Malaysia Airlines suspending Kuala Lumpur-Los Angeles flights

Malaysia Airlines has decided not to sell plane tickets for travel between Kuala Lumpur and Los Angeles as the flights on this route will be suspended from April this year. The airline has announced it will be suspending flights on Kuala Lumpur-Los Angeles route effective from April 30, 2014 to offset the losses it has been confronting for past few years. The airline said that the suspension of the flights on this route is because of a route rationalization exercise it has recently undertaken.

Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, Malaysia Airlines’ Group Chief Executive Officer, while talking to mediapersons said that the airline had for long been operating flights on Kuala Lumpur-Los Angeles route but operating on this route is not profitable now. He cited several reasons behind the airline’s decision to stop flying to Los Angeles from Kuala Lumpur. Some of the major factors that prompted the airline to suspend flights include over capacity and increasing competition. Other important reasons are high operating cost of Boeing 777 aircraft and ever increasing fuel costs.

Yahya said that because of these reasons Malaysia Airlines’ group expenses have come under intense pressure and are being impacted. He said that the airline is constantly evaluating this. He said that all forward bookings ticketed to date on the affected Kuala Lumpur-Los Angeles route would be honored and regretted the inconvenience caused to customers because of the route suspension.