Malaysia Airlines imposed a temporary limitation on check-in baggage on its routes to Europe, citing safety and a need to conserve fuel due to ‘unseasonably strong head winds’. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) has imposed a temporary limitation on check-in baggage on its routes to Europe starting from tonight, citing safety and a need to conserve jet fuel due to “unseasonably strong head winds” as its reasons.

Until further notice, the national airline will only allow cabin baggage up to 7kg, with Economy Class passengers allowed to bring one piece up to that weight, while Business and First Class passengers allowed to bring two pieces totaling 14kg.

“In the interest of safety, Malaysia Airlines currently operates a long route to Europe, which combined with temporary unseasonably strong head winds, is limiting the airlines’ ability to carry baggage in cargo,” the airline said in a travel advisory posted on its website today.

A screenshot of the travel advisory on the Malaysia Airlines website posted at 3.02pm January 5, 2016.

“This longer flight path consumes more jet fuel and for safety reasons, Malaysia Airlines has had to impose temporary limitation on checked in baggage allowance.

“Passengers who wish to check in their luggage will be able to do so, however their baggage will only arrive later,” it added.

Malaysia Airlines bans checked baggage on flights to London, Amsterdam & Paris because of "strong head winds" pic.twitter.com/CbDvIN1f3R — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 5, 2016

It is unknown how many flights and passengers will be affected by this directive today.

The restriction also applies on connecting passengers on codesharing airlines from the OneWorld affiliate programmes, and their baggage will also be offloaded.

MAB said it will continue to assess the changing situation over the region, and passengers will be updated when operations return to normal.

In response, flight tracking website Flightradar24 commented on its Twitter account that an Airbus A380 operated by MAB has a flying range of roughly 8,200 miles (13,200 km) while a Boeing B772ER has a range of 8,900 miles (14,300 km).

It compared this to the length of MAB flights from Kuala Lumpur, which are all well below such range: 6,400 miles (10,300 km) to Amsterdam, Netherlands, 6,500 miles (10,500 km) to Paris, France, and 6,600 miles (10,600 km) to London, United Kingdom.

Late last month, a MAB flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Kuala Lumpur unexpectedly began travelling south and surprised pilots who were expecting a northerly route during a Christmas Day flight.

The pilot of flight MH132 noticed that the Airbus A330’s strange path soon after takeoff, and immediately contacted Auckland Oceanic’s air traffic controllers, according to a New Zealand Herald report.