Malaysia Airlines and Brahim's agree to stay together until Aug 31

 

On June 15, the NST reported that Malaysia Airlines and BFS were ready to put an end to their 26-year in-flight catering partnership by end of June 2023 due to a disagreement in their new contract. STR/MOHD ADAM ARININ

KUALA LUMPUR: The turbulent relationship between Malaysia Airlines Bhd and Brahim's Holdings Bhd has been temporarily cooled down as the parties agree to extend their contract until August 2023.

Malaysia Airlines parent Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) told the New Straits Times that it received an agreement from Brahim's in-flight unit, Brahim's Food Services (BFS), on June 28 to extend their contract for two months.

The contract will be effective July 1 2023 to August 31 2023.

"Following the earlier notice, MAG and its subsidiaries will now put on hold its Business Continuity Plan (BCP) which was to offer alternative in-flight F&B options on routes served by BFS to ensure smooth operations and minimise, as far as possible, any impact on customer comfort and experience from July 1.

"MAG shall continue to explore the best option that suits its business goals as a commercial entity while service the national interest as a flag carrier of Malaysia," MAG told the New Straits Times.

MAG also said it continues to review other local reputable F&B service providers that can deliver in-flight offerings to Malaysia Airlines' customers departing from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1.

At the same time, the group is also looking to set up its own in-house F&B services within the MAG subsidiaries in the future.

"MAG also remains steadfast in its quest and commitment to providing a premium customer experience with support from its service providers and suppliers," the airline group said.

On June 15, the NST reported that Malaysia Airlines and BFS were ready to put an end to their 26-year in-flight catering partnership by end of June 2023 due to a disagreement in their new contract.

MAG had said that BFS earlier issued a "Notice of Service Discontinuation" to Malaysia Airlines on June 6.

Brahim's then shared that the national carrier had set an unfair term – the termination for convenience – in the three-year contract which was supposed to come into force on Jan 1 this year.

There seemed to be no reconciliation between the parties until the Ministry of Finance (MoF) stepped in last week as a mediator to mend the broken relationship.

In an interview with the NST recently, MAG group managing director Datuk Captain Izham Ismail said the company wanted to invest its RM4.7 billion cash reserve to migrate some of Malaysia Airlines' services in-house and work with new third-party vendors.

He added that the poor service provided by some of Malaysia Airlines' vendors was affecting its customers.

He named Brahim's as one of the vendors that could not keep their standards high.

The NST had also reported that Malaysia Airlines would handle its own in-flight catering out of KLIA Terminal 1 using one of its sister companies, MAS Awana, if the carrier and BFS failed to reach an agreement by June 30.

The new third-party vendor was rumoured to be Pos Aviation Sdn Bhd.

However, Pos Malaysia Bhd group CEO Charles Brewer said in an interview that Pos Aviation would not be able to produce more in-flight meals currently due to the capacity of its kitchens.

"Right now, we're kind of at max (capacity), so probably (we) wouldn't grow too significant from where we are. Unlikely that they (Malaysia Airlines) would want to and unlikely we would want to just from a capacity perspective," he told the NST recently. - NST