The origin of Malaysia Airlines can be traced back to 1937, when Malayan Airways Limited (MAL) was incorporated on October 12. MAL was a joint initiative of the Ocean Steamship Company of Liverpool, the Straits Steamship Company of Singapore and Imperial Airways. It was formed to run an air service between Penang and Singapore. On April 2, 1947, the airline conducted its first commercial flight, from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia Airlines is the national airline of Malaysia, offering air travel in the country. It is based at KL International Airport, while its secondary hub is located at Kota Kinabalu. In 1997, the air service operated the longest non-commercial, non-stop flight in the world, from Boeing Field in Seattle to Kuala Lumpur, passing Europe and Africa, breaking the Great Circle Distance without landing anywhere in the middle. It has the largest fleet size in South East Asia and is one of the four airlines in the world to have been awarded a 5-star rating by Skytrax.
It has a fleet of Boeing 737-400, Boeing 777-200ER, Boeing 747-400, Airbus A330-300 and Airbus A330-200. Its cargo fleet consists of Boeing 747-200F, Boeing 747-400F and Airbus A300-600R. Malaysia Airlines conducts numerous operations in destinations, spanning cross six continents, while operating from its primary hub at Kuala Lumpur. It also operates transatlantic flights from Kuala Lumpur to Newark Liberty International Airport, via Stockholm Arlanda Airport, and transpacific flights from Kuala Lumpur to Los Angeles International Airport, via Taipei. On the kangaroo Route (between Australia and U.K), the airline links main European gateways to major Australian and New Zealand gateways via Kuala Lumpur International Airport by operating connecting flights. The airline has now expanded its network to growing markets like India and China and other South East Asian countries.