Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) flights to the Middle East will now feature Arabic-speaking flight attendants. Twenty-five cabin staff were taught Arabic at the Malaysia Airlines Academy in Kelana Jaya.

All 25 cabin crew graduates had undergone 100 training hours to complete the Advanced Elementary level, which is the continuation of the Elementary level that they completed last year. Following completion of the training the graduates will rated in their ability to make in-flight announcements in Arabic. The crew will now be assigned on routes between Kuala Lumpur and Jeddah, Dammam and Dubai.

Malaysia Airlines’ Executive Vice President In-flight Services, Mohd Salleh Ahmad Tabrani said; “In the airline industry, the crew have a vital role to play to determine the success of the company. As cabin crew, they will be spending more time with our customers than anyone of us, and many of our valued customers have very special and unique needs. One of their primary functions is to provide excellent service to our passengers.

“We are facing a lot more challenges now compare to 10 years ago. With globalisation, travellers are becoming more demanding about the kind of service they get on board our flight. Through this initiative, we hope to meet and exceed our customer expectations with stronger focus on route specific needs.

“The introduction of Arabic speaking cabin crew is in line with our strategy to provide branded customer experience strategy through customised service while we continue to deliver consistently high quality hospitality in-flight,” he added.

In 2010, the airline trained 100 cabin crew in conversational Arabic and French, and this year introduced classes in German and Spanish. The airline currently has cabin crew of six different nationalities to for customers on routes to and from Japan, Korea, India, South Africa and South America.