MALAYSIAN AVIATION news - The news in general [Archive] - Page 2

hkskyline

June 17th, 2006, 05:19 AM

Malaysia Airline's workers union wants purchase of Airbus A380 jets scrapped
16 June 2006

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia Airline's labor union on Friday urged the carrier's parent company to scrap its planned purchase of six A380 superjumbos following delivery delays announced by Airbus.

The Malaysian Airline System Employees Union, which represents some 9,000 of the carrier's 23,000 staff, said that the funds saved could be used to boost the money-losing airline's cash flow and finance the upkeep of existing aircraft.

Even if Airbus compensates Malaysia Airlines for the delay, the carrier must bear the cost of maintaining the A380s and sending pilots and engineers to train in Airbus' base in Toulouse, France, the union said in a statement carried by the national news agency, Bernama.

Airbus earlier this week announced it will postpone its delivery schedule for the world's largest passenger aircraft by six to seven months, blaming production-line bottlenecks for the delays. It is the second time production of the A380 has been held up.

Malaysia Airlines said Wednesday that Penerbangan Malaysia was reviewing the terms of a 2003 agreement with Airbus to buy the double-decker jets after Airbus advised the carrier that only nine of the double-decker jets would be delivered in 2007 to its various launch customers.

In September 2005, Malaysia Airlines said it had been informed by Airbus that the first A380 jetliner it ordered would be delivered in July 2007, six months later than planned.

The airline is struggling to revamp its operations as part of efforts to cut losses. The carrier last month reported a loss of 321 million ringgit (US$89 million; €74 million) in the first quarter to March, pulled down by higher fuel costs.

Under a plan to return to profitability in 2007, Malaysia Airlines plans to give up its near-monopoly on domestic routes, sell its headquarters and lay off up to 5,000 employees.

Malaysia Airlines operates one of Southeast Asia's biggest passenger plane fleets with about 100 aircraft, most of which are leased from its holding company, Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd., a state-run firm that owns most of the airline's assets.

musang

June 27th, 2006, 10:05 AM

BY JAGDEV SINGH SIDHU

PUTRAJAYA: Transmile Group Bhd signed a new agreement with DHL International yesterday to tap the fast growing overnight air express business in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.

The new five-year strategic alliance agreement, with a provision for a further five years, would see Transmile's business with DHL booming with the use of more planes and routes throughout its network.

“Our strategic alliance with DHL is a win-win scenario with the main benefactors being our customers as it will significantly enhance our value propositions to them,'' Transmile chairman Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik said in statement at the agreement-signing ceremony between Transmile and DHL yesterday. The event was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

With cargo volume handled by Transmile at Subang for its last financial year 100% higher than the previous year, and with the airfreight carrier seeing a big increase in capacity with the delivery of its wide-body MD11 planes, Transmile CEO Gan Boon Aun is expecting DHL to be a big customer for Transmile this year.

The agreement, which allows Transmile to better manage its costs with DHL, would see both carriers cooperating to identify new and lucrative sectors in the high premium market.

Speaking to the media after signing the agreement, Gan projected that the agreement with DHL, which would account for about 30% of Transmile's business, would lead to substantially more revenue being generated for Transmile this year. DHL currently uses about five Transmile planes and the agreement will see more planes being used.

DHL Express Asia Pacific CEO Scott Price said one attraction of DHL was the landing rights the Malaysian carrier had, especially within Asia and inter-continental flights to the US.

“The strategic alliance is an important step for both DHL and Transmile as it offers us opportunities to tap the growth of intra-Asia and inter-continental trade volumes to elevate the strategic importance of Malaysia and other Asian countries in world trade,'' he said.

He added that the agreement was timely as DHL was expecting the weight of cargo from the Asian region to grow by three-fold over the next decade.
Transmile has the rights to fly to many countries in Asia, in particular China and India. Apart from that, another key route is the trans-Pacific flight between Hong Kong and the US. The agreement will also see DHL use more of Transmile's routes.

Gan said the limiting factor now with Transmile was the size of its fleet – 20 aircraft but with only four wide-body MD11. Gan said Transmile planned to double or triple the size of its fleet.

Price said DHL at the moment was not considering taking a stake in Transmile.

nazrey

July 5th, 2006, 08:02 AM

Woman gives birth on flight to Kuching
05 Jul 2006
NewStraitTimes

KUCHING: Norhaizan Sharbini, 44, wanted to have her third child born in Kuching, but the infant had other plans.

On a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching, the baby girl was born at 7.05pm.

Father Zafree Mohd Zain, 42, said Norhaizan experienced labour pains about 7pm, and her water bag burst shortly after that.

The MAS customer service officer asked for help from the cabin crew, who then asked passengers if there was a doctor among them.

Dr Wan Ali Tuanku Mahdi, a general practitioner based in Kuching, was on board.

He settled Norhaizan on the four-seater in the middle aisle of the Airbus and went to work to deliver the baby.

Zafree said: "I was nervous for my wife and was relieved when told that a doctor was among the passengers."

Norhaizan is reported to be in stable condition at the Sarawak General Hospital where she was admitted after the plane landed.

The couple’s two other children were on board the flight.

Dr Wan Ali said this was his first experience of delivering a baby on a plane.

travellator

July 5th, 2006, 08:32 PM

Corporate clients take to private aircraft

July 5 2006

TO MOST travellers, flying on scheduled commercial flights is no longer a pleasurable experience but a necessary evil that one has to endure to get from one destination to another.

Flight delays, lost luggage, cramped seating and tight airport security are some of the infamous problems associated with commercial flights.

Where business is concerned, these hassles can also lead to reduced productivity. An executive who is waiting eight hours at the airport for a connecting flight is not contributing to the company's bottom line.

What is the alternative?

For those who can afford it, the answer is chartered air services, be it in the form of private jets, light aircraft or helicopters.

Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Kok Soo Chon says Malaysia's general aviation sector, which includes air charter services, has experienced a tremendous quantum leap over the last two years.

This can be seen from the increased numbers of air service permits (ASPs) given to companies to carry out general aviation activities.

Compared to only 16 ASPs two years ago, the total number of permits issued so far has gone up to 20. Another 11 approved applications and 17 new applications are being processed.

"The increasing numbers of ASPs indicate a strong growth in demand for general aviation services. Maintaining and operating aircraft is costly. I don't think companies would simply commit themselves to this if they don't think that it would be a viable business," he said.

Kok attributed the growth in this sector largely to the increasing economic activities taking place in the country.

For example, more activities such as oil exploration and project site visits have created a surge in demand for charter helicopter services.

"As society becomes more affluent, naturally there will be demand for more personalised services like this. Companies are willing to pay extra for the flexibility in determining their own flight schedules and destinations.

"From a business point of view, charter services would help companies save time and this, in turn, will translate into higher productivity and cost savings," he added.

Large corporations such as YTL group and Naza Holdings have already subscribed to this service not only to fly senior managers and executives, but also to take clients and media representatives to view their project sites.

Weststar Aviation Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Weststar Holdings, is one operator that has frequent dealings with corporate clients. One of its biggest customers is utility company Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

A spokesperson for Weststar Aviation said Tenaga Nasional engages its services almost every weekend, either to transport its VIPs or to check power lines across the country.

Systematic Aviation Services Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Ismail Asha'ari, meanwhile, said demand for charter services at the moment is still largely driven by corporate and business usage.

This is mainly because travelling via charter is more expensive compared to commercial flights.

A return Kuala Lumpur-Langkawi trip on a 10-passenger aircraft may cost somewhere around RM5,000 (or RM500 per passenger) - costlier compared to what AirAsia is charging.

"For normal travellers, the price tag may seem a bit hefty. However, one must realise that the convenience and comfort that comes with the service is priceless.

"There is definitely room for improvement to encourage more leisure travellers to switch to this particular service. Maybe travel agents and other relevant players could play a more aggressive role in helping to create the awareness," he added.

The growing use of aerial services for purposes other than transportation has also contributed to the growth of this business.

Surendra Singham, managing director of Aerohawk Air Sdn Bhd - formerly known as Skytolet - said his business was more focused on advertising and marketing.

Initially, under Skytolet, the company operated a sky banner for ntv7. Now its helicopter charter services are primarily used by Astro for its daily traffic reports as well as to fly radio DJs to attend functions.

"As you can see, the main focus of our business here is more on marketing and advertising, and not so much on transporting people.

"The demand for this sort of services is growing. Business people are getting more creative on how to market their services and products. However, the problem at this moment is that demand exceeds supply," he added.

Entrepreneur Tengku Mohd Firman Tengku Farris, who runs a 40ha horse ranch in Gurun, Kedah, admits to having subscribed to charter services to market his equine-park business.

He said the company engaged the services of an aviation company to capture an aerial video of the ranch.

"The ranch is huge. Some clients may not have time to spare to tour the whole area. I think the best solution for this type of clients is to present them with an aerial video clip of our entire ranch.

"In business one has to be creative. You need to use whatever tools available to effectively market your product and services. You just can't be conventional," he added.

nazrey

July 30th, 2006, 07:44 AM

Cabinet wants MAS' Penang-Langkawi flights resumed
29-07-2006
The Star

PENANG: Malaysian Airlines has been asked by the Cabinet to resume the Penang-Langkawi flights that it had done away with.

Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Donald Lim said the Cabinet wanted MAS to resume the route from Sept 1.

The national carrier would fly twice a day between the two popular tourist destinations after restarting the route, he told reporters at the launch of the Famous Street Food of Penang กV a Guide and Cook Book here yesterday.

Lim clarified, however, that this would not change MAS' decision to stop flights between the two venues on Aug 1, as planned earlier.

กง(But) the Cabinet has made a decision that MAS restart the route on Sept 1 and fly twice a day from Penang to Langkawi,กจ he said, adding that a growing number of visitors from the Middle East was keen on these two places, in addition to Genting Highlands.

liping_t

August 2nd, 2006, 07:58 AM

Politicians should stay away from making business decisions. If there is profit to be made, u can be sure the airlines will fly there.....government interference is how our companies always bleed $

pedang

August 5th, 2006, 03:16 PM

AirAsia tiada permohonan ke Singapura

KETUA Eksekutif Kumpulan AirAsia, Datuk Tony Fernandes semalam menolak desas-desus bahawa syarikat penerbangan tambang murah itu mengemukakan permohonan baru untuk ke Singapura.

“Terdapat banyak spekulasi (bahawa AirAsia mengemukakannya),” katanya kepada pemberita selepas sesi dialog antara anggota Kelab Perniagaan Kuala Lumpur dengan Presiden Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono di Kuala Lumpur, semalam.

Beliau berkata, walaupun Singapura adalah satu daripada banyak laluan yang mendapat perhatian AirAsia, negara jiran itu bukan menjadi destinasi utama.

“Kami menimbangkan semua laluan yang ada. Adalah jelas bahawa jika ia boleh didapati, kami akan menelitinya. Tetapi ia bukan satu keutamaan,” kata Tony.

Mengenai pengembangan di Indonesia, beliau berkata, AirAsia berminat untuk ke Palembang dan Pekan Baru setiap hari, dan menambah kekerapan ke Jogjakarta.

“Laluan solo kami menunjukkan kejayaan, jadi kami meninjau untuk menambah kekerapan di sana juga. Kami merancang untuk ke destinasi ini dari Kuala Lumpur dan mengharapkan sedikit dari Johor Bahru,” katanya sambil menambah terdapat permintaan yang besar di Malaysia Timur. – Bernama

nazrey

September 7th, 2006, 06:41 AM

FAX To Fly Kota Kinabalu-Labuan Route From Sept 18
06-09-2006

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- Fly Asian Xpress (FAX (http://www.flyasianxpress.com/site/en/fax/home.jsp)) will be commencing flights between Kota-Kinabalu and Labuan from September 18 onwards.

FAX would operate two daily flights on the route with the airline's Fokker 50s, the company said in a statement.

Flights from Kota Kinabalu to Labuan would depart daily at 10.30 am and 6.45 pm, while from Labuan, the departure times would be 9.35 am and 7.40 pm.

Promotional fares for this new route will start from RM29.99 one way. Available from Friday, Sept 8, 2006 onwards, seats can be purchased online at www.flyasianxpress.com, AirAsia airport and sales offices nationwide, appointed travel agents and call centres.

Locals and travellers alike can look forward to more connectivity between Miri and Sibu, as FAX would be boosting flight frequencies for Miri-Sibu from 14 flights weekly to 21 flights weekly (three times daily).

nazrey

September 29th, 2006, 04:37 AM

Finnair seeks partnership with MAS
By Tamimi Omar, 28 Sep 2006 9:09 PM
THEEDGEDAILY

http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/storage/images/com.tms.cms.image.Image_f485b852-cb73c03a-14176900-6d56a01e/1/Finnair,-MAS_inside.jpg

Sundberg (right) exchanging documents with Worldwide Aviation MD Chris TI
Tan, witnessed by Ambassador of Finland Lauri Korpinen, at the signing
ceremony

Finnair Plc is keen on partnering with Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) to expand the Finnish airlines' presence in the Asean region, Finnair area vice president of Europe, Asia and the Americas, Hannu Sundberg, said.

He said Finnair would want to start talks with MAS "as soon as possible" on how the two airlines can co-operate and work together.

Asked if the talks would include code-sharing, Sundberg said: “That would depend on the discussions and where they end. We will just have to see where we can have common ground.”

He was speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 28 after Finnair signed a deal appointing Worldwide Aviation Industry Sdn Bhd as its general sales agent in Malaysia.

