Malaysia Airlines resumes checked baggage on Europe routes

Add to that the longer routes the carrier flies because one of its jets was shot down over war-torn Ukraine, and it had a plausible, though not entirely believable, safety defence for asking travellers to hop on a Kuala Lumpur-to-Paris flight with just a hand-carry bag (or two, if they weren’t flying economy). Others asked for a refund of their tickets.

But even if customers think the move was a desperate penny-pinching ploy, there are several reasons chief executive officer Christoph Mueller, who took over last March, shouldn’t lose much sleep over the fiasco.

Services to London using long-range Airbus Group SE A380 superjumbos could operate normally using a shorter route after the airline updated a “risk-assessment matrix” with new data, the airline said. “By their reasoning all other carriers in South-east Asia heading to Europe would not be able to check in luggage, too, if indeed what they claim is true”, Mr Shukor Yusof, founder of Endau Analytics, an aviation consultancy firm in Malaysia, told AFP.

The airline said it was unable to carry any luggage in the cargo hold due to the fact it is “currently operating a long route to Europe”.

Malaysia Airlines has imposed a temporary limitation on checked in baggage allowance for Kuala Lumpur-Europe flights to ensure passengers’ safety in view of the unseasonably strong head winds. Singapore Airlines (SIA) increased baggage allowances for all classes starting in November 2013.

The carrier’s “Bucket List ” advertisement campaign in September 2014 sparked criticism across social media.

SIA and Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways have no plan to change their checked baggage policies, the carriers said in e-mailed statements.

Economy passengers are limited to carry-on baggage weighing no more than 7kg (15 pounds), while business and first class passengers get double that amount.

In comparison the length of Malaysian flights from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam Schiphol with 6,400 miles (10,300km), Paris Charles de Gaulle with 6,600 miles (10,500km)and London Heathrow with 6,600 miles (10,600km) are well below that range, according to Flightradar.

The next day, amid public ridicule, it dropped all the restrictions. “Malaysia opted to take the revenue and aggregate the bags”.