Malaysia–Singapore Airlines

Malaysia–Singapore Airlines
	Logo used from 1967 to 1972
Founded	1946; (as Malayan Airways); 1963; (as Malaysian Airways); 1966; (as Malaysia–Singapore Airlines);
Ceased operations	30 September 1972; (split into Malaysia Airlines (MH) and Singapore Airlines (SQ))
Hubs	Kuala Lumpur–Simpang (1952–1965); Kuala Lumpur–Subang (1965–1972); Singapore–Kallang (1946–1955); Singapore–Paya Lebar (1955–1972);
Subsidiaries	Borneo Airways; Federation Air Service;
Fleet size	13+
Headquarters	Robinson Road, Raffles Place, Singapore

Malaysia–Singapore Airlines (abbreviation MSA) was the multinational flag carrier of Malaysia and Singapore. The airline was previously renamed twice, being founded as Malayan Airways from 1946 to 1963, Malaysian Airways from 1963 to 1965, and ultimately in 1966 as a result of a joint ownership of the airline by the governments of the two countries not long after Singapore was expelled from Malaysia.^[1] It was headquartered at Robinson Road in Singapore.

MSA was ultimately short-lived due to disagreements between the Malaysian and Singaporean governments as to how to manage the airline. Consequently, the airline would cease operations after just six years in 1972 when both governments decided to set up their own national airlines instead, Malaysian Airline System (MAS)^[a] and Singapore Airlines (SIA).

History

Malayan Airways

The airline traced its roots to the formation of Malayan Airways in 1946. With its first flight on 1 May 1947, piloted by Jimmy Brown with Ken Wood as his radio operator and navigator, the Singapore-based carrier flew on domestic routes between Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang and Singapore on an Airspeed Consul twin engined aeroplane. In April 1948, the airline flew direct international routes from Singapore to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam; Batavia (now Jakarta), Medan and Palembang in Indonesia; and to Bangkok in Thailand via Penang. It also flew a route connecting Penang with Medan.^{[citation needed]}

The airline grew rapidly in the next few years, boosted by rising demand for air travel during the post-war period, when flying was no longer a privilege for the very rich. By 12 April 1960, the airline was operating Douglas DC-3s, Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations and Vickers Viscounts on new routes from Singapore to Hong Kong and from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok via Penang. Flights were also introduced from Singapore to cities in the Borneo Territories including Brunei, Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu), Kuching, Sandakan and Sibu.^{[citation needed]}

Malaysian Airways

The airline saw its name changed twice due to political shifts. In 1963, the creation of the Federation of Malaysia prompted a change of name to "Malaysian Airways". Singapore's expulsion from the federation in 1965 led to another name change to Malaysia–Singapore Airlines (MSA) when the two separate governments took joint ownership of the airline in 1966.^{[citation needed]}

Merger with Borneo Airways

On 1 April 1965, Borneo Airways Limited was officially amalgamated with Malaysian Airways and the merged company was renamed Malaysia–Singapore Airlines the following year to reflect the political changes between Malaysia and Singapore.^[2]

The last of 30 Boeing 737-100s built was delivered to Malaysia–Singapore Airlines in October 1969.^[3] This resulted in the return of the last MSA de Havilland Comet 4s leased from British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) being returned to that airline.^{[citation needed]}

Breakup

The different needs of the two shareholders, however, led to the break-up of the airline just six years later. The Singapore government preferred to significantly develop the airline's international routes, while the Malaysian government preferred to develop a domestic network with regional and international routes being a secondary focus. MSA ceased operations in 1972, with its assets split between two new airlines; Malaysian Airline System Berhad (now Malaysia Airlines),^[4] and Singapore Airlines.

With Singapore Airlines determined to develop its international routes, it took the entire fleet of seven Boeing 707s and five Boeing 737s which would allow it to continue servicing the regional and long-haul international routes. Since most of MSA's international routes were flown out of Singapore, the vast majority of international routes were in the hands of Singapore Airlines. In addition, MSA's headquarters, which was located in Singapore, became the headquarters of Singapore Airlines.^{[citation needed]}

Malaysian Airline System, on the other hand, took all domestic routes within Malaysia and international routes out of the country, as well as the remaining fleet of Fokker F27 Friendships and Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders. It began flights on 1 October 1972.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy

The initials MSA were well regarded as an airline icon and both carriers tried to emulate them. Malaysian went for MAS by just transposing the last two letters and choosing the name Malaysian Airline System, whereas Singapore originally used the name Mercury Singapore Airlines to keep the MSA initials, but that was blocked following protests by Malaysia.^[5] Eventually, Singapore subsequently named the new entity as SIA, creating a new initial that would eventually be an airline icon itself within the following decades.^[6]

In 2024, Izham Ismail, the Executive Director of Malaysia Airlines, alleged that the decline of its airline when compared to Singapore Airlines was not due to the emergence of low-cost carriers (LCCs), but rather the break up of Malaysia–Singapore Airlines.^[7]

Corporate affairs

In the 1960s, Malaysian Airways was headquartered in Raffles Place, Singapore.^[8] By 1971, the headquarters had moved to the MSA Building at Robinson Road in Singapore.^[9] The building later became the SIA building.^[10]

Gallery

An Airspeed Consul, the first aircraft type operated by Malayan Airways
Malaysia–Singapore Airlines Boeing 737, Singapore International Airport
An MSA Boeing 707 at Zurich-Kloten Airport, 1972

Fleet

Over the years, the airline operated many aircraft including:^[4]^[11]

Malayan Airways, Malaysian Airways and Malaysia–Singapore Airlines historical fleet
Aircraft	Introduced	Retired	Notes
Airspeed Consul	1947	1951
Boeing 707-320	1967	1980-1982	Transferred to Singapore Airlines
Boeing 737-100	1969	1980	Transferred to Singapore Airlines
Boeing 737-200	1971	1980
Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander	1968	1972
Cessna 310F	Unknown	Unknown	One aircraft in Malaysian Airways fleet prior to merger with Borneo Airways^[12]
de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver	1952	Unknown	Operated by Federation Air Service prior to merger with Malayan Airways^[13]
de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide	1949	1958
de Havilland DH.106 Comet 4	1962	1969	Operated by Malaysian Airways prior to merger with Borneo Airways^[12]^[14]
Douglas DC-3	1947	1968	Operated by Malaysian Airways and Borneo Airways prior to merger^[12]
Douglas DC-4	1958	1960
Fokker F27 Friendship	1963	1972	Operated by Malaysian Airways prior to merger with Borneo Airways^[12]
Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation	1960	1960
Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer	1959	1962	Operated by Borneo Airways prior to merger with Malaysian Airways^[12]
Vickers Viscount	1959	1962

Former destinations

Malayan Airways

Brunei - Brunei Town
Burma - Mergui, Rangoon
British Hong Kong
Indonesia - Batavia / Djakarta, Medan, Palembang
Malaya - Alor Setar, Ipoh, Kota Bharu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Terengganu, Kuantan, Malacca, Penang, Singapore, Taiping
Philippines - Manila
Sabah - Jesselton, Labuan, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Tawau
Sarawak - Kuching, Sibu, Miri
Thailand - Bangkok
South Vietnam - Saigon