Sundberg said Finnair would open its sales office on Jan 15, 2007 and will operate three flights per week from Kuala Lumpur to Helsinki via Bangkok starting May 21, 2007.

He said the number of passengers between KL and Europe had increased over 10% annually in the past couple of years and is anticipated to grow further.

He said KL will be Finnair’s 11th destination in Asia, other than Tokyo, Beijing, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Osaka, Singapore, Shanghai, Nagoya, Hong Kong and New Delhi (to start in November this year).

nazrey

September 29th, 2006, 04:42 AM

Stockholm wants MAS to continue flying route
Friday September 29, 2006
TheStar

http://www.thestar.com.my/archives/2006/9/29/nation/n_19chan.jpg

MUTUAL TALKS: Chan (right) having a discussion with Rekke (left) at the
Arlanda Airport in Stockholm yesterday. Also present were Transport Ministry
deputy secretary-general Datuk Zakaria Bahari (second right) and other
Malaysian delegates.

STOCKHOLM: Sweden wants Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to continue its Kuala Lumpur-Stockholm-New York route.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said the message from tour agents, the business community and airport authorities here was clear that MAS should carry on operating the service.

“Even the Swedish government through its Industry, Employment and Communication Ministry has strongly appealed to us to reconsider the decision.

“I will convey the appeal to the MAS management,” he told Malaysian reporters yesterday.

Chan had earlier met Swedish Civil Aviation Administration Group and Stockholm Arlanda Airport director-general Lars Rekke.

MAS said it would stop servicing the route on Jan 14 next year after operating it for 20 months since November 2004.

However, Chan said the Government, a major MAS shareholder, would not interfere with the company's decision.

“We seldom interfere with the decision taken by MAS especially when it was made with the best interest of the airlines.

“The decision to discontinue the route was based on a commercial decision which the Government should interfere less in,” he said.

Rekke described the decision as “a very bad thing to happen to Sweden.”

“The service between Kuala Lumpur and Stockholm has benefited the two nations in many ways such as investment, business promotion and tourism,” he said.

He said MAS, being a prestigious airline, had great potential in Sweden and the 20 month-service was too short a time to make the judgment.

fairul

September 29th, 2006, 05:25 PM

MAS to stop flying to Stockholm...Finnair will start flying to KUL...hhm...just start a code share then..

nazrey

October 1st, 2006, 06:03 AM

Envoy welcomes Helsinki-KL flight route
Sunday October 1, 2006
BY PAUL GABRIEL
TheStar

http://biz.thestar.com.my/archives/2006/10/1/business/b_39helsinki.jpg

IT'S FINAL: Sundberg (right) and Korpinen shaking hands after the signing of
the agreement with Worldwide Aviation Agencies managing director Chris
Tan (centre) in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

TWO days before Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi left for Helsinki to attend the recent Sixth Asia-Europe (Asem) Meet, he spoke to Finland’s Ambassador to Malaysia Lauri Korpinen at a cultural event in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

The two men met again on the tarmac of the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport, when Korpinen greeted the Prime Minister after he stepped off his executive jet.

While Abdullah had flown in hassle-free comfort, the burly envoy had to endure stopovers and aircraft hops in the long-haul commercial airline flight to Helsinki.

Finland is the world's northern-most country, and it took almost 20 hours for Korpinen to get home from here, with a long transit and aircraft change in Bangkok.

For long, Korpinen had hoped to get in a plane that would fly him to Finland without long waits and multiple stops.

The envoy will not have to wait much longer. Finnair, one of the world's oldest operating airlines, is to introduce its latest route to Asia with a thrice-weekly Helsinki-Kuala Lumpur service beginning on May 21 next year.

“This is, of course, fabulous news, Finnair flying to Kuala Lumpur. KL is an important destination and Malaysia, a beautiful country.

“It is also great to see another link forming between Europe and Asia,” said Korpinen, who is also the European Union (EU) Group of Ambassadors’ chairman in Malaysia, by virtue of Finland’s current presidency of the EU.

There was an early celebration at Korpinen’s residence in Jalan Ampang on Thursday, where senior Finnair executives gathered to brief the ambassador on the airline’s “path” to Kuala Lumpur.

The airline’s area vice-president (Europe, Asia & The Americas) Hannu Sundberg wore a look of confidence as he unveiled the details.

“This will be a great opportunity to not only bring Finn tourists to Malaysia, but also from all of Scandinavia.

“We have researched the market possibilities thoroughly and have no doubts as to the great potential in store. KL will be our 11th service to Asia,” he said.

Also present was Finnair’s country manager (Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia) Jere Tala, marketing communications manager Jarkko Konttinen, and Worldwide Aviation Agencies Sdn Bhd managing director Chris Tan.

Worldwide Aviation has been appointed the general service agent for Finnair in Malaysia.

Sundberg highlighted another factor that would make Finnair’s service here a hit – the guaranteed all-year round “warm welcome” in KL!

“Winter is the longest season in Finland, and Finns would want to get out and head here for some sunshine. And if Malaysians want to escape the heat here, you may want to consider cool Finland,” he said.

Finland's reputation as a winter holiday destination would be a major advantage for the new service, and Sundberg knows this.

In “dark” December, thousands of tourists are drawn to this European land of myths and legends known as “Santaland” for its snow-carpeted playgrounds.

About 40,000 visitors travel from Britain alone to see Santa Claus in Santapark during Yuletide in Finland.

However, Sundberg said, the Finnish Tourism Board would have much to do before people in this part of the world recognised Finland's rich range of culture, nature and adventure tourism.

He said Finnair, established in 1923, had to wait till May to begin the service as it was awaiting the delivery of new Boeing A340 aircraft.

“In the interim, we will be using the 252-seat capacity Boeing MD-11 aircraft for the Helsinki-KL route. Finnair’s Business Class on all long-haul flights is equipped with lie-flat seats,” he said.

With Finland’s growing business presence in Malaysia, Finnair’s service would be more “relevant”. There are already 45 Finnish firms operating in Malaysia, with Helsinki-based Oy Nokia Ab being the best-known name.

Korpinen said Malaysia was becoming an investment target for Finnish firms due to the excellent infrastructure, lower costs plus the availability of broadband and telecommunication services.

“This is another reason why we are extremely confident of a full load to KL,” said Sundberg.

Korpinen said Finnish tourists have already been landing in Langkawi on chartered flights.

“Last year, we had 14,000 arrivals in Malaysia and I am also trying to promote Sabah and Sarawak, which have great diving spots,” he added.

nazrey

October 1st, 2006, 06:17 AM

Envoy Urges MAS To Reintroduce Direct Flights To Brussels
29-09-2006
By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah
Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 (Bernama) - Malaysia Airlines (MAS) should look into the possibility of reintroducing direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to the European capital of Brussels and vice-versa.

Head of Mission to the European Communities and Malaysian Ambassador to Belgium, Datuk Mohammad Kamal Yan Yahya, said at the moment none of the South-East Asian airlines flies direct to Brussels.

"We are trying to get MAS to fly to Brussels. The flights will encourage more people to come to Malaysia and vice versa," he told Bernama in Brussels recently.

Mohammad Kamal said MAS had direct flights some years ago but the service was halted.

"Things have changed. The European Union (EU) has expanded to 25 countries now. And we have a lot of people working here in the EU now.

"The reintroduction of direct flights will also help in encouraging tourism from both sides especially with the Malaysia Visit Year in 2007," he said.

Mohammad Kamal, who is also accredited the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, assumed office here last December.

Earlier, he had served as Malaysian Ambassador to Cuba with concurrent accreditation to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and the Bahamas.

musang

October 16th, 2006, 08:36 AM

MAS No Longer First Choice For Malaysian Travellers

JOHOR BAHARU, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Loss-making Malaysia Airlines (MAS), which is expected to return to the black next year following the implementation of its turn-around plan, is no longer the "choice" airline among Malaysians, the president of a local travel association said.

Bumiputra Travel and Tour Operators Association (Bumitra) president Syed Razif Al-Yahya said Malaysian travellers were abandoning the national carrier for cheaper fare airlines.

"Malaysia Airlines is no longer the choice airline for Malaysian travellers. They are flying other airlines which give much cheaper fares," he told Bernama here.

MAS must take note of this negative trend and take immediate step to restore its competitive edge, he said.

Last week, Malaysian-Gulf States Chamber of Commerce president Datuk Syed Hussein Al-Habshee said MAS fares for the West Asia sector was not very competitive compared to those of the Emirates and Qatar Airways.

He said the fare difference was glaring especially for the business class where MAS was charging up to RM3,000 higher than its competitors.

Studies conducted by 25 Malaysia Tourism offices abroad on 17 MAS flight sectors also revealed that MAS fares were more expensive than most other airlines including the airline companies in West Asia, China and India.

Syed Razif said MAS' first class and business class fares to West Asia were about 40 percent higher than its competitors. For the economy class, the MAS fare was about five to 10 percent higher.

MAS fares, however, were about 10 to 15 percent cheaper than its main rival Singapore Airlines.

MAS is expected to make a small profit next year after making losses to the tune of more than RM2 billion last year.

-- BERNAMA

Skyprince

October 16th, 2006, 09:51 AM

Agree with that I tried to book flights KUL-MCT vv (KUL-DXB by MH then DXB-MCT by EK ) but tooooo pricey... RM 5335 return... compared to nonstop KUL-MCT by Gulfair and KUL-DOH, DOH-MCT by Qatar Airways
which cost around RM 2700

johnsonooi

November 8th, 2006, 03:41 PM

Media Release

8 Nov, 2006
MALAYSIA AIRLINES RETAINS KUALA LUMPUR-STOCKHOLM-NEWARK ROUTE IN SUPPORT OF VMY 2007

Malaysia Airlines will retain the Kuala Lumpur-Stockholm-Newark return route in its international network beyond 15 January 2007.

The national carrier had earlier announced that it will cease flight operations on this route but will now continue operating its thrice weekly flights on Monday, Thursday and Saturday using a 282-seater Boeing B777-200 aircraft.

In clarifying the decision to maintain this route, Malaysia Airlines Managing Director/CEO Mr. Idris Jala said, “Our earlier decision was guided by the initial findings from our route profitability exercise. However in response to a call from the government to reconsider our decision, we reviewed this route.”
“We have now teamed up with Tourism Malaysia to aggressively market Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2007 in these two markets and we now have very encouraging forward booking enquiries for next year”, he added.

In addition, Malaysia Airlines also received encouraging consideration and support from the airport authorities for the continued ‘Malaysian’ presence at Arlanda, Stockholm and Newark, USA.

For the months of January to July this year, there was a 16.8% increase of tourist arrivals in Malaysia from the US and similarly, there was a 20.8% increase from the Scandinavian region. Based on this trend, tourist arrivals from these two markets is expected to further increase during VMY 2007 and Malaysia Airlines will leverage on this anticipated demand for the profitability of KLIA-Stockholm-Newark route.

“To further boost ‘leisure focused and business interested’ traffic arrivals and increase our passenger loads, we are also pursuing various options to increase connectivity between KLIA and US East Coast. We are in active discussions with a few trans-Atlantic carriers to develop links with cities in the US East Coast via Amsterdam. For KLIA-Stockholm, we will increase the use of our existing code-share option with KLM to provide additional connectivity between Kuala Lumpur and Stockholm via Amsterdam,” added Idris Jala.

With the retention of the KLIA-Stockholm-Newark route and the possibility of alternative connectivity between US East Coast and Malaysia, the national carrier will continue to enhance efforts to promote inbound traffic into Malaysia from the USA and the Scandinavian region for VMY 2007.

Issued by:
Media Relations, Communications Division
Malaysia Airlines, Subang

travellator

January 2nd, 2007, 04:42 PM

AirAsia, Virgin, EasyJet plan pact for long-haul flights: report

They are said to be in talks to realise world's 1st low cost global network

(KUALA LUMPUR) Three of the world's top budget carriers including Richard Branson's Virgin, will soon form a global alliance based in Malaysia to fly long-haul routes, a report said yesterday.

Mr Branson, AirAsia's boss Tony Fernandes and EasyJet's Stelios Haji-Ioannou, a Greek-British tycoon, are in talks to realise the dream of forming what is claimed to be 'the world's first low-cost global network', the Star newspaper said.

An announcement on the plan is expected to be made later this week by the Malaysian government and AirAsia officials.

Meanwhile, AirAsia declined to comment on the report yesterday.

'No comment,' AirAsia chief executive Mr Fernandes said by telephone, when asked about the report in the Star newspaper.

Kamarudin Meranum, AirAsia's deputy chief executive officer, also declined comment on the report, but told AFP that the profitable budget carrier was always eyeing growth opportunities to boost revenue.

'I do not discount the fact that AirAsia is always on the lookout for growth opportunities and we talk to various parties for mutual benefit,' he said.

'We thank the governments in the region and passengers for their continued support and we promise a lot of excitement this year,' he said.

Mr Kamarudin said AirAsia's expansion plans were designed to ensure Malaysia become the low-cost hub for the region. Neighbouring rival, Singapore, is also competing for the spot.

'We will ensure Malaysia become the low-cost hub of the region. One thing for sure, it will a Malaysian-led initiative in line with government aspirations of encouraging Malaysian companies going global,' he said.

The Star cited unidentified industry sources as saying the new joint venture would first fly between Kuala Lumpur and Manchester in Britain and Amritsar in India.

There were future plans for flights to Hangzhou near Shanghai, China, and Tianjin near Beijing, it said.

A source familiar with the discussions told the Star that fares on the long-haul network for destinations in China could be as low as RM100 (S$43).

