The 38 Boeing 737-800 aircraft under Malaysia Airlines are set to
undergo an extensive refresh, with the first to take to the skies by the
end of July 2022.
According to Lau Yin May, group chief marketing and customer
experience officer of Malaysia Airlines, the refurbishment began in 2021
after taking customers’ feedback into consideration.
“This demonstrates Malaysia Airlines' commitment to adapt to changing
consumer needs and in improving overall customer experience in the post
pandemic era,” said Lau.
The interiors have been completely overhauled from the seats to the
in-flight entertainment. The new seats are less bulky than the older
ones and ergonomically built with lightweight leather. Seats will also
come with personal device holders and various power outlets for
passengers to charge personal devices.
MHstudio, a new generation of wireless in-flight entertainment, will
be affixed to the seats, giving passengers more flexibility in streaming
content and controlling their preferred TV programmes, movies,
podcasts, music and reading materials.
Additionally, passengers can purchase duty-free goods with the
MHstudio entertainment device, or even order in-flight snacks from the
digital catalogue and have them delivered directly to their seats.
The lighter materials used for the wireless in-flight entertainment,
slimmer seats and cabin dividers have been designed with sustainability
in mind, in which the aircraft fuel burn per passengers will improve by
8%, resulting in a lower carbon footprint on the planet.
“It is becoming increasingly important that we do everything with
sustainability in mind. The all-new features of our refreshed B737-800
NG fleet will reduce our carbon footprint from the reduction of the
weight of each aircraft - with the much lighter seats, use of soft cabin
dividers and moving away from seatback screens to offer innovative
in-flight entertainment features allowing for wireless streaming on
board at their convenience,” Lau explained.