Malaysia Airlines' MHholidays launch with TUI

By Laura Lee

I first got wind of MHholidays’ upcoming launch from Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) Sales Department Head Roslan Ismail in March and was reminded about it again by him on 22 July at the Bunga Raya Complex in Sepang when I was there to witness our new Visit Truly Asia Malaysia 2020 livery on four airlines, including Malaysia Airlines.

The other airlines carrying the new logo and tagline were Firefly, AirAsia and Malindo Air

Despite being asked to give my card again to one of the airlines’ staff, I still didn’t get the media invite to MHholidays on 24 July. I had to call its corporate communications manager for external and media Adlina Mohamed Azharauddin on that day itself at 9.15am and was stumped to learn that the event is happening in the morning!  

I had given my card to their corporate com staff before this, including to one of their senior executive Norshafiza Zulkifli this year, who can send me post releases, including MHholidays launch, but not the media invites! 

That is not helping me very much to do my job when I’m covering the aviation beat for a monthly publication these last two years. Got Adlina to whatsapp me the details. 

I was sent the itinerary and not the proper media invite. Thought it was rather unprofessional coming from someone representing a corporate organisation and a national carrier.

I can’t help but remember what we Malaysians coin for MAB’s former name, Malaysian Airline System (MAS): Mana Ada System, which means “Where’s the system?” 

I managed to arrive for MHholidays launch when the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik was making his speech.  

The invited guests and media at the launch

For its MHholidays launch, the national carrier is working with Europe’s largest leisure, travel and tourism company TUI to enable travellers to tailor-make their holidays by combining their flights with hotels by tapping into TUI Group’s Global Distribution Network. 

Apparently, travellers can “unlock exclusive and affordable deals from Malaysia Airlines and save up to 80% off on hotels” following this new tie-up while the airline will be able to reach new customer segments and generate additional revenue.

According to MAB Group Chief Operations Officer, Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi, MHholidays will have over 5,000 accommodation partners ranging from budget hostels to luxury suites and will be expanding its portfolio to include ground transfers and tours.   

Those booking packages on MHholidays can also earn Enrich miles on their flight portion.

To commemorate the MHholidays launch, a cake cutting ceremony was also held with Ahmad Luqman, Muhammad Bakhtiar and Frank Rosenberger, member of the TUI Group Executive Board for IT and Future Markets participating in it. 

To celebrate its launch, MHholidays is having a social media contest on Instagram from 24 July to 6 August where you can submit photos of your recent holidays or trips with Malaysia Airlines and complete the caption, “I deserve a dream holiday experience with Malaysia Airlines because...”  

You also need to tag @malaysiaairlines and include the following hashtags: #MalaysiaAirlines #MHholidays and #HolidayswithMalaysiaAirlines. 

The winner with the most unique caption and the most likes gets to win a packaged flight and five-star hotel stay in Bangkok, Kota Kinabalu or Penang. There are also five consolation prizes for a Junior Suite stay at Hotel Maya.

Before departing, I decided to don on some accessories that have been provided and pose for a shot to commemorate making it to the long awaited MHholidays launch