate the root cause of these issues on the brand-new aircraft."
"OEMs must be held accountable. This happening to a brand-new aircraft is not acceptable. To me, it's embarrassing."
Subsequently, MAG had replaced the faulty components on the new wide-body aircraft, that was responsible for the grounding of the aircraft for 48 hours after the inaugural flight on Dec 19 last year.
Today, the Deputy Transport Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Hasbi Habibollah said MAG is also expected to receive three more replacement engines from the third quarter of 2025, in addition to the one replacement engine it currently has.
"Currently, MAG has one Airbus A330neo aircraft, and the remaining 19 aircraft are expected to be received from February 2025 to 2026. Additionally, MAG also has one spare engine for the Airbus A330neo, and three more spare engines are expected to be received progressively starting from the third quarter of 2025," he said in the Dewan Rakyat.
The minister was replying to Mohd Nazri Abu Hassan (PN-Merbok) who wanted to know about the action taken by the Transport Ministry after Malaysia Airlines temporarily suspended operations of its new Airbus A330neo aircraft following its maiden flight to Melbourne on Dec 19.
Hasbi said MAG had also requested Airbus and Rolls-Royce to ensure stricter quality control for the new aircraft that will be received in the future.
"In this matter, Malaysia Airlines will continually ensure that the quality of the aircraft production meets the highest standards, especially for the remaining aircraft that have yet to be received, as the safety of passengers and crew is their priority," he said.
Hasbi explained that new Airbus A330neo aircraft owned by Malaysia Airlines were temporarily suspended on Dec 22 and 23 due to a technical issue. The aircraft has since resumed operations, completing 101 flights as of Feb 12, without further complications, he noted.
As per him, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has received a report on the technical issue and is satisfied with the repairs that have been carried out.
He said in general, aircraft manufacturers worldwide are facing production quality issues due to factors such as shortages of raw materials for producing aircraft parts and skilled labour in the aircraft manufacturing industry.
"Regarding the technical issue with the Airbus A330neo owned by Malaysia Airlines, both Airbus and Rolls-Royce are responsible for ensuring that the aircraft is in a safe condition to operate."
"Therefore, MAG has implemented mitigation measures to identify and address the technical issue with the cooperation of Airbus and Rolls-Royce through the replacement of faulty components. The aircraft resumed its operations on Dec 24, and no further technical issues have arisen," he said.
The deputy minister also said that the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) will ensure that Malaysia Airlines implements appropriate quality control measures to safeguard the safety and reliability of its operations
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