Malaysia Airlines is to debut its 38-aircraft 737-800 NG fleet with new seating, innovative inflight entertainment and a refurbished interior from the end of July on its domestic and regional network.
The new seats are ergonomically built with lightweight upholstered leather and offer enhanced functionality with personal device holders and power outlets to charge personal devices.
The fleet will also launch a new wireless inflight entertainment system called ‘MHstudio’ to give passengers the flexibility to stream content from TV programmes, movies, podcasts, music and reading materials with the option of using their own listening devices and charging cables.
The airline said the transition of the inflight entertainment system from seatback to passenger device contributed significantly to weight reduction and therefore to its sustainability commitment.
Together with its leaner seats and lightweight cabin dividers, the airline has achieved an overall weight reduction of approximately 679 kilograms, effectively reducing each aircraft’s fuel consumption by about 91,029 litres each year meaning aircraft fuel burn per passengers will improve by 8 per cent.
Lau Yin May, group chief marketing and customer experience officer of Malaysia Airlines, said the newly refreshed 737-800 NG would deliver future travel experiences through innovative features from seats to highly customisable inflight entertainment incorporating Malaysian elements in the overall interior cabin design.
She said the cabin refurbishment exercise began in 2021 in response to customer feedback in 2020 and that sustainability was an important consideration. “The all-new features of our refreshed 737-800 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,” said Yin May.
The refreshed cabin also comes with a new configuration of cabin seats offering 12 business class seats and 162 economy class seats, with a 2-2 and 3-3 seat configuration respectively.
