Malaysia Airlines 'buy' kept; may benefit from A380 delays - OSK
Kuala Lumpur (XFNews-ASIA) - OSK Research said it is keeping its 'buy' call on Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) although the national carrier may only receive its first A380 aircraft from Airbus in July 2008.
MAS was originally scheduled to receive the first of its six A380s next January which was subsequently pushed back to July 2007, it noted.
"We believe this development is actually beneficial for MAS as it consolidates its longer routes into hub-and-spoke systems," said OSK transport sector analyst Chris Eng.
The carrier initially planned to use the A380s on its Australia and Europe routes, the analyst noted.
The delay will give MAS more time to sign code share agreements with other airlines and consolidate its routes before it takes delivery of the large capacity A380s, he added.
OSK said it is not changing its estimates for now as it believes "MAS may compensate for the delay by holding on longer to some of its B747s."
At 12.06 pm, MAS was down 0.04 rgt or 1.16 pct at 3.42.