Malaysia Airlines seeks new widebody planes as jets fill up

Malaysia Airlines is looking to lease widebody planes to boost its network from next year and will make a decision on a order of new planes for delivery from 2019 later this year, the carrier's CE said. Peter Bellew said load factors - or how full its planes are - were 81 percent in January and 80% in February and that bookings for April, May and June were looking solid. "My problem now is I don't have enough seats and I don't have big enough aircraft," Bellew said. The national carrier is emerging from a turnaround after twin tragedies since 2014, when flight MH370 disappeared in what remains a mystery, and flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine. He said Malaysia Airlines wanted to lease six A330s or 777s for use from 2018 and a further six for 2019 and that the carrier saw a good chance to get some good rates. "Some airlines in the Middle East and Turkey have grounded aircraft so it's a good time for Malaysia Airlines to be looking for these type of aircraft," he said. Bellew also said he planned to make a decision on an order for 25-30 new A330neo or 787 widebody planes by the end of the first half of this year to replace its A330s from the end of 2019.<br/>