Malaysia Airlines indicates interest in 20-30 widebody jets from Airbus or Boeing: source

Malaysia Airlines has indicated that it may be interested in buying 20-30 widebody jets from either Boeing or Airbus, a source said. Such a deal could either expand or replace a previous non-binding agreement with Boeing that was reached during a high-profile US visit by the country’s prime minister last year, the source said. Its MOU with Boeing to buy eight long-range 787 jets, valued at $2.25b at list prices, had come as a surprise given that the carrier already had an all-Airbus widebody fleet. For a carrier of Malaysia Airlines’ modest size to operate similar-sized planes from both manufacturers would tend to reduce efficiency and add to costs. While the Boeing 787 is included in the airline’s latest request for information for the 20-30 jets, it has also listed the Airbus A330neo and A350 for consideration, the source said. In a statement after the initial version of this story – which referred to a tender process - was published, Malaysia Airlines described it as “speculative and erroneous.” It said there is “no such tender process as alleged” and the MoU with Boeing remains in place. It said the airline will not be commenting on the matter further.<br/>