On 18 September 2025, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) made history on Flight MH2610 when it departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL), Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI), Kota Kinabalu. The flight was entirely staffed entirely by women: the crew was all-female and so were the flight attendants, check-in staff, engineers, security officers, and ground operators.
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This landmark event marked Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG)’s extraordinary efforts in not simply touching the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) 25by2025 initiative, but bettering it. MAG reports that women now constitute 36% of its total workforce, exceeding the IATA target.
Details of flight MH2610 from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu
A Facebook post by Malaysian Airlines revealed that Flight MH2610 left KUL on the scheduled day with every operational role from “check-in agents, engineers, and security officers to cabin crew and pilots” was performed by women.
Here is a table summarizing MAG / MAS in terms of scale, base, and related metrics:
| Attribute | Details |
| Airline | Malaysia Airlines (MAS) – part of Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) |
| Based in | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Hub(s) | Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) is principal hub |
| Founded | Malaysia Airlines traces its foundation to 1947; MAG is its parent group overseeing airline operations, engineering, ground handling, etc. |
| Workforce female share | ~36 % of MAG’s total employees are women (as of September 2025) |
Malaysia Airlines, which has one of the largest airline capacity in South East Asia, revealed in a post how delighted they were of its achievement:
“With women now making up 36 per cent of Malaysia Aviation Group’s workforce, surpassing the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) 25by2025 initiative, this milestone marks not just progress, but a powerful reminder that the sky has no limits…..To all our colleagues and future aviators, may the flight inspire you to dream bigger and break barriers.”
Malaysia had done something similar, albeit in a smaller scale before
The following table compares previous operations by Malaysia Airlines / MAG and other airlines where full or majority female teams were used.
| Instance | Date & Route | Scope of all/majority female involvement | Purpose / Motivation |
| Flight MH2610, Kuala Lumpur → Kota Kinabalu | 18 Sept 2025 | Entire flight staff (ground, security, engineers, cabin crew, pilots) all women | To showcase female representation; surpass IATA 25by2025 goals; promote women in aviation in Malaysia |
| MAS all-female flight for International Women’s Day, KL → Kuching | March 2023 | All operations managed by female staff; female pilots and air-crew among them | To celebrate International Women’s Day; to highlight “Embrace Equity” campaign. |
How does MH2610 fit in IATA’s 25by2025 initiative
The 25by2025 program by the International Air Transport Association is a voluntary industry-wide initiative launched in 2019, urging signatory organisations like MAH group to achieve a minimum of 25% female participation in these roles by end-2025.
Here are some snippets of the 25by2025 program:
- Increase female nominations from airline for IATA governance roles to a minimum of 25% (IATA members only).
- Increase the number of women in top senior positions to a minimum of 25%.
- Increase the number of women participating at events, panels and conferences to a minimum of 25%.
- Increase the number of women in senior positions and under-represented areas by 25%, or up to a minimum of 25% by 2025
This table highlights the steady progress Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) has made in increasing female representation across technical and leadership roles between 2021 and 2024.
| Role | 2021 | 2024 |
| Management Pilots | 0% | 5% |
| Engineers | 6% | 8% |
| Technicians | 5% | 8% |
Which aircraft was used for the all-female crew flight MH 2610?
According to data from FlightAware, Malaysia Airlines uses a Boeing 737-800 on its operations between BKI and KUL. Malaysia Airlines has 40 aircraft of this type in its fleet and these have an average age of 12.8 years. Let’s have a look at how the airline configures its 737-800 – the type that is used in its historic flight.
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 cabin configurations
| Cabin Feature | Refreshed 2022 Configuration (12C 162M) | Outgoing Configuration (16C 144M) |
| Business Class layout | 12 Safran 600 recliner seats, 2-2 layout | 16 recliner seats, 2-2 layout |
| Business Class pitch | 39″ | 42″ |
| Business Class width | 23″ | 23″ |
| Business Class features | Fold-down tablet holder; USB-A, USB-C, + 1 Universal 115V AC socket | 10.6″ display; 1 USB-A + 1 Universal 115V AC socket |
| Economy Class layout | 162 Safran 110i slimline seats, 3-3 layout | 144 slimline seats, 3-3 layout |
| Economy pitch | 30″ (36″ at rows 14 & 15) | 30″ (36″ at rows 12 & 14) |
| Economy width | 17.5″ | 17.5″ (rows 5, 12, 14 slightly narrower due to tray tables in armrests) |
| Economy features | Fold-down tablet holder; USB-A and USB-C sockets | Recline: 2″; 9″ display; Universal 115V AC socket |
| Other notes | Shallow bulkhead screen; row 4 footwells extend beneath row 3 seats | Connectivity not available |
Source: Aerolopa
All in all
Malaysia Airlines’ all-women flight adds to a gradual but accelerating trend in aviation to integrate gender diversity beyond tokenism. Much like how Malaysia Airlines managed a full-female crew flight in 2023, the Nepalese state carrier Nepal Airlines also followed in the footsteps, and managed a full-female crew flight in 2024.