KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 25 — Malaysia Airlines’ new Airbus A330neo went back to flying with its first flight to Kuching, Sarawak, departing from Kuala Lumpur on the evening of Christmas Eve.
The aircraft with the registration 9M-MNG had been grounded since last Saturday for 48 hours following its return to Kuala Lumpur from Melbourne, Australia.
The A330neo is also resuming its regular schedule and flying to Melbourne today, Business Times reported.
Aircraft tracking agency FlightRadar24 showed that the A330neo operated Flight MH2528 to Kuching and departed KLIA at 7.28pm December 24, instead of the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
Malaysia Airlines cancelled its Melbourne flight on December 21 due to technical issues with the A330neo.
The aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, experienced a series of technical malfunctions following its inaugural flight from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne on December 19.
Datuk Captain Izham Ismail, CEO of Malaysia Aviation Group, said the grounding was necessary to address three technical problems related to factory production and delivery.
Rolls-Royce identified a faulty component as the cause of the issues, with parts replacement underway, while Airbus has also offered support for the aircraft’s technical problems.
Izham expressed frustration, saying that safety is paramount and called for accountability from Airbus and Rolls-Royce over the issues with the new aircraft.
