Malaysian Airline A380s has widest seats in sky

That's how much wider the carrier's first-class seats will be than Singapore Air's when it starts flying the Airbus SAS A380 in July. In total, passengers will have more space than on a single-bed mattress, with seats measuring 40 inches by 87 inches.

The new seats, costing about $9,000 for a round trip to London, will spearhead Malaysian Air's push to win corporate and long-haul travelers after higher fuel prices and competition from budget carrier AirAisa Bhd. (AIRA) led to a 2.5 billion ringgit ($795 million) loss last year. Thai Airways International Pcl (THAI) will also get its first A380s this year, adding a further challenge for Singapore Air.

"Malaysian Air has to improve on their premium services in order to be able to compete," said Joshua Ng, an analyst at RHB Research Institute Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur. "There is a bit of national pride involved as well -- especially when you're talking about competing with Singapore Air."

The carrier, the eighth A380 operator, will start flights with the plane on July 1 with a trip to London. Daily services on the route will begin Aug. 25. Flights to Australia and another country will be added as more of the planes enter service, Anbarasu Sundram, a spokesman for the airline based in Subang outside Kuala Lumpur, said by phone. The last is due to arrive in February, Kazinform cites Bloomberg.

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