Fares to Britain will be between RM300 and RM2,500, about half the price of the normal ticket on a regular airline.

If the plan to fly to London is realised, the source said the AirAsia could use Luton airport just north of the capital as a hub, because Virgin already operates a rail link from there to central London.

In return, the alliance would give Virgin and EasyJet access to Kuala Lumpur's low-cost airport terminal, the gateway to 'a dream Asian hub for their Europe to Australia routes', the Star said.

AirAsia, launched as a budget carrier in December 2001 with just two aircraft, now offers more than 100 domestic and international flights to destinations in South-east Asia and China.

EasyJet, which started in 1995, was one of the first low-cost carriers in the world to sell tickets on the Internet. It flies 224 routes between 67 key European airports, including Britain.

Virgin Atlantic's network covers the US, Hong Kong, South Africa, the Caribbean and Australia.

Low-cost carriers have largely focused on short-haul routes but given their success, there has been much talk of a long-haul budget business model. - AFP, Reuters

travellator

January 2nd, 2007, 06:19 PM

Branson plan may hit QantasThe Age

Rod Myer
January 3, 2007

Sir Richard Branson: new flight plan.

AN EXTRA barrier has been thrown into the path of the $11.1 billion Qantas buy-out, with news that Virgin Group chief Sir Richard Branson is in talks with AirAsia and easyJet to start a discount airline in Asia.

According to reports, Sir Richard is in discussions with easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes. They are believed to be looking at forming a large low-cost carrier connecting Britain with Malaysia, India and China. It is unclear whether Virgin Blue would be part of the deal.

The three men are significant participants in the low-cost revolution that has provided growth within an international airline industry that has faced high fuel costs, epidemics and terrorism scares.

easyJet, formed in 1998, flies to 74 destinations in Europe and Britain. With Ryanair, it has played a crucial role in boosting tourist travel and they have used second-tier airports to build a European flight network far larger than that of the old national carriers.

Ryanair now has a larger market capitalisation than British Airways and is bidding for Aer Lingus, the national carrier in its home country, Ireland. Malaysian-based AirAsia, formed in 2001, flies to 40 destinations.

If the latest Branson initiative is successful, it could affect the expansion plans of Qantas and Virgin Blue. The Macquarie-led private equity team bidding for Qantas is doing so in the expectation that the recently launched Jetstar international strategy will pay huge dividends as it is rolled out in Asia.

Qantas has said it plans to expand this low-cost international strategy in two stages. The first, already under way, is linking Australia to a series of Asia-Pacific region destinations in the hope of introducing international flying to a new generation of Australian tourists.

In the second, more ambitious, stage Jetstar would fly to Europe through Asian hubs. The Branson initiative could challenge this because it would also focus on linking Asia and Europe. An analyst said while details of the plan were not known, "it could make life a little more difficult for Qantas. It won't be a massive change in the landscape as there are already dozens of low-cost carriers in Asia."

A Qantas spokesman said the airline could not comment until more was known. A Virgin Blue spokeswoman said it was not in talks with Sir Richard and the two discount airlines.

If Virgin Blue were to join with the planned airline, then the Australia-focused first leg of Jetstar's international strategy could face increasing competition. Virgin Blue has plans to boost international operations and is negotiating rights with the US Government for daily flights.

Sir Richard, who launched Virgin Blue, now holds only 25 per cent of the airline. He had hoped to increase this. But Toll Holdings, which inherited 62 per cent with its purchase of Patrick in May, said it planned to hold on to its stake.

Qantas shares closed at $5.22, well below the $5.60 private equity consortium bid.

pedang

January 3rd, 2007, 04:09 AM

Malaysia as air gateway

By Suraj Raj

PETALING JAYA: GMG Airlines sees Malaysia as a gateway to expand into other international markets, said commercial international operations director Virendra Nautiyal.

“We are eyeing mid-haul routes. By linking with KLIA, GMG Airlines will have a platform to extend its services to Singapore, the Middle East and Australia,” he told StarBiz.

The privately owned Bangladesh airline is among five new foreign carriers that will start flights to the KL International Airport this year. Virendra said the growing Bangladeshi workforce in the country prompted the company to establish operations in Malaysia.

“We are looking at a potential market size of about 400,000 passengers from Bangladesh over the next few years. This is a good opportunity for us to test the viability of our operations between Bangladesh and Malaysia,” he said.

GMG Airlines currently has five aircraft and plans to add two more next year. It will use two MD 82 planes, each with a seating capacity of 153, for its international routes.

Given the strong trade ties between the two countries, the carrier’s focus will be on Malaysian business sector.

Virendra believes the airline is well positioned to provide the link for Malaysian businesses, especially dry-food manufacturers, to market their products in Bangladesh.

“Almost all good grocery stores in Bangladesh have Malaysian food products on display,” he said, adding that trade missions to the country could organise roadshows to market more Malaysia-made products.

The company, he said, would also introduce family holiday packages in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2007.

“Malaysia is known as a family destination. Besides targeting the Bangladeshi workforce coming into Malaysia, we also want to focus on tourists,” he said, adding that the visa-upon-arrival facility would attract more holidaymakers.

He said Malaysians and foreigners coming to Malaysia could also use the carrier to connect to New Delhi and Kolkata in India and Kathmandu in Nepal.

GMG Airlines has 51 interline partners including British Airways, Emirates, Air France, Garuda Indonesia and Thai Airways. It expects to have 15 more partners soon.

travellator

January 3rd, 2007, 01:22 PM

Conflicting reports, have to wait till Friday for announcement

Fernandes to use FAX to form long-haul budget airline

Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com

AirAsia Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Tony Fernandes is believed to be using his private entity Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) to form a "revolutionary" long-haul budget airline with two other international personalities in the aviation industry.

However, news reports on Jan 3 suggested that AirAsia would not be involved in the formation of the new airline with Fernandes telling Bloomberg that Asia's first low-cost carrier would be sticking to its short-haul model.

"While we believe that a long-haul low-cost carrier will benefit AirAsia immensely, it is not in our model," he said.

Despite this, speculation has been rife that AirAsia may take up a stake in the new entity.

It has been reported that Fernandes would be teaming up with two other personalities in the low-cost aviation industry -- Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin group and Sir Stelios Haji-loannou of EasyGroup, the parent company of Britain's easyJet.

Attributing it to a source familiar with the plan, a Reuters report on Jan 3 said FAX could enter into a tie-up with easyJet and Virgin group. FAX, which handles rural services in Sabah and Sarawak, is co-owned by Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun and Raja Mohd Azmi Raja Razali.

According to an invitation released via AirAsia, Fernandes is scheduled to call for a press conference on Friday (Jan 5) on "a revolutionary service that will change the face of aviation travel forever".

The event will be attended by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy and Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor.

Speculation is rife that Branson would be attending the event. The setting up of the long-haul low-budget service and speculation that it would make the low-cost carrier terminal at KL International Airport its Asian base would be a coup for Malaysia.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
easyJet, Virgin deny AirAsia tie-up talks

LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - British airlines easyJet <EZJ.L> and Virgin Atlantic [VA.UL] on Wednesday denied media reports which said they might take part in a global low-cost alliance with Malaysian carrier AirAsia Bhd <AIRA.KL> or its owners. "We are not joining any alliance," easyJet spokesman Toby Nicol said.

"The whole low-cost airline business model is based on simplicity," he added, noting alliances with other airlines involve costs and complications.

Virgin Atlantic spokesman Paul Charles said: "It's nothing to do with us. AirAsia clearly have their own plans and it is up to them to announce them."

Malaysian newspapers have reported that AirAsia, easyJet and the Virgin Group were in talks to form a global no-frills alliance that would offer cheap flights within Asia as well between Europe and Australia via Kuala Lumpur.

A source told Reuters that the major owners of AirAsia might pursue a tie-up with the two airlines via FlyasianXpress (FAX), a domestic Malaysian carrier they control.

nazrey

January 4th, 2007, 07:13 AM

Fernandes to use FAX to form long-haul budget airline
03 Jan 2007 7:20 PM
THEEDGEDAILY

AirAsia Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Tony Fernandes is believed to be using his private entity Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) to form a "revolutionary" long-haul budget airline with two other international personalities in the aviation industry.

However, news reports on Jan 3 suggested that AirAsia would not be involved in the formation of the new airline with Fernandes telling Bloomberg that Asia's first low-cost carrier would be sticking to its short-haul model.

"While we believe that a long-haul low-cost carrier will benefit AirAsia immensely, it is not in our model," he said.

It has been reported that Fernandes would be teaming up with two other personalities in the low-cost aviation industry -- Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin group and Sir Stelios Haji-loannou of EasyGroup, the parent company of Britain's easyJet.

Attributing it to a source familiar with the plan, a Reuters report on Jan 3 said FAX could enter into a tie-up with easyJet and Virgin group. FAX, which handles rural services in Sabah and Sarawak, is co-owned by Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun and Raja Mohd Azmi Raja Razali.

According to an invitation released via AirAsia, Fernandes is scheduled to call for a press conference on Friday (Jan 5) on "a revolutionary service that will change the face of aviation travel forever".

The event will be attended by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy and Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor. Speculation is rife that Branson would be attending the event.

In the event that a long-haul low-budget service were to be set up and the low-cost carrier terminal at KL International Airport were to be made its Asian base -- it would be a coup for Malaysia.

travellator

January 4th, 2007, 08:17 AM

Thursday January 4, 12:13 PM
AirAsia to buy 100 A320s, to launch long-haul in July

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia will double its A320 fleet size to 200 jets amid growing passenger demand and route expansion in Southeast Asia, an industry source has said.

Three indivdual shareholders from AirAsia and Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) will form an alliance to start the long-haul service to London and China as early as July using three aircraft -- a combination of Airbus A330s and Boeing 777-300s.

An announcement to double AirAsia's fleet would be made in the weeks ahead while on Friday AirAsia and FAX would hold a press conference at 0230 GMT regarding its long-haul ambitions, the source said.

"Certaintly, there is a need for another 100 A320 aircraft. AirAsia will be putting in its orders to meet growing demand.

"It is estimated to cost billions of dollars. Deliveries may start in 2012 or earlier once the original 100 aircraft are delivered," the source, familiar with the plans, told AFP on condition of anonymity.

AirAsia now has a fleet of 50 aircraft -- 15 A320s and 35 Boeing 737-300s and has opted for Airbus in order to reduce costs with a fleet of just one single type of jet.

It currently has orders for 100 A320s.

AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes has a 50 percent stake in FAX which operates rural air services in Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo island.

The other two shareholders in FAX are AirAsia deputy chief executive Kamarudin Meranum, who owns 30 percent, and Raja Mohamad Azmi with 20 percent.

The industry source said the long-haul service will be provided by a new carrier initially owned by Fernandes, Kamarudin and Azmi, adding that it had secured initial routes to London and China.

Tony Fernandes, AirAsia's chief executive officer, earlier said that there was huge potential for a budget long-haul air service.

"It is just a matter of time before someone comes up with a good model for a low-cost carrier and I hope the innovation would come from Malaysia," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper Saturday.

The industry source said talks with other players to participate in the budget long-haul service have been on-going.

"The point is we have been always talking," he said.

The Star newspaper reported this week that AirAsia is planning to team up with Richard Branson's Virgin Group and EasyJet to launch "the world's first low-cost global network".

A source familiar with the discussions told the Star that fares on the long-haul network for destinations in China could be as low as 100 ringgit (28 dollars).

Fares to Britain will be between 300 ringgit and 2,500 ringgit, about half the price of the normal ticket on a regular airline.

National carrier Malaysia Airlines currently operates 18 times weekly to London and charges up to 5,000 ringgit (1,420 dollars) for economy class and 18,000 ringgit for business class.

AirAsia was launched as a budget carrier in December 2001 with just two aircraft.

It now offers more than 100 domestic and international flights to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

^tamago^

January 4th, 2007, 02:35 PM

Sabahkid

January 5th, 2007, 04:58 AM

AirAsia can consider a mid-way hub between KL and UK if serving food on such long-haul journeys is an issue. It can be somewhere in the Middle East, or if they tie up with EasyJet, it could one of the East European cities.

I believe the new budget long haul airline will be an alliance between virgin, easyjet & Tony F. So technically AirAsia does not come into the picture. Hence there is no conflicting reports or so & they don't really need any mid stopping point. This new airline will be run like separately from AirAsia.

Sheik

January 5th, 2007, 06:07 AM

Looks like it's going to be a 1 class only airline with little legroom, cramped seats and you have to buy your own food from KL - London. Would you guys try it in July when it launches?

Sheik

January 5th, 2007, 06:22 AM

AirAsia X London flights from RM9.99

KUALA LUMPUR: Fly Asian Express (FAX) will fly its long-haul operations using the brand Air Asia X, under franchise from AirAsia, starting July.

The flights will have two classes - super economy and economy. In-flight entertainment and food will be available for purchase onboard.

Fares to London will start as low as RM9.99, excluding tax and surcharges.

FAX has been given rights to operate long-haul flights to destinations in Asia, Australia and Europe.

AirAsia CEO Datuk Tony Fernandes has a 50% stake in FAX. The other two FAX shareholders are AirAsia deputy chief executive Kamarudin Meranum (30%) and former AirAsia chief financial officer Raja Azmi Raja Razali (20%), who is also FAX CEO.

Wow 9.99. Wonder whether this is just a introductory promotional price.

travellator

January 5th, 2007, 09:13 AM

New long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X unveiled

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - The founder of leading Southeast Asian budget carrier AirAsia on Friday announced the launch of a new long-haul, low-cost airline which will fly to London for as little as 9.99 ringgit (2.84 dollars).

