MALAYSIA Airlines has brought back 143 citizens stranded in Melbourne, Australia on a recent rescue flight.

The Airbus 330-300 rescue flight carried 143 passengers comprising students and tourists, including the elderly.

Flight MH148 departed at 9.16pm on Friday, following delays due to a power failure at Melbourne Airport and arrived 5.49am yesterday at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

“Following the well-publicised challenges faced by Malaysians stranded in Melbourne, Malaysia Airlines has operated a rescue flight to bring our people back home,” Malaysia Airlines group chief executive officer Captain Izham Ismail said in a statement.

This also marks the first time that citizens were allowed to return home to Malaysia since the movement control order that began on March 18.

“With the current global situation putting many in tough situations, we hope this rescue flight can help reunite families, the place we should all aspire to be during the continued adversity that we face today.”

The national carrier has also responded to the reduction in travel demand by operating more passenger-to-cargo flights, carrying valuable essential items and supplies necessary to combat the Covid-19 virus, to various destinations in its network.

The airline carried 35 tonnes of essential cargo consisting of postal mail and surgical gloves from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne on Thursday. – May 17, 2020.