Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is set to retire flight number #MH17 out of respect for the crew and passengers who perished on the ill-fated flight that was reportedly shot down by separatist.
In an official press statement released today, MAS stated:
In light of the recent incident, Malaysia Airlines’ Amsterdam (AMS) – Kuala Lumpur (KUL) service, MH17 flight number will be retired out of respect for our crew and passengers of the mentioned flight code. This will take into effect on 25 July 2014.
There are no changes to the frequency of our services and we will continue to operate daily services between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur.
The new flight number replacing MH17 will be:
MH19 – AMS/KUL
Our thoughts and prayers remains with the families of our colleagues and passengers of MH 17.
MH17 disappeared from radar screens in eastern Ukraine on 17th July, hours after taking off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport bound for Kuala Lumpur. The Boeing 777 is believed to have been shot down 50km from the Ukraine-Russia border.
All 298 passengers and crew on board, including 44 Malaysians, are believed to have perished:
Source: malaysiaairlines.com
Passenger manifest for flight MH17 can be viewed here.
The same was done in March this year when Malaysia Airlines’ Beijing-bound passenger jet #MH370 vanished without a trace. Flight codes MH370 and MH371 were retired as a mark of respect to the 239 people who were on board. The Kuala Lumpur-Beijing service (formerly MH370) has now taken on the code MH318, while the return route will switch from MH371 to MH319.
Meanwhile, Malaysia flags will fly at half-mast until tomorrow (21st July, Monday) as the country mourns the deaths of passengers and crew onboard.
For more timely and verified updates regarding MH17, please visit Malaysia Airlines’ official website and follow their Twitter account. Alternatively the family or friends may call the numbers below in their respective countries:
- Netherlands (Malaysia Airlines Amsterdam office) +31 20 521 62 62
- Australia (Malaysia Airlines Sydney office) +61 2 9364 3526
- Indonesia (Malaysia Airlines Jakarta office) +62 2 1522 9705
- New Zealand (Malaysia Airlines Auckland office) +64 9 306 3930
- United Kingdom (Malaysia Airlines London office) +44 20 7341 2060
- Germany (Malaysia Airlines Frankfurt office) +49 69 1387 1980
- Philippines (Malaysia Airlines Manila office) + 63 2 889 1863
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends, and loved ones of those who were on board the MH17 flight. Here’s special Spotify playlist in remembrance of the lives that were lost.