Malaysia Airlines operates rescue and deportation flights

KLIA, 12 April 2020: Malaysia Airlines this week operated several rescue flights to Egypt and New Zealand as well as deportation flights to Indonesia in its latest mission to reunite Malaysians and foreigners alike with their loved ones.

Flight MH8453 arrived from Cairo on Saturday, 11 April 2020 with 285 Malaysian students currently undergoing tertiary education in Egypt. The mission was made possible in partnership with educational platform MedicMesir. Operated by the Airbus A330-300 the flight marked Malaysia Airlines’ return to Cairo International Airport, where the airline used to fly commercial flights until 2006.

Additionally, following the travel ban instituted by the Government of New Zealand from 20 March 2020, Malaysia Airlines has been operating chartered rescue flights sponsored by the Government of the Netherlands, from Auckland, New Zealand to Kuala Lumpur to ferry Dutch nationals. Once in KLIA, passengers will board the repatriation flight operated by Dutch national carrier KLM back home to Amsterdam.

Flight MH8496 from Auckland arrived at 9.40pm on Monday, 6 April 2020, carrying 277 Dutch nationals. It was operated by the Airbus A330-300 aircraft. Subsequently, the airline uplifted a further 253 Dutch nationals on 8 April 2020 and 277 more on 10 April 2020.

Malaysia Airlines also operated deportation flights, sending Indonesian citizens home on 9 and 10 April 2020. A total of 6 flights were operated, with 4 flights being operated to Jakarta and the remainder to Medan, operated by a combination of Boeing 737-800 aircraft and Airbus A330-300 aircraft. A total of 1,060 deportees were ferried on these flights, with two immigration officers per flight bringing it to a total of 1,072 passengers.

Malaysia Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer Captain Izham Ismail said, “We are glad to be of further assistance to the Government of Netherlands and KLM, following our rescue flights to Melbourne and Cebu last week. As the world braces itself against COVID-19, Malaysia Airlines is committed to play our role to make sure families are reunited in this challenging and uncertain time.”

MABkargo, the cargo operations arm of the Malaysia Aviation Group uplifted several intubation boxes for frontliners dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic in Malaysia. Partnering with The Acrylic Intubation Box Charity Project by several doctors in KPJ Rawang Specialist Hospital, intubation boxes were delivered to seven hospitals across Malaysia. MABkargo also uplifted 94 ventilators from Shanghai which will be distributed to hospitals in Malaysia. Additionally, on Thursday, 9 April 2020, MABKargo operated the full-freighter flight MH6496 from Shanghai to Kuching, uplifting 50 tonnes of personal protection equipment (PPE) to be distributed to hospitals across Sarawak. The equipment included 50,000 units of protective eyewear, 50,040 sets of protective medical clothing, 50,040 sets of shoe covers, 125,880 units of N95 face masks, and 900,000 units of generic face masks.