AirAsia X will begin operating in July and service other destinations in Europe as well as China and India, said Malaysian aviation tycoon Tony Fernandes.

"AirAsia X will offer an innovative product ... assuring passengers who will enjoy a level of comfort and convenience suited for long-haul travel," he said.

The new airline will be operated by Malaysian carrier Fly Asian Express (FAX), also founded by Fernandes and which currently operates rural air services on Borneo island.

AirAsia X will operate from the low-cost terminal at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and seats on the flights to Britain will be available on the Internet from February, he said.

Fernandes said AirAsia X expected to carry half a million passengers in its first year of operation and was looking at acquiring 20 new aircraft.

"It will be of one type only, either the 777-300 or the Airbus 330-300. We will make an announcement by the end of January," he said, declining to say whether they would be leased or paid for by shareholders or through loans.

FAX said that AirAsia X will also tie up with other low-cost carriers "in order to increase connectivity and route network".

Fernandes would not name the partners but The Star newspaper reported this week that it is planning to team up with Richard Branson's Virgin Group and EasyJet to launch "the world's first low-cost global network".

"I have personal relations with both of them; we are always talking but there is nothing to announce," Fernandes said when asked whether there was any role for Virgin and EasyJet in the new venture.

Fernandes said the Malaysian government has given approval for AirAsia X to fly to Australia but that a formal announcement will be made later.

The CEO of FAX, Raja Mohamad Azmi, said AirAsia X would fly to Tianjin and Hangzhou in China but he would not reveal the destinations in Britain, India or Europe.

Newspaper reports have said that the new venture is likely to operate out of either Manchester in northern England or Luton outside London.

AirAsia deputy chief executive Kamarudin Meranum said that FAX, which holds the AirAsia X brand name, has offered AirAsia a 20 percent holding with a 10 percent option and that the board of directors will announce a decision later.

AirAsia was launched as a budget carrier in December 2001 with just two aircraft.

fairul

January 5th, 2007, 09:53 AM

Looks like it's going to be a 1 class only airline with little legroom, cramped seats and you have to buy your own food from KL - London. Would you guys try it in July when it launches?

i bet this new service will fill in the gap between FRill airlines and non-frill airlines....ie. Valuair of singapore....but this is a different story since its a long haul service....inflight entertainment is a must..no ptv should be ok..as long there's a big screen in the front..food..most prob will be provided..

if its RM1k++ for the return trip to UK...i would try it for sure..:banana:

fairul

January 5th, 2007, 09:59 AM

tomkat

January 5th, 2007, 02:23 PM

Count me in. Don't mind the cramp legroom if the amount that I have to pay for a flight to London is around USD400.... what more to expect?

ZaHiRnYa???

January 5th, 2007, 02:32 PM

definintely can go to london couple of time a year...cant wait for that

they also shedule to flight to moscow..this i so badly wanted. last time in moscow was 7 years ago...:)

travellator

January 5th, 2007, 04:00 PM

More news reports

AirAsia X offers KL-UK route for as low as RM9.99 (Updated)
By Surin Murugiah & Gan Yen Kuan

Fares from as low as RM9.99 from Kuala Lumpur to the United Kingdom - that is what Asia's low cost carrier pioneer, Datuk Tony Fernandes, wants to offer air travellers on a regular basis.

Fernandes broke new ground in the regional aviation industry, with the unveiling on Jan 5 of a low cost long-haul air service to be branded AirAsia X that will start operations in July this year with average fares at about 50% of the prevailing market rates.

The new long-haul service, which will be operated by Fernandes' private entity Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) out of Kuala Lumpur, will initially include flights to the UK as well as Hangzhou and Tianjin in China.

AirAsia X’s network focus will cover destinations more than four hours in flight duration offering daily point-to-point frequencies to destinations in China, India and Europe, where national air carrier Malaysia Airlines is not operating.

FAX is currently the operator of rural air services in Malaysia. FAX has also lined up flights to Berlin, Prague, Amritsar and a yet-to-be confirmed southeast Australia destination after July.

AirAsia X will operate out of the low cost terminal at KL International Airport. The new service will be branded AirAsia X pursuant to an MoU between FAX and Asia's first budget carrier AirAsia Bhd in a franchise arrangement for the long-haul service.

AirAsia has an option to take up a 20% stake, with an option for another 10%, in FAX. Fernandes is also a major shareholder and chief executive officer of AirAsia.

Fernandes said AirAsia X would also tie up with low-cost carrier partners at its various destinations in order to increase connectivity and route network.

The other owners of FAX are AirAsia's deputy chief executive officer Datuk Kamarudin Meranun and former chief financial officer Raja Mohd Azmi Raja Razali.

Kamarudin said AirAsia's board was deliberating the offer to take up the 20% stake and the option for another 10% in FAX.

Fernandes said fares for the new long-haul service to the UK would start from RM9.99, excluding surcharges and airport tax.

AirAsia X is finalising its aircraft requirements, which will either be the Boeing 777-300ER or Airbus 330-300. The Boeing 777-300ER will be able to make non-stop flights while the Airbus 330-300 will have to make technical stops on long-haul flights.

"The order we are looking at for AirAsia X is 20 new aircraft. We are targeting 500,000 passengers in the first year of operations," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 5.

Fernandes owns 10% of FAX, while the other shareholders are AirAsia's deputy chief executive officer Datuk Kamarudin Meranun (50%) and AirAsia's former chief financial officer Raja Mohd Azmi Raja Razali (40%).

On news reports that AirAsia was in talks with the Virgin group and EasyGroup for possible alliances, Fernandes said: "I don't want to make any comment on that right now."

"There are many ideas; there are many thoughts; there are many discussions being held. But today, we want to focus on what we are talking about (the new service launch).

"We obviously have relationships with all those mentioned, but today it is about FAX. I do believe the timing of a low-cost world network is not very far away," said Fernandes.

EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic on Wednesday denied news reports that they were in discussions with AirAsia or FAX to form a global budget air travel alliance.

It was earlier speculated that Fernandes may team up with two other international personalities in the aviation industry - Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin group and Sir Stelios Haji-loannou of EasyGroup, the parent company of Britain's easyJet.

Earlier in his speech, Fernandes said AirAsia and AirAsia X would be operated separately, with him focusing on the former, while Raja Mohd Azmi would concentrate on FAX and the new service.

Raja Mohd Azmi, who is FAX chief executive officer, said FAX and AirAsia would remain two separate legal entities, each with its own operations.

"AirAsia's mandate is really to do short-haul. That is what they are good at. To mix it up will really (create) 'air complexity'.

"That is why we have two separate entities – one running long-haul. But we complement each other," he said.

Raja Mohd Azmi said FAX hoped to make profits from the long-haul flights within one to two years into operations.

"(FAX's cost) is 1.9 sen per ASK (available seat kilometre). AirAsia is talking about 2.2 sen to 2.5 sen per ASK.

"With 1.9 (sen), we think that we will be able to provide really low fares. That will provide the volume and therefore, we believe profitability will come not very far off."

Raja Mohd Azmi said the FAX's long-haul service would replicate AirAsia's model to enhance cost control, with similar brand and marketing strategies.

He said the service would include dual seating arrangements at different prices, with assigned seatings provided for the higher fares.

He said with the agreement to use AirAsia's brand name, website and uniforms, FAX would be able to save on its marketing costs.

Raja Mohd Azmi said the long-haul flights would not affect its existing operations of rural flights in Sabah and Sarawak, as these flights would have separate operations.

"They will be managed separately. Generally there will be separate people running it," he said.

He added that FAX would not channel the subsidies it received from the government for operating rural flights into the operations of the long-haul flights.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, who was also present at the function, said FAX would initially be allowed to operate routes not offered by Malaysian Airline System Bhd.

"As far as the UK is concerned, Heathrow and Gatwick are out," he said. However, Chan said FAX had been given the nod to fly into Manchester. Last year MAS dropped its KL-Manchester route.

He said both FAX and MAS had roles to play to enhance the local tourism and aviation industries.

Chan added that while initially they would fly different routes, the government would later consider applications for same routes from both.

He said Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd was expected to submit a plan to the ministry on the expansion of the low cost carrier terminal at KLIA soon and would include parking space for wide-body aircraft.

^tamago^

January 5th, 2007, 04:20 PM

i bet this new service will fill in the gap between FRill airlines and non-frill airlines....ie. Valuair of singapore....but this is a different story since its a long haul service....inflight entertainment is a must..no ptv should be ok..as long there's a big screen in the front..food..most prob will be provided..

if its RM1k++ for the return trip to UK...i would try it for sure..:banana:

maybe read a book, play on PSP or laptop to pass time? :)

fairul

January 5th, 2007, 07:00 PM

so they wont be any alliance with virgin n easyjet afterall....:ohno:

globocentric

January 5th, 2007, 07:43 PM

Greg

January 5th, 2007, 11:39 PM

Not sure how many lawsuits pertaining to Deep Vein Thrombosis they are going to get as well.:lol:

fairul

January 6th, 2007, 03:20 AM

haha...yeah..its the return of DVT...maybe they gonna sell the anti-DVT socks during the flight..hehe

travellator

January 6th, 2007, 03:54 AM

lighten up guys, whats with all the put downs. i wish i had half the entrepreneul spirit of tony fernandes, i have heard all this put downs before, when airasia first started and no one believed it would work and said air asia will be out of business within a year. Airasia has changed aviation in asia and it will never be the same again. now it intends to change aviation outside of asia, make it easy and cheaper for us all to travel to places we otherwise cant afford. you have the chance to fly to europe for a few hundred RM i for one will go for it even with out any onboard service, i want to enjoy europe dont care about how i get there. the sourgrapes can stay behind and save to fly premium.

cicaklaut

January 6th, 2007, 10:18 AM

While the fares itself may be cheap, I'm sure Air AsiaX will seek to maximise revenue by charging for every conceivable amenities except the toilet.

This includes Food, Personal TV, Video On Demand, Internet Connection & so on. Assuming you pay the average price & use most of these services, you may end up paying more than you bargained for.

rgen

January 6th, 2007, 06:52 PM

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070105/capt.kl10301050638.malaysia_budget_airlines_kl103.jpg?x=299&y=345&sig=DppI2d.mM0WrxWi8xfesKQ--

i love their uniform

Domi_Ragna

January 6th, 2007, 07:02 PM

Is this really true? RM 9.99 to UK from Malaysia? WOOOOW cannot believe :nuts:

But will be perfect to visit family in Europe again once we are living in Malaysia :banana:

PS: Does anyone have contacts in the air freight branch? Preferably Penang?
Pls let me know...thanks

liping_t

January 8th, 2007, 03:24 AM

I'd fly! Pop a pill...go to sleep...wake up in UK. Save 1000RM. Heck...why not?

pedang

January 10th, 2007, 03:45 AM

AirAsia terbesar dunia 2013

Oleh KHAIRUDDIN MOHD AMIN

KUALA LUMPUR 9 Jan. – AirAsia Bhd. (AirAsia) yang dijangka mengatasi pencapaian Singapore Airlines (SIA) dan Cathay Pasific tahun ini dari segi bilangan penumpang, bakal muncul sebagai antara syarikat penerbangan terbesar dunia pada tahun 2013.

Pada tempoh berkenaan, syarikat tambang murah itu dijangka membawa sekitar 60 juta penumpang berbanding 15 juta pada tahun ini dan 21 juta pada tahun depan.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutifnya, Datuk Tony Fernandes berkata: ‘‘Saya memperkatakan tentang menjadi syarikat penerbangan terbesar dunia dan kini kami berada pada kedudukan ke sembilan atau pun kesepuluh.

“Pada tahun ini, kami lebih besar daripada SIA dan Cathay Pacific dan saya rasa hanya Qantas dan dua syarikat penerbangan Asia lebih besar daripada kami ketika ini,” tambah beliau dalam sidang akhbar maya di sini hari ini.

Sidang akhbar itu diadakan sempena penempahan pembelian tambahan 50 pesawat A320 bernilai AS$3.25 bilion serta pilihan untuk menempah 50 lagi pesawat yang sama yang dimeterai antara AirAsia dan Airbus SAS semalam.

Dengan tempahan itu, AirAsia telah mengesahkan tempahan 150 buah pesawat A320 dan sekiranya syarikat tersebut melaksanakan pilihan tempahan itu, AirAsia dijangka mempunyai 200 buah pesawat menjelang tahun 2014.

Harga sebuah A3230 ialah AS$70 juta (RM245.5 juta).

Menurut Fernandes, menjelang tahun 2013, AirAsia yang mempunyai hampir 200 pesawat A320, akan menjadi salah satu pengendali terbesar dunia pesawat jenis itu.

Tambah beliau, dengan penambahan tempahan itu, syarikat penerbangan tambang murah itu dijangka menerima 20 buah pesawat setiap tahun.

“Kami akan menerima semua pesawat yang ditempah pada tahun 2013 kecuali empat buah pesawat akan diterima pada tahun 2014,” jelasnya.

AirAsia kini beroperasi dengan 50 buah pesawat yang terdiri daripada 15 buah A320 dan 35 B737-300.

Fernandes memberitahu, AirAsia tidak mempunyai masalah untuk membiayai pesawat yang ditempah itu menerusi pinjaman bank berikutan aliran tunai yang kukuh diperoleh daripada pesawat baru.

