1964 Malaysian Airways Pictorial Map of Southeast Asia

An extremely attractive c. 1964 pictorial map of Southeast Asia, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Philippines issued to promote travel on Malaysian Airways. The map is beautifully illustrated in an art deco ethic, with vignette illustrations of the flora, fauna, people, architecture, and customs of the region. Purple lines illustrate Malaysian Airways flight routes with hubs in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Penang, Bangkok, and Shanghai.

Malaysian Airways

Malaysian Airways was founded as 'Malaysian Airways Limited' in the late 1930s. It's first commercial flight route was initiated in 1947. The airline grew rapidly, boosted by rising demand for air travel during the post-war period. By 1960, the airline was operating Douglas DC-3s, Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations, and Vickers Viscounts on routes from Singapore to Hong Kong, and from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok via Penang. Flights were also introduced from Singapore to cities in the Borneo Territories including Brunei, Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu), Kuching, Sandakan and Sibu. The airline continued to grow and expand flight routes from its Singapore hub until 1963, when, with the founding of Malaysia, it relocated its offices to Kuala Lumpur and shorted its name to Malaysian Airways. In 1966, after the separation of Singapore, the airline was renamed Malaysia–Singapore Airlines (MSA). MSA was subsequently broken up in 1972, its assets forming the core of two separate national airlines—Malaysian Airline System (MAS, since renamed as Malaysia Airlines) and Singapore Airlines. Both remain in operation today.

Publication History and Census

This map was printed by the Straits Times Press in either Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. The map is undated, but the logo and usage of the name Malaysian Airways suggest that the map must have been printed after 1963 but before 1966, when the airline was renamed Malaysia–Singapore Airlines. This appears to be the only surviving example of the map as we have identified no sales history or presence in institutional collections.