Malaysia’s national carrier plans to utilise Sabre technology to help optimise scheduling, reduce costs and grow revenue as it focuses on recovery.

The Kuala Lumpur-based carrier and Sabre have a successful, valued, long-standing relationship, having worked together for more than two decades. This latest agreement supports Malaysia Airlines’ efforts to deliver robust schedules that are operationally feasible and profitable. It will use Sabre’s network planning and optimisation products for critical decision support to help it to forecast schedule profitability, match capacity and demand, and improve aircraft utilisation and network connectivity.

“With industry recovery progressing well, we’re firmly focused on providing optimum routes whilst ensuring the integrity of our flight schedules,” said  Bryan Foong, group chief strategy officer, Malaysia Airlines. “As such, we’re thrilled to further cement our relationship with Sabre by selecting a full suite of network planning and scheduling solutions that will help the airline in designing the right schedules and deploying the right aircraft on the right route and time to maximise revenue opportunities, optimise costs and meet high traveller demand.”

“What is clear is that airline network planning and optimisation is only becoming more complex,” said Rakesh Narayanan, vice president, regional general manager, Asia Pacific, travel solutions, airline sales. “Airlines can no longer rely on historic data patterns to predict future demand and they are also facing challenges in ramping up capacity and with continuing high fuel costs. So, it’s more important than ever that carriers have advanced technological solutions to predict future demand and adapt to market conditions so they can make the most of every route, every aircraft and every seat.”

The carrier has selected a full suite of Sabre scheduling solutions, made up of:

Schedule Manager which enables the creation of scheduling scenarios, schedule edits, optimisation of aircraft utilisation, creation of connecting banks and checking for feasibility violations, to build commercially viable and operationally feasible schedules.

Fleet Manager which helps optimise fleet management decisions, assigning the most appropriate aircraft type to each flight leg to minimise spoilage and spill, reducing costs and helping to maximise profitability.

Profit Manager which uses complex algorithms and multiple passenger choice modelling to evaluate market share, forecast load factors, and analyse partnerships and alliances, helping to forecast revenue and network profitability.

Codeshare Manager which helps the airline manage codeshare agreements with partner airlines and evaluate potential codeshare connects to maximise revenue. It allows for private what-if analysis, independent of partner airlines to evaluate the value of each partnership.

Slot Manager which is a comprehensive slot management solution allowing airlines to manage slot portfolios, automating the slot messaging process to avoid manual messaging and help ensure schedule and slots are in sync to avoid penalties and loss of historic slots.

Malaysia Airlines flies an extensive route network spanning across Asia Pacific, Middle East and the UK. With travel restrictions having eased in Malaysia earlier this year, bookings immediately surged for both inbound and outbound travel. The carrier is now firmly focused on longer-term plans including launching new routes, expanding codeshare partnerships, replacing aircraft and exploring sustainable aviation fuel options. In a further sign of the recovering premium travel sector, the airline has also re-opened its three Golden Lounges at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.