Raya Airways Sdn Bhd d/b/a Raya Airways, is a cargo airline with its head office at Cyberjaya, Selangor and the main hub for Raya Airways at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia.[1]

Raya Airways
IATA ICAO Call sign
TH RMY RAYA EXPRESS
FoundedNovember 1993; 31 years ago (1993-11)
Commenced operationsOctober 2014; 10 years ago (2014-10)
(as Raya Airways)
Hubs
Fleet size9
Destinations10
HeadquartersCyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Websitewww.rayaairways.com

It is an express freight and freighter charter company. The airline was established in November 1993 as Transmile Air. It has courier transportation services between Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia and services international companies such as DHL, United Parcel Service, Air Macau and CEN Worldwide. Raya Airways also provides aircraft charters and wet leases specialists with experience operating cargo flights around the world. Raya Airways was designated a National Cargo Carrier by the Malaysian Transport Ministry in 1996.

Raya Airways is owned by Mohamad Najib Ishak. The previous CEO, Lee Shashitheren, was fired for corruption.[2]

Raya has expanded its fleet with the addition of the A321P2F, bringing its total fleet count to six. The A321P2F will enhance the carrier's capabilities to cater to a wider customer base, expand its network reach and improve its cargo handling capacity.

The cargo airline posted a net profit for the year ending December 31, 2020 with revenue of MYR334. 12 million (US$79. 9 million), and MYR3. The expected revenue for 2023 was 4-500 million MYR.[citation needed]

History

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Raya Airways began its operations as Transmile Air Services with one Boeing 737 and one Cessna Grand Caravan, in providing air express transport service to Pos Malaysia Berhad for their courier business to East Malaysia in November 1993. It later developed into an international company and the only dedicated intra-Asian overnight express cargo operator in Malaysia. Their first Boeing 727 freighter service commenced in 2000 for the Kuala Lumpur/Penang-Bangkok-Hong Kong courier sector. It was an extended operation for their existing client, DHL International Limited. Over five years, owing to the increasing demand of freight services in the region, Transmile Air Services increased its Boeing 727 fleet to 10. As part of the strategy to expand its operations and network of connecting routes, Transmile Air Services acquired four MD-11s in 2005. The airline started the MD-11 operation for Kuala Lumpur-Hong Kong-Los Angeles sector in the third quarter of 2005.[3]

From 2002 to 2006, Transmile Air Services provided air cargo service to Air Macau.[4] In 2014, the Airline was rebranded as Raya Airways.[5] Their subsidiaries are K-Mile Air of Thailand and now-defunct Megantara Air of Indonesia, both of which operated aircraft transferred from their fleet.

Destinations

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Transmile Air Services, McDonnell Douglas MD-11F
 
Raya Airways Boeing 767-200
Country City Airport Notes Refs
China Nanning Nanning Wuxu International Airport [6]
Malaysia Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu International Airport
Kuala Lumpur Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Hub
Kuala Lumpur International Airport Hub
Kuching Kuching International Airport
Labuan Labuan Airport
Tawau Tawau Airport
Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong International Airport
Indonesia Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
Singapore Singapore Changi Airport
Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat International Airport

Fleet

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Current

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The airline consists of the following aircraft (as of January 2024):[7][8]

Raya Airways fleet
Aircraft In
service
Orders Notes
Airbus A321-200P2F 3 First freighter variant operator in Southeast Asia[9]
Boeing 737-400SF 1
Boeing 767-200BDSF 4
Total 8

Former

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As Transmile Air Services, the airline formerly operated the following aircraft:[10]

Raya Airways former fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Boeing 727-200F 12 1996 2015
Boeing 737-200F 9 1994 2014
Boeing 757-200PCF 1 2015 2020
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan 6 1995 2008
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 2 1998 1998 Leased from Laker Airways
McDonnell Douglas MD-11F 4 2005 2011

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Group Offices." Raya Airways. Retrieved on 11 December 2014. "Corporate & Finance Raya Airways Centre Cargo Complex, Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport. 47200 Subang, Selangor Darul Ehsan MALAYSIA"
  2. ^ Devaraj, Samuel (3 October 2022). "S'porean father and son duo jailed for corruption involving former chief of Malaysian cargo airline". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Raya Airways Airline Profile | CAPA".
  4. ^ "Air Macau and Transmile Air Services to launch new freight services". CAPA. 2005. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Raya Airways". centreforaviation.com. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Raya Airways is first Malaysian freight service into Nanning, China" (PDF). Raya Airways. 15 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World. October 2019: 20.
  8. ^ "Raya Airways Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  9. ^ Kamaruddin, Faiqah (22 May 2023). "Raya Airways welcomes its first Airbus A321". New Straits Times. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Transmile Air Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
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