Sementara itu, AirAsia berkata, syarikat itu bersetuju secara dasarnya untuk membeli 20 peratus kepentingan dalam syarikat perkhidmatan penerbangan tambang rendah, jarak jauh, Fly Asian Express Sdn. Bhd. (FAX).

Syarikat itu dalam kenyataan kepada Bursa Malaysia hari ini berkata, keputusan itu diambil selepas lembaga pengarahnya menimbang kebaikan daripada cadangan itu dan telah melantik jawatankuasa bebas, terdiri dari tiga anggota lembaga pengarah dan pengurusan kanan AirAsia.

marcusaffleck

January 10th, 2007, 12:10 PM

The Times January 06, 2007

AirAsia's chief takes no-frills approach to 13-hour flights
David Robertson

British travellers willing to do without inflight entertainment and free food and drink will soon be able to buy flights to Asia for as little as £60 return.

The head of AirAsia, the Malaysian-based low-cost airline, is to launch in July an international carrier that will offer “no-frills” flights. The airline will not provide entertainment during the 13-hour flight and meals will have to be pre-ordered at extra cost. There will be no first or business class, but a few premium economy seats will be available.
The new airline, Fly Asian Express (FAX), believes that by stripping out costs, it can offer flights from £60 to £250 return. Yesterday British Airways was offering economy flights to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, for £1,061 on July 1.

Tony Fernandes, chief executive of AirAsia and founder of FAX, said: “I think we are going to attract the sort of people who are currently going to Spain on their holidays. There are also a lot of Asians who want the Big Ben experience and we are putting flights within their reach.”

FAX will link up with the AirAsia network to offer onward flights from Kuala Lumpur to holiday destinations such as Bali. It is also talking to Virgin and easyJet about possible links in Europe and Australia.

AirAsia is growing rapidly in Asia, having copied the low-cost concept pioneered in Europe by easyJet and Ryanair. It is expected to announce a £2.5 billion deal to buy 100 new Airbus A320s on Monday. This will double its planned fleet.

Mr Fernandes said: “Some of the things that we are suggesting leaving out may be shocking to some people, but will appeal to many others who want to fly cheaply.”

globocentric

January 10th, 2007, 05:28 PM

I'd fly! Pop a pill...go to sleep...wake up in UK. Save 1000RM. Heck...why not?

The thing is Malaysians in general are already having a difficult time clearing immigration in Heathrow. If we were to arrive on a budget flight, i will fear for the worst. We will be definently be profiled as potential illegal workers or visa overstayers that cannot afford the living expenses in the Uk without working illegally. Chances of being refused entry is definently a lot higher. There were days when up to 10 malaysians were turned away in Heathrow in a single day.

globocentric

January 10th, 2007, 05:33 PM

haha...yeah..its the return of DVT...maybe they gonna sell the anti-DVT socks during the flight..hehe

They better do that since their legroom is insanely small and only a superhuman can endure those subhuman conditions

travellator

January 12th, 2007, 06:10 PM

Malaysia's AirAsia hopes KL-Singapore route will open up by June
01.12.07, 6:40 AM ET

SINGAPORE (XFN-ASIA) - AirAsia's chief executive Tony Fernandes remains upbeat on the prospects for opening up of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route, saying he expects a decision by June.

'I am optimistic. I think before June we should see something,' Fernandes told reporters here.

'This market, just for AirAsia, could do 22 flights a day,' he said, adding 'there is a lot of pent-up demand here from both sides.'

AirAsia said fares on the route will start from 60 sgd for a one-way ticket compared to the current round trip ticket that costs about 8 times more on Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, which have monopoly on the route.

If AirAsia receives the go-ahead, the budget carrier will also consider flights between Singapore and Malaysian cities in the north and east, such as Penang and Sabah and Kuching, Fernandes said.

Fernandes said AirAsia will exercise its option to purchase another 50 Airbus 320 planes in the 'near future'.

'As soon as we know when the next generation of A320s is going to be, we will make our decision,' he said.

The carrier recently signed a firm order of 50 A320s, bring the group's total airline orders to 150.

Fernandes reiterated AirAsia's target to be the biggest airline in Asia by 2013, with 60 mln passengers a year.

'Looking at present growth rates, we will be bigger than Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific by next year in terms of passenger numbers,' he said.

The airline expects to carry 15 mln passengers in the fiscal year to June 2007, up from 9.31 mln in the previous year, and expects it rise further to 21 mln in the next fiscal year.

Singapore Airlines reported that it carried about 9 mln passengers in the first half of its fiscal year to March.

Fernandes was equally upbeat on the prospects for new long-haul budget airline AirAsia X.

He expects the carrier to break even within the first month of operations, similar to AirAsia's own experience.

AirAsia X is expected to start operations in July this year from the low-cost terminal at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and fly to destinations including Australia and London.

nazrey

January 14th, 2007, 08:54 AM

S. Korea, Malaysia Sign Open Skies Agreement
Updated : 12-01-2007
Media : AsiaPulse

SEOUL, Jan 12 Asia Pulse - South Korea and Malaysia reached an open skies agreement that permits each other's flag carriers to freely increase flights between the two countries, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation said Friday.

The ministry said the two sides agreed to allow airlines belonging to the other country to schedule flights depending on demand and to set prices without prior government authorization.

"The agreement will help airlines provide better passenger and freight service," a official said.

He added it could help transform Incheon International Airport into a transportation and logistics hub of Northeast Asia.

The pact follows similar arrangements with China and ASEAN member states including Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.

liping_t

January 15th, 2007, 02:22 AM

They better do that since their legroom is insanely small and only a superhuman can endure those subhuman conditions

True enuf, AirAsia seat pitch is prob in the category of Smallest among Airlines at 29", (compare w MAS at 34" - Largest). Which is why I say...pop a pill and put yourself out of the misery :P ....and effectively 'earn' 1000RM !!

nazrey

January 19th, 2007, 07:08 AM

AirAsia to fly to Penang from KK, Kuching
January 19 2007
TheStar

BUDGET airline AirAsia Bhd will operate four weekly flights to Penang from Kota Kinabalu and Kuching respectively, from February 7.

It will also commence daily flights from Kota Kinabalu to Macau on February 6.

"The rapid expansion for our flights connecting Sabah and Sarawak to Peninsular Malaysia will help boost tourism and stimulate the growth of economic activities.

"The current developed market has increased demand for the two hubs (Kota Kinabalu and Kuching) to connect to Penang and we anticipate positive response for traffic both ways," AirAsia executive vice president of commercial Kathleen Tan said in a statement yesterday.

Tan is also confident that the airline's new daily flights from Kota Kinabalu to Macau will be "another winner and at the same time create new economic benefits for both countries".

Introductory one-way fares start from RM19.99 for Kuching to Penang, RM29.99 for Kota Kinabalu to Penang and RM49.99 for Kota Kinabalu to Macau.

These fares exclude airport taxes, fuel surcharges and fees.

travellator

January 24th, 2007, 01:03 PM

AirAsia X All Set To Repeat AirAsia's Phenomenal Success

January 24, 2007 18:48 PM
LONDON, Jan 24 (Bernama) -- AirAsia X, the world's newest long-haul budget airline, is all set to repeat the phenomenal success of AirAsia which within five years has become the region's largest low-cost carrier.

AirAsia X founder Datuk Tony Fernandes, who is also the group chief executive officer of AirAsia, said here Wednesday that the new airline was acquiring 20 planes initially with its first flight to Britain expected in July.

In an interview with Bernama here, the award-winning CEO said after taking AirAsia to such heights, he was now very excited about his new venture which he would market just as aggressively.

Fernandes launched his brainchild in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 5 as a tie-up between AirAsia and Fly Asian Express (FAX), eyeing destinations in Europe, India, China and Australia.

He said over the past few days, he had been looking at all the airports in Britain to fix AirAsia X's first destination and the response from the airport authorities had nothing been short of phenomenal.

"The response to AirAsia X has been huge. Lots of people in Europe now want to come to Malaysia," he said.

The last few days of touring Britain's airports has given Fernandes the idea of which one would give his new airline the best deal so that it can do what it is famous for -- offering the lowest fares to its passengers.

Fares from Britain to Malaysia are expected to be priced at around 100 pounds sterling (RM700).

Stanstead, one hour from here, has a very good infrastructure including being a transport hub. He is also looking at three other airports -- Manchester, Birmingham and Dublin and all have their own strengths.

"Things are progressing well. In the first week of February, we'll commence the purchase of our new planes."

Fernandes said further afield, he had also received proposals from nine other airports across Europe, including Rome, Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin, as we'll as in Spain and Scandinavia.

"All have expressed tremendous interest in having AirAsia X fly to their destinations.

"So we have created a company, we create something here. We are very excited about it and hopefully by the next month or two we can start announcing sales to start selling," he said.

Not only that, a measure of the waves Fernandes has already created within just three weeks of AirAsia X's launch is seen from a deluge of e-mails he has been getting from Europe not from potential passengers but from investors.

"So many people in Europe have e-mailed me wanting to invest in AirAsia X. I think it's a good branding for Malaysia," he said in his customary humble way.

As for Britain, its first destination in Europe, Fernandes said he hoped to mount daily flights to the country with the deal to purchase two planes due to be wrapped up soon.

What is AirAsia X's key selling point?

"Of course the cheap fares but there is also another thing. What people are finding out in relation to (budget airline) Oasis in Hong Kong is that when you arrive in Kuala Lumpur (KL), you have AirAsia, so you can go anywhere in South East Asia.

"So many people said to me that they don't have to go to Spain for a holiday. They can come to KL, they can go to Kota Kinabalu, Bali, Langkawi..all that is available from Kuala Lumpur.

"So that is a big attraction to Europeans arriving in KL but you can get across to all of South East Asia".

Fernandes was also asked if his more established rival Malaysia Airlines (MAS) would mind AirAsia X's impending foray into long-haul flights from Kuala Lumpur where both airlines are based.

His response: "Just like AirAsia, let's make it very clear, since AirAsia has come on, MAS has done better".

And he added: "The Prime Minister's vision was to have two national champions, we've got two national champions and two airlines that are making money. MAS had always said that they couldn't make money on domestic flights but now with AirAsia, they could.

"So I think it's good for Malaysia, good for MAS, both of us being successful. It's good if we are successful in branding, then more people who don't want to fly AirAsia will fly MAS... so money that is being spent here to promote Malaysia won't all go to AirAsia X.

In this way, MAS obviously stands to benefit as well because there are people who want to fly on the premium airline.

Fernandes also has set his sight on destinations in Eastern Europe, describing Prague, Warsaw and Moscow as "that's the new world and very interesting".

AirAsia's "Now Everyone Can Fly" branding is a success story even beyond what Fernandes could have imagined. What is in store for AirAsia X?

"I don't think it would be any different from AirAsia. We started with four destinations, we've 70 now in five years.

"We'll be aggressive, we are very proud of that. Who knows? When we first started with just one plane, who would have said that we would have 200 A320's," he said with a hearty laugh.

Skyprince

January 25th, 2007, 03:39 AM

Finnair pun kata dia taknak fly ke KL....harap2 Air Asia X boleh gantikan...

musang

January 25th, 2007, 08:34 AM

dia x nak fly sbb yesterday keluar statement in paper their losses was qte high for yr2006..

Subangite

January 25th, 2007, 10:42 AM

dia x nak fly sbb yesterday keluar statement in paper their losses was qte high for yr2006..

Err, what the? statement apa ni? The Finnair Group 2006 annual report hasn't been issued yet, same with MAS, SIA, Lufthansa. The latest financial results for Finnair in 2006 is for its 3rd quarter figures, and in this whilst they noted that profit has weakened, they've still posted a profit!! The CEO doesn't seem to have released any statement about them having high losses. So I dunno..

You can scrutinize the figures yourself
http://www.finnairgroup.com/linked/nostot/OVK_Q3_2006ENG.pdf

Finnair operations to Singapore and planned KL route are an extension from their Bangkok flights, traffic I guess doesn't justify nonstop flights to Singapore. Currently Finnair has dirt cheap flights for Singapore-Bangkok, return for SGD 130!!

There's a lot of competition on the Singapore Bangkok route, like Thai Air Asia so No wonder they've axed Singapore!! For the same reasons I guess no wonder they are not starting to serve KL. I mean even Lufthansa apparently has put its KL service in review, they too are serving KL via Bangkok then onto Germany.

With Austrian Airlines leaving KL in March, Finnair abandoning its planned KL service, Lufthansa putting the route on review. It is possible that by the end of this year we'll see the only European carrier serving Malaysia being KLM.

Skyprince

January 25th, 2007, 12:04 PM

Takpe takpe Subangite... Air Asia X kan ada....

musang

January 25th, 2007, 06:13 PM

Err, what the? statement apa ni? The Finnair Group 2006 annual report hasn't been issued yet, same with MAS, SIA, Lufthansa. The latest financial results for Finnair in 2006 is for its 3rd quarter figures, and in this whilst they noted that profit has weakened, they've still posted a profit!! The CEO doesn't seem to have released any statement about them having high losses. So I dunno..

betul annual rpt belum keluar tapi i read abt it dlm paper kat sini.. cant remember samada al-khaleej or gulfnews..

Subangite

January 25th, 2007, 08:28 PM

betul annual rpt belum keluar tapi i read abt it dlm paper kat sini.. cant remember samada al-khaleej or gulfnews..

It was also reported in Malaysia that Finnair is not starting its KL service, not giving a proper reason but pointing to that Finnair would rather concentrate on more lucrative routes to India.

Skyprince

January 27th, 2007, 10:53 AM

GMG launches 3 per week Dhaka-KL

wmkp

January 27th, 2007, 12:25 PM

A joke really,KLIA can't attract major players like BA or AF or even QF. And LH would be leaving soon? They are running FRA-BKK-KUL rite? That is another major loss...so no carriers other than KL coming to KLIA uh, and Austrian would be leaving in March, well....maybe KLIA can be the LCC hub for south east asia as it leads over SIN or BKK. There are rumours that Tiger Airways might run PEN-SIN apart from KUL-SIN when the malaysia-sin sector is opened soon.

Subangite

January 27th, 2007, 03:04 PM

And LH would be leaving soon? They are running FRA-BKK-KUL rite? That is another major loss...

LH possibly might leave KUL, not confirmed, it is said to be under "review".

I'm with LH Miles and More FFP, after so much being dicked around by MH Enrich FFP. Austrian Airlines actually uses LH's Miles and More FFP, they are confirmed to go in March, so it would not be the best if LH leaves, for my FFP. :( I'd end up having to stick with Star Alliance for my miles. I guess that is still ok, there's SIA to the South, THAI to the North, LH through Star Alliance already have KUL covered, or rather flanked.

Skyprince

January 28th, 2007, 06:49 AM

Transaero kan masih ada

fairul

January 28th, 2007, 07:11 AM

Transaero kan masih ada

Transearo only charter..with few flights from Jan - March 07...

Skyprince

January 28th, 2007, 07:47 AM

Malaysia Airlines maintains 5-star rating in 2007

2007 STAR RANKING NEWS

The 2007 World Airline Star Ranking review sees Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines having their 5 Star Airline quality status renewed

The other 5 Star ranked airline, Cathay Pacific, is currently subject to further review. Commenting on this review, Skytrax said "the requirements to both achieve and maintain 5 Star status are very exacting, and where we have any concerns or doubts about consistency that may impact on a Star Rating, we have to apply a second tier of reviews and analysis before confirming the final rating rating level".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commenting on the current, 2007 airline reviews, Skytrax said ....

"it is now a year since the last global ranking review was completed, and the airline industry has seen many interesting changes being applied by airlines throughout the world - applicable to both front-line product and service delivery standards. This is clearly going to be recognised in our upcoming Star Ranking results."

"There are a number of ranking changes we already know about - some up, some down - and the coming weeks will see the final coming together of all results ready for publication. An aspect that some travellers may not fully realise, is that an airline's Star Ranking is based around the 'complete' package of travel experience it is delivering to customers. This is not just a case of whether caviar is served in First Class - or if the IFE offers 100 different channels. It is also not only the onboard 'experience' that counts - since every airline is also assessed around the total quality of service they provide to customers across their home airport environment."

"Allied to the measurement of actual Quality levels, another major factor involves the assessment and analysis of the final 'consistency' for such quality standards. It is this category that can actually have more of a determinant factor in the final Star Ranking awarded to an airline."

"We have been asked many times if we plan to adopt a hotel-ranking format and introduce 6 or even 7 Star Airline ranking. We certainly have no plans to move away from our existing 1 to 5 Star grading system, since it not only provides a clear means of differentiating quality standards between airlines, but allows a sufficient gap between Star Ranking levels to provide maximum understanding to consumers."

"Whilst Star Rankings are not intended to invoke controversy, we know from previous years that there will always be some loyal passengers out there that disagree with the ranking status accorded to their favourite airline. As with so any aspects of life, one cannot satisfy all of the people all of the time! We have to look at a much wider picture than a single customer, to apply a balanced and fair Quality Ranking."

"With each ranking involving Quality evaluation of more than 750 different product and service features, there is clearly a distinct separation between subjective and objective research - but there are aspects which are not purely subjective or purely objective.

To describe this, subjective analysis can be thought of as 'here ... in the head' - whilst objective analysis is 'there ... out in the world.'

"The crossover areas are the 'anomalous' ranking aspects we apply, because they are difficult to clearly explain or quantify within the classical Quality analysis model."

"The low-cost airline Star Ranking is something we introduced just under 12 months ago, and this is being expanded on a fairly constant basis to reflect the shift in market across many parts of the globe. To date, we have not had a 5 Star low-cost airline, but it does look as though our 2007 Star Ranking results will be revealing at least one new top Quality entrant into this elite category."

Sunday January 28, 2007

Skyprince

January 30th, 2007, 11:51 AM

With the launch of Air Asia X , I think the future global hub for Asia would be KL and Dubai !!!

travellator

February 7th, 2007, 05:33 PM

AirAsia X Yet To Finalise Details On Aircraft

February 07, 2007 17:52 PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 (Bernama) -- Fly Asian Xpress' (FAX) AirAsia X is still finalising details on the planes to be used for the long-haul destinations.

AirAsia X founder, Datuk Tony Fernandes, who is also the group chief executive officer of AirAsia Bhd, said the company was still finalising the details.

"Once we have finalised them we will start selling the tickets. We know all our routes," he told reporters after a signing ceremony between UK's largest information technology firm, LogicaCMG, and online no-frills financial services group, Tune Money.Com, here Wednesday.

Fernandes is the founder of Tune Money.

He said AirAsia X's management team was only "days away" from signing an agreement on the type of aircraft to buy. He, however, did not elaborate.

He said the earliest AirAsia X could get the aircraft would be September 2008.

"Till then we will probably need to lease between two or three planes. Chances are we will be leasing the same type of aircraft that we are buying," he said.

AirAsia X's network will cover destinations which are more than four hours in flight duration from Kuala Lumpur. It will offer daily point-to-point frequencies to popular destinations in China, India, Europe and Australia.

Fernandes said the outlook for AirAsia X was good given that it has received tremendous support from the government.

"The response from Europe has been phenomenal (as well). We have airports from all over the world writing to us," he said.

AirAsia X is expected to start operating from July 2007.

On offer by FAX for AirAsia to acquire a 20 percent stake with an option to buy another 10 percent later, he said the board would make the necessary announcement soon.

FAX is 50 percent owned by Fernandes, while the other two shareholders are Kamarudin Meranun, deputy chief executive officer of AirAsia and Raja Mohd Azmi, CEO of FAX, who own 30 percent and 20 percent respectively. FAX operates rural air services in Sabah and Sarawak.

^tamago^

February 9th, 2007, 01:46 AM

This story is printed from TODAYonline
Passport for lucrative KL-S'pore air route may be stamped this year
Friday • February 9, 2007

Leong Wee Keat
weekeat@mediacorp.com.sg

THE buzz has been building for a while, but Singapore and Malaysia yesterday gave their clearest signal that cheaper flights to Kuala Lumpur (KL) — and to the rest of Malaysia as well — will become a reality this year, a move that would benefit both travellers and airlines.

The transport ministers of both countries said yesterday that their aviation sectors will be opened up even before the Association of South-east Asian Nations' open skies target of 2008.

"We should do it early," said Singapore's Transport Minister Raymond Lim, who met his Malaysian counterpart in Bangkok yesterday. "It should not be confined to Singapore-KL sector. It should be Singapore-Malaysia, and there are other points in Malaysia."

Malaysia's Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy said the move would benefit not just airlines but boost trade and tourism as well.

Flight International's regional managing editor Nicholas Ionides told Today that this could open up more routes and services for low-cost carriers to secondary destinations in Malaysia.

"Singapore and Malaysia are two markets that are screaming for more flights to be added," he said. "The number of Malaysian destinations that you fly to from Singapore is very small."

Despite that, the pie that all carriers have their eyes on is the lucrative KL-Singapore route.

Under the current air service arrangement, all air traffic rights between both countries have been fully used up — hogged mainly by Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines (MAS). They operate over 200 flights a week, usually at 80 to 90 per cent of capacity, and share the revenue from the route equally.

Already, low-cost carriers (LCCs) have laid down a challenge. Last month, AirAsia's chief Tony Fernandes said the airline could operate 22 flights a day — with prices for one-way tickets starting from $60 — if granted access to the route. Singapore's Tiger Airways has also said it would be able to match fares offered by coaches.

Currently, a round-trip ticket from Singapore to KL costs about $400, including taxes — for a trip that takes under an hour each way.

The liberalisation could harm MAS, said aviation analyst Shukor Yusof. "Something like 10 per cent of their revenue comes from this Singapore-KL route."

But Mr Ionides felt that the move would grow the overall size of the market as LCCs brought in new classes of passengers.

Transport officials from both sides will meet next month to iron out details.

http://www.todayonline.com/pda/170969ag.htm

fairul

February 16th, 2007, 02:11 PM

MAS Heliconia B777

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/payrol/DSC05726-1.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/payrol/DSC05725-1.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/payrol/DSC05720-2.jpg

travellator

February 16th, 2007, 04:21 PM

nice, i prefer this to the hibiscus

TYW

February 25th, 2007, 04:36 PM

Sunday February 25, 2007

New local airline to operate from Penang

BUTTERWORTH: A new local airline will operate from the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas by April.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said the airline was in the final stage of obtaining the permits to set up its base at the airport.

“We hope the company can start operating by April. It will use Penang as its main hub to fly to other parts of the country and to Asean countries,” he told newsmen at the Bagan MCA division’s Chinese New Year open house yesterday.

The minister, who is the MCA deputy president, said the airport in Penang, which had the capacity to handle five million passengers annually, only handled about three million last year.

“We hope this (the new local airline) will boost the tourism industry in Penang,” he said.

Asked if the move would affect Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia, Chan said: “Healthy competition is good for the aviation industry.”

Chan said that the Penang Government was also working closely with his ministry to turn the airport into a regional hub for budget airlines.

wmkp

February 25th, 2007, 11:43 PM

Weird really, is there a market for another airline in malaysia?AK wud b making penang its hub soon, how this wud affect their biznes? It might not be a LCC as I believe AK has some sorta aggrmnt wif the government againts other LCCs based in Malaysia. Most likely a boutique airline or a prop airline.

Pablo

February 26th, 2007, 08:56 AM

Ya..that is strange, the Ak going to set up a hub in Penang soon...wonder y a new LCC suddenly pop up...If it really happen to hv two LCC hub in Penang, do we really have enough market to support it and ppl to use it? really doubt bout it. Their target should be not only for the Northen Malaysia, it cover up to southern of thailand.

hmm...i can see that a lot of inventor start to invest in Penang. This is a good sign for Penang.

Pablo

February 26th, 2007, 04:45 PM

MAS Confirms Plans Of Secondary Hub In Penang

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that it planning to set up a new domestic and regional operation in Penang to service the premium travel market.

"We have been talking about something like that," its managing director, Idris Jala said to reporters after announcing the full year results for the national carrier, here Monday.

He said the airline was in the process of getting some approvals when asked on the news report of the company's plans in Penang.

It was reported that MAS will be using Penang's Bayan Lepas International Airport as its base.

"With regards to the opportunity of operating from a secondary hub, the product has to be different," he said when pressed further on the plans in Penang.

The news report said MAS will use Penang as the hub to service holiday destinations such as Langkawi, Phuket in Thailand and Medan in Indonesia, as well as domestic destinations namely Kota Baru and Kuala Terengganu.

On the delay in delivery of the Airbus A380 aircraft to the airline, he said: "We had quite a robust discussion with Airbus in terms of what we expect from them and what they have given us."

He said under the original schedule, MAS should be receiving the second A380 aircraft this month from the European consortium.

"But we don’t see any aircraft coming in this year at all and I doubt very much next year also," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Copyright © 2007 BERNAMA. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form except with the prior written permission of BERNAMA. Disclaimer.
Best viewed in Internet Explorer 4.0 & above with 800 x 600 pixels

Pablo

February 26th, 2007, 04:47 PM

^^....a very very very very interesting news.... at first AK, then a new LCC, now MAS...OMG:eek:

TYW

February 27th, 2007, 06:43 AM

suddenly they realize a huge potential in Penang and northern reagion's aviation industry? :?

Pablo

March 1st, 2007, 02:20 AM

Asmara Air likely to be new Penang-based airline

By DERRICK VINESH

derrickvinesh@thestar.com.my

PENANG: Asmara Air, touted as the country’s second low-cost carrier after AirAsia, is likely to be the new airline to be based at the Penang International Airport.

A source said Asmara Air Services Sdn Bhd, which would focus on full-service charter flights including meals on-board and numbered seating, was likely to launch its maiden flight here soon.

“Besides Asmara Air, Malaysia Airlines too may be keen to venture into the charter flight business in Penang,” the source said.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy had on Saturday hinted that a new local airline would operate from the Penang International Airport by April.

Declining to name the airline, he said that the company was in the final stages of obtaining necessary permits to set up base at the airport.

Penang International Airport senior manager Abdul Wahab Mohd Yusof, when contacted yesterday, said although Asmara Air had principally agreed to operate from Penang, it had yet to confirm its flight schedules.

“We have not received any formal indication from both the Transport Ministry and Asmara Air to begin operations here by April.

“However, we will provide necessary assistance to enable any new airline company to be based at the airport,” he said.

He said apart from allowing the aircraft to use the main airport terminal, Malaysia Airports Bhd would provide necessary check-in and passenger processing facilities at the airport.

“There is no need to add special counters for the new airline. They can use our existing 32 check-in counters,” Abdul Wahab said.

In October last year, Asmara Air Services chairman Datuk Fuad Hassan had said that the company would operate from its base in Penang.

fairul

March 1st, 2007, 02:27 AM

PEN will get Fokker 50 flights...cool!

Skyprince

March 1st, 2007, 03:27 AM

Air Asia kan kata boleh tempah tiket jarak jauh pada akhir Februari ?? Tak ade pun .. Dah lama beta dah tunggu :(

nazrey

March 5th, 2007, 07:43 AM

Latest:
New airline to boost passenger traffic at Penang airport
By Marina Emmanuel
March 5 2007
BusinessTimes

THE current under-capacity of the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas is set to change this year, with the entry of a new local airline.

It is learnt that the airline, which may be a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and called "FireFly", is currently awaiting its air services permit from the authorities and could be launched as early as this month.

Among others, the airline is required to convince the approving authorities of its customer service and safety capabilities, along with the number of personnel available to manage its operations.

A source told the Business Times that the Penang airport, designed to accommodate five million passengers per year, was operating below its capacity at the moment.

"Last year, only three million passengers used the airport so there is ample room for more," the source said.

MAS has confirmed that it is planning to set up a new domestic and regional operation to service the premium travel market, using the Penang airport as its base.

Codenamed "Project Firefly", MAS is reported to use Penang as a hub to service holiday destinations like Langkawi, Phuket and Medan, along with local destinations like Kota Baru and Kuala Terengganu.

Ahead of the new airline's entry, works are already underway to increase the number of check-in counters at the airport.

"There are currently 32 such counters but these have proven to be inadequate, so works have started for another 25-32 additional counters via a southwards expansion of the terminal building, the source said.

Meanwhile, it is also learnt that Penang's new low-cost carrier terminal is likely to be sited north of the existing passenger terminal building.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon announced last month that the Penang Government is in talks with Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd and the Department of Civil Aviation on land for a budget terminal in Bayan Lepas.

It is learnt that AirAsia has asked the State Government to donate the land.

The budget airline is also believed to be asking for rights to be the licensed operator to keep costs low for its passengers.

Pablo

March 6th, 2007, 03:56 AM

Meanwhile, it is also learnt that Penang's new low-cost carrier terminal is likely to be sited north of the existing passenger terminal building.
north of passenger terminal building? where is it exactly? in my memory i dont really remember there is any lands left beside the airport....unless the LCCT is not join with the current airport.

fairul

March 6th, 2007, 05:32 AM

north of passenger terminal building? where is it exactly? in my memory i dont really remember there is any lands left beside the airport....unless the LCCT is not join with the current airport.

perhaps across the terminal...next to the Second Cargo center? still have empty land there right? it might be just like BKI then..:)

TYW

March 8th, 2007, 09:41 AM

well, the north part is the site before (beside) the current building. but i remember there are some "stuff" at that site. can't remember what is that "stuff" he he.. but maybe they will clear it??

fairul

March 19th, 2007, 09:18 AM

MAS likely to cancel A380 orders
By Anna Maria Samsudin and Fauziah Ismail
bt@nstp.com.my

March 19 2007

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) is likely to cancel its orders for six A380 jumbo passenger jets from Airbus, despite being offered huge discounts for the new A350.That is because the new delivery dates for the aircraft will no longer fit into the national carrier's fleet plan.

Although no specific date was given on the new delivery schedule, it is understood that MAS is expected to get its first A380 by late 2009 based on an earlier understanding that it will get the aircraft a year after Singapore Airlines (SIA).Singapore's flag carrier is scheduled to take delivery of its first unit in October next year.

However, recent developments in Airbus, whose European workers went on strike over job cuts last Friday, could push the delivery dates further than scheduled. Sources told Business Times that cancellation of the orders for the aircraft is one of the options.

"Everything is fluid at the moment. Until today, Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd (PMB) and MAS are still discussing the issue of compensation for the delays and the new delivery schedules with Airbus," said a source.

"These planes are really expensive. So there is no point wasting taxpayers' money if it no longer fits into MAS' overall plans," the source added. PMB, the parent company of MAS, is the buyer of the A380s which it would have leased to MAS. It had ordered six of the planes at a price of RM1.6 billion in 2003.

Under the sale and purchase agreement signed between PMB and Airbus, the first three planes were scheduled to be delivered later this year, and the remaining three a year later.

MAS had planned to deploy the planes on its long-haul European routes, including London, Paris and Amsterdam. Another source said the discount on the A350, which Airbus is offering to almost all airlines that have ordered the A380, is no big deal as the plane is still in the conceptual stage.

Singapore-based aviation analyst Shukor Yusof, from Standard & Poor's Equity Research, said cancelling the A380 orders will benefit PMB and MAS more in the long run. "I think MAS' business turnaround plan will stand a better chance without the A380s.

"But if at all MAS decides to cancel the orders, I think they should do it now before Airbus starts producing the planes. If they cancel after production work has commenced, then MAS will have to pay a penalty to Airbus," he said.

TYW

March 19th, 2007, 04:48 PM

sounds like Airbus is doomed!! so many airlines cancelling orders

travellator

March 19th, 2007, 05:53 PM

Not so fast....another news release

Malaysia Airlines denies A380 order cancellation

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - National carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Monday denied that it would likely cancel an order for six Airbus A380 superjumbos after delays in delivery of the aircraft.

"MAS is still in discussions with A380 on the various options available and no decision has been made," the airline said in a statement.

The denial was issued after the New Straits Times, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday the carrier was mulling cancellation of the order for the A380s over delivery delays.

The newspaper said the airline was expected to receive its first A380 by late 2009, a delay leading to exclusion from the national carrier's fleet plan.

"These planes are really expensive so there is no point in wasting taxpayers' money if it no longer fits into MAS' overall plans," a source was quoted as saying.

Airbus said in November that Malaysia Airlines had not cancelled its order despite the company failing to meet delivery deadlines for 10 months.

Deliveries of the A380, the world's largest commercial airliner and the cornerstone in Airbus efforts to catch up with Boeing, are now two years behind schedule because of production problems.

The struggling aircraft manufacturer on Friday saw strikes of thousands of Airbus workers across Europe after announcing 10,000 job cuts in a bid to solve a crisis caused mainly by problems with its A380 superjumbo jet.

TYW

March 19th, 2007, 06:13 PM

north of passenger terminal building? where is it exactly? in my memory i dont really remember there is any lands left beside the airport....unless the LCCT is not join with the current airport.

http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/2164/bliadk4.jpg
^^ that small piece of land up there

fairul

March 22nd, 2007, 04:14 PM

i smell good news....A380 might be coming after all....this is for sure for A320..after big discounts from them....hope its all true...:banana:
MAS most probably wont opt for B737-800 since MAS is not to happy with their performance during the lease periods last year...

MAS Wants New Planes For New Routes To Be Profitable

March 22, 2007 20:29 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines is looking at acquiring long range narrow body aircraft which will allow it to operate profitably on new routes where its A330 is too large and the B737-400 lacks the range, managing director Idris Jala said Thursday.

He said part of the proceeds of the airline's RM1.5 billion rights issue and redeemable convertible preference shares (RCPS) will go towards acquiring new aircraft and replacing some of the existing ones.

"We would like to own some of the aircraft and we lease some. The ones we intend to own are to serve our core network. So, when the time is right to replace the aircraft, we can sell and purchase a new one," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Invest Malaysia 2007 conference here.

MAS, he said, wants to have the best aircraft for its core routes so that it will have the flexibility to dispose and change in a competitive environment.

The leased aircraft, meanwhile, will serve the non-core routes. He said "options are open" either to lease from Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd or others.

He said MAS is talking to both European consortium Airbus and American plane manufacturer Boeing on this but has yet to decide on the type of aircraft to be bought. He also did not reveal the number of aircraft MAS plans to have.

However, Jala said that the narrow body aircraft will mainly serve Asia.

Going forward, he said MAS will want to operate only two types of aircraft, from the current four.

"(To operate) a good and profitable airline (one should) not have too many different types of aircraft in its fleet. Because if you have less aircraft variety you significantly reduce your maintenance and training costs."

However, this cannot be done overnight, he noted. "Of course you cannot straight away flip into two different types of aircraft from Day One. You have to work out the transition on how to get there."

On other developments, Jala said the 2007-2011 network plan will see the national carrier expanding its core network in the Asia-Pacific while strengthening its hub and spoke connectivity in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. "The Asia-Pacific region is where the growth is. We expect to see vibrant growth as the economies remain strong at some six percent (annual growth) until 2015, ramping up the demand for air travel. These are exciting times especially as we are expand into China and India," said Jala.

In the next five years, he said, MAS will increase its flight frequencies and offer new destinations. The national airline will also sign code-share agreements that will give access to many southern European points.

"More agreements are in the pipeline," said Jala.

As for the new network, he said routes in the Middle East will be restructured, while flight frequencies to non-trunk markets such as North America, South America and South Africa will remain unchanged.

-- BERNAMA

Pablo

March 23rd, 2007, 09:30 AM

http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/2164/bliadk4.jpg
^^ that small piece of land up there

u sure?

cos that lands always use for those small small aircraft 1 wo...

but maybe those small aircraft can move to other place;)

TYW

March 23rd, 2007, 03:28 PM

u sure?

cos that lands always use for those small small aircraft 1 wo...

but maybe those small aircraft can move to other place;)

the article said north and that is north mah :D

Nissan_FUGA

April 2nd, 2007, 07:50 PM

Source : http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_b20da9d7-cb73c03a-1758cd10-3138c4a3

02-04-2007: Penang earmarks 36.4ha site in Bayan Lepas for LCCT
By Jonathan Chen
Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com

The Penang Government has earmarked a 36.4ha site in Bayan Lepas for the proposed low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT), which would help boost the state’s tourism industry, as it provide the link between Penang and other parts of Malaysia and regional destinations.

State tourism chairman Teng Chang Yeow said on April 2 Penang was awaiting approvals from the federal authorities for the LCCT.

“The LCCT will play an important role in boosting Penang’s tourism industry. The federal aviation authorities will also decide whether the proposed LCCT would be developed and operated by Malaysia Airports (Holdings) Bhd or another third party,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after the arrival of the two Fokker 50 aircraft in Penang on April 2, to be used by Flyfirefly Sdn Bhd, a unit of Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS).

Firefly will service six routes departing from Penang to Kota Bharu, Kuala Terengganu, Kuantan and Langkawi starting April 3, as well as Phuket and Koh Samui starting April 13.

Using two Fokker F50 aircraft, which can accommodate a total of 50 passengers, Firefly will service local routes twice a day, while its flights to Thailand would be once daily.

Teng added his committee would talk with MAS on the possibility of reinstating its Penang–Manchester route which was stopped because it was unprofitable.

“Based on the feedback, there have been a lot of requests for MAS to do so,” he said.

He also said his committee was trying to convince MAS to change the current London–Kuala Lumpur–Sydney route to London–Penang–Sydney.

“There is also a growing demand from the Japanese market to establish routes that linking Penang to Nagoya,” Teng added.

On the issue of having more airlines to be based in Penang, Teng said that the state government was in talks with two overseas airlines keen to develop international routes from Penang.

nazrey

April 3rd, 2007, 03:00 PM

SIA gears up for competition on KL-Singapore route
April 3 2007

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) is gearing up to face competition on the lucrative Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route, the airline's chairman said yesterday.

The journey of about 40 minutes is currently dominated by SIA and Malaysia Airlines, which has already expressed concerns over the planned liberalisation of the sector.

"We all know that the SIN-KL route will open up and it's a matter of time ... we can expect when that happens, our yield will come under pressure," SIA chairman Stephen Lee said at the launch of a "collective partnership" between the airline and its unions.

"We would have to face the competition that it will bring... We would have to devise ways to hold our share of the business. Well, business can get quite tough," Lee said, without elaborating on how SIA would respond to the challenge.

He said competition from low-cost carriers is not new to SIA, which has faced budget airlines on the Hong Kong, Perth and Bangkok routes.

Malaysian low-cost pioneer AirAsia has said it expects to win approval by May to fly between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Lee said he was not sure when the liberalisation will take place.

"We don't know the exact timing but the two ministers of transport (are) in close discussion," he said. "What is sure is that this route will open up." The two national carriers account for 85 per cent of traffic on the route between the two cities.

A confirmed round-trip ticket departing from Singapore costs more than S$450 (RM1,026) including taxes, but AirAsia has said it would offer a one-way ticket starting at S$60 (RM137).

The 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations, to which both Singapore and Malaysia belong, has agreed that by the end of 2008, there will be free passage on capital-to-capital flights among member countries. - AFP

fairul

April 4th, 2007, 05:41 PM

^^ if AK is offering ticket as low as RM137..which i assume is without the fees...still consider it quite pricey..but way cheaper than what MH and SQ offer...SrinLankan airline offer KUL-SIN for only RM151 one way with all the fees/tax....but only once a day...

Magician

April 5th, 2007, 12:41 PM

Let's just wait for bullet train then

nazrey

April 8th, 2007, 08:10 AM

The MAS strategy of regional hubs
Updated : 07-04-2007
Media : The Star
Story By : C.S.Tan

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines' (MAS) hub-and-spoke network being weaved by the current management is one of its four strategies to achieve a sustained financial turnaround.

Idris Jala, its chief executive officer, felt that the airline had operated on an inefficient network, flying point-to-point to too many destinations.

He is changing it such that MAS will fly to selected regional hubs only, with feeder passenger traffic coming from connecting routes or spokes operated by other airlines under code-share agreements.

MAS signed a code-sharing agreement with South African Airways last month and Italy's Alitalia on Thursday.

In a meeting with the media in Johannesburg recently, Jala said he had come to a conclusion that MAS had four weaknesses: a low yield, an inefficient network, excess manpower and high costs.

Hence, he mapped out various strategies to remedy these weaknesses. These strategies have been executed to some extent, with some programmes that are still in the process of implementation.

An efficient network, based on a hub-and-spoke setup, offers two advantages กV lowering costs and increasing yields.

In the industry, yield refers to revenue management that is usually associated with flexible pricing, with different prices on the same routes on different dates.

When Jala joined the airline in September 2005, he found that the Kuala Lumpur-Manchester route needed a load factor of 140% to break even. After brainstorming here and in Manchester and after a solution was not found, the route was scrapped.

It's very tough to fill a plane on a point-to-point model,กจ he said. Hence, MAS signed a code-share pact with British Midlands airline.

A number of spokes, provided by partner airlines, increase passenger load factor for MAS. กงYou don't have to invest in the metal (planes), and you get the passengers, he said.

The hub-and-spoke model will help MAS lower its costs. กงI'm aiming for the airline to be able to break even with a load factor of 60%. We're not there yet, Jala said.

MAS is not a member of a global airline alliance and, so does not benefit from passenger traffic routed from alliance members. It will overcome that with its own code-sharing arrangements.

It is understood that being late in trying to join a global airline alliance, MAS may not get favourable terms.

To a question on the Government's plan to reduce its stake in MAS, Jala said it would be very good because that would improve liquidity of the stock and that there was tremendous interest from foreign investors.

It would have been a wrong decision for the Government to sell the shares at about RM2.60, its lowest level last year.

It would also have been wrong to sell at RM4 but RM5.75 is reasonable, he said.

During his tenure so far, MAS' total market value has risen from about RM3.6bil to RM7.4bil. Its share price, meanwhile, almost doubled from around RM3 in 2005 when he joined the airline to RM5.90 yesterday.

fairul

April 8th, 2007, 12:36 PM

^^ cant wait for the next phase of MAS's BTP...

Skyprince

April 9th, 2007, 07:51 PM

The cheapest airfare from KUL to SIN by both SQ and MH is RM 398 ( incl tax ) one-way ! ADuh....

Magician

April 10th, 2007, 06:46 AM

Ya... they monopolise the route... even SIN-PEN-SIN is almost $400/~RM800... with that price I can fly to Thailand for couple of times...

Budget airline!!! OPEN UP THE SKY FOR US!!! hehehe

fairul

April 12th, 2007, 11:55 AM

The Star
Thursday April 12, 2007

FAX: Let Firefly take over
By WONG SAI WAN

saiwan@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: FAX has made a dramatic offer to the Government – that the newly launched Firefly airline takes over the operations of all rural air services.

FAX director Datuk Tony Fernandes said he made the proposal to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy yesterday as “it was the logical thing to do.”

“We were thrilled with the launch of Firefly and it is now time that the country has a national turbo-prop airline that operates all the Fokker and Twin Otter aircraft.

“I was just waiting for the right time to make the proposal,” he said.

Fernandes said FAX would soon be launching the long-haul AirAsia X operations and “it would be too distracting for us to also operate turbo-propeller aircraft as well.”

FAX, a company that shares common directors with AirAsia, took over the rural air services operations from Malaysia Airlines (MAS) under the national air route rationalisation exercise last year.

Firefly, a subsidiary of MAS, was launched two weeks ago and operates turbo-prop aircraft to various domestic and regional destinations from its base in Penang.

It has started flights to Kuala Terengganu and Kota Baru.

Firefly is also set to fly to Koh Samui in southern Thailand next month.

Fernandes stressed that with the imminent launch of AirAsia X operations, it was imperative that FAX be allowed to concentrate on its long-haul flights.

FAX is operating the rural air services routes with eight turbo-propeller aircraft belonging to Penerbangan Nasional Berhad (PNB).

“There will be no asset transferring problem and PNB can also make the same arrangement for Firefly. As for staff, they can either be absorbed into FAX, AirAsia or even be taken on by Firefly,” said Fernandes.

On when he expected a reply from the Government, he said he hoped that a decision could be made as soon as possible

Suddenly TF finds RAS too hot to handle.....
:bash:

alsen

April 12th, 2007, 12:53 PM

i am not sure if that's a wise decision

Nissan_FUGA

April 13th, 2007, 05:35 AM

Source : http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_e0d63802-cb73c03a-161f39e0-540d8086

11-04-2007: AirAsia, FAX finalising terms on long-haul services
By Isabelle Francis
Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com

AirAsia Bhd and Fly Asian Xpress Sdn Bhd (FAX) are finalising the terms of the licensing of the AirAsia brand for FAX's proposed budget long haul international air services.

In a statement yesterday, AirAsia said the finalisation of the terms was being carried out as it continued to closely monitor the latest developments in FAX's proposed services.

"Discussions regarding the appropriate form, timing and amount of investment by AirAsia are on-going.

"Should the discussions progress positively, then the parties envisage that the relevant agreements will be ready for approvals and execution within six months of the signing of the MoU," AirAsia said.

The parties entered into the MoU on Jan 5, 2007 whereby AirAsia would grant FAX the right to operate and market its service under the AirAsia brand name for a licence fee or royalty.

FAX has invited AirAsia to participate in 20% of the equity of FAX via a capital injection at par value in FAX, with an option to increase it to 30%.

FAX, a private limited company, is a commercial airline currently plying domestic routes within Sabah and Sarawak.

Skyprince

April 15th, 2007, 11:28 AM

Egyptair to fly to KL by June

Egypt Air set to resume direct service to Sharm El Sheikh from Dubai in June
BY MUZAFFAR RIZVI

14 April 2007

DUBAI — Egypt Air, the first carrier formed in the Arab world and Africa, is set to resume direct flight to Sharm El Sheikh from Dubai next month, a top official of the airline told Khaleej Times yesterday.

Gamal Hammad, country manager Dubai and Northern Emirates, said the airline will resume the service on June 14 when direct flight from Sharm El Sheikh will arrive in Dubai and depart for the 'tourists paradise' same night.

"Initially we are going to relaunch the flight once in a week — every Thursday — to facilitate the tourists who are willing to visit the most extraordinary diving destination in Red Sea," he said.

Egypt Air, the first airline in the Middle East to fly Boeing 707s, suspended direct service to Sharm El Sheikh from Dubai in 2005 due to lacklustre response from tourists at that time. However, Gamal was confident that this time the service will be successful amid considering the fast development in the city which has Red Sea on one side and the mountains of Mount Sinai on the other.

"We are going to launch an aggressive marketing campaign to make this service a success this time," he added.

"Egypt Air has already been operating three daily flights to Cairo from Dubai and Northern Emirates," he said adding that the airline will continue to maintain its focus on Middle East, Africa and Asia besides spreading its wings to United Sates and Canada.

New destinations: About the expansion plan, Gamal told Khaleej Times that the airline is set to launch three new destinations this summer.

"Egypt Air will launch service to Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, Portugal capital Lisbon and a Chinese city by June," he added.

Egypt Air operates more than 400 weekly flights depart from Cairo and many other Egyptian cities to 65 international and domestic destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.

Modern fleet: In reply to a question, Egypt Air country manager said the airline is operating one of the most modern and young fleets in the industry.

"The airline has a fleet of around 50 modern aircraft comprising Boeing 737-800, 737-500, and 777-200, as well as Airbus A300-600, 300B, A320, 340-200, and A321," he added.

Terminal Building 3: About civil aviation in Egypt, he said Cairo International Airport is currently undergoing major developments with regard to its infrastructure, involving the construction of a new Terminal Building 3 (TB3).

"TB3 is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2007 and latest by first quarter of 2008 that will boost the capacity of three terminals at Cairo International Airport up to 25 million passenger per annum," he said adding that TB3 alone will have capacity to handle up to 12 million passengers in a year.

"With TB3, Cairo Airport will double its airport capacity, enabling us to provide passengers and airlines with state-of-the art services and facilities," he said.

He further explained that two of the gates at TB3 will be equipped to handle the Airbus A380 aircraft.

He said Egypt has the most number of international airports in the region. "Out of 13 airports across the country, about nine airports are dealing international flights to various destinations," he added.

Cairo International Airport is the major airport in Egypt and primary hub for EgyptAir. It is the second busiest airport in Africa, after Johannesburg's Tambo International Airport.

:banana: Great ! MH already suspended CAI from its network, and this route will be revived by Egyptair .

fairul

April 15th, 2007, 01:06 PM

^^
effective June 2nd 2007.

The flight will operate the following route :

CAI --> BOM 0300 / 1110
BOM --> KUL 1210 / 1950
KUL --> BOM 0040 / 0310
BOM --> CAI 0410 / 0750

Skyprince

April 16th, 2007, 06:28 AM

Cairo-Mumbai-KL ?? Pelik !!

fairul

April 16th, 2007, 06:36 AM

^^ perhaps they want to take portion of the indian pax to KUL...i guess AI/MH will be affected lil bit..

Skyprince

April 16th, 2007, 10:41 AM

There is already 6 weekly flights to Bombay right ? If Egyptair launches thrice-weekly service there will be 9 ..wooohooo

fairul

April 16th, 2007, 10:53 AM

^^ they cant get enough of Malaysia i guess...good for our tourism in fact..

Skyprince

April 18th, 2007, 06:19 AM

Does anyone know the frequencies of Domestic routes from Subang during the glorious days between 1995 and 1998 ( before KLIA was officially opened ) ?

I think there were 5flights a day from KL to Ipoh, up to 10 flights/day to Alor Setar and Kota Bharu. What about others ??

fairul

April 18th, 2007, 07:02 AM

^^ that one i have to go through my collection of MAS timetable...what i remember..SZB-KCH sector pretty much the same to now..early 90's no direct flight to SBW and BTU( both old airport, can cater F50 )..all transit through KCH...
for Sabah..only nonstop flight to BKI...SDK and TWU (old airport)transit through BKI...remember the crash at TWU?

Skyprince

April 18th, 2007, 02:06 PM

Oh , remember-- 34 ppl died on that incident.

I always took flights to Ipoh during that time... to visit my cousins ..but now the serive has gone :( Anywayz if ya have the past timetables ( esp in 1996 ) plz let me know.. very impo.

fairul

April 18th, 2007, 07:12 PM

^^sorry to say.. the timetables all in my house in kuching..i have backdated one from 1992..what do u want to konw actually?

nazrey

April 27th, 2007, 08:01 PM

Malaysia Air wants to buy 55 new planes - report
Updated : 26-04-2007
Media : Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 (Reuters) - Malaysian Airline System Bhd wants to buy up to 55 narrow-body planes in a deal worth up to $4.4 billion to replace its ageing fleet, a newspaper said on Thursday.

The state-controlled airline has asked Boeing Co. and Airbus to submit their proposals by June, the local Business Times said, quoting an Airbus executive and unidentified sources.

It said Airbus was likely to propose either the Airbus A320s or the A321s while Boeing either the 737-800s or the 737-900s.

"All I can say right now is that we have received the RFP (request for proposals) from MAS for our single-aisle aircraft about a week ago," Business Times quoted Airbus Chief Operating Officer (customer) John Leahy as telling the paper.

Skyprince

April 28th, 2007, 09:24 AM

^^Go for Airbus, of course

glenj

April 29th, 2007, 01:40 PM

Long overdue I should say.. the 737-400s are over 20yrs old.

fairul

April 29th, 2007, 01:51 PM

^^ it is over 20 years old...but MAS's still in good condition.. around 10yrs old......
but i bet this order will go to Boeing..for their 737-900ER...i still remember Mr Jala informed that in the future MAS will only have 2 type of aircraft...one for long haul and one for short haul/regional...the long haul definitely fit for B787/A350XWB and regional/short haul B737-900ER..this B737-900ER is powerfull enough to fly all the way to China with full load...kinda like A330 with less pax..

unless Airbus come with new generation of A320...then we'll see a fight for this..perhaps the compensation for A380 will be the discount for A350XWB..and the PMB plane will be lease to other airlines and not MAS..my 2cents

Skyprince

May 11th, 2007, 12:53 PM

OMG

KL-Muscat route has been terminated !!!! Oman withdrew from Gulf Air this week... so now we only have KL-Bahrain :wallbash: :wallbash: :wallbash:

alsen

May 14th, 2007, 02:05 AM

AMROSE Air Sdn Bhd, a recently set-up Kelantan-based airline, plans to turn the Sultan Ismail Petra airport in Kota Baru, Kelantan, into a hub for charter flights, especially to the east coast of the peninsula and southern Thailand.

Amrose Air is a subsidiary of Emaslink New Pacific Management Sdn Bhd (Emaslink). The parent company owns and manages the 219-room New Pacific Hotel in Kota Baru. It is also constructing a 15-storey service apartment in Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, with 126 suites and various facilities including a swimming pool, health centre, restaurant and banquet hall.

Emaslink vice-president Datin Rosmawati Ismail said Amrose Air was formed in March this year as part of its diversification into the non-schedule charter airline business.

She said the new airline with its slogan "Amrose Flying People" for starters will focus on Umrah and Haj packages for passengers in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and the southern Thailand provinces.

Rosmawati said the company has applied for the necessary licences and permits for the airline from the authorities.

Amrose Air is expected to take off early next year, she said, possibly with four to five services per month to Jeddah carrying Umrah travellers, as a start. She said the airline is currently scouting for planes and plans to either buy or lease two aircraft.

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Monday/Nation/BT622504.txt/Article/

Arkdriver

May 14th, 2007, 08:19 AM

another job opportunities. hahaha

Skyprince

May 15th, 2007, 12:59 PM

^^ Welcome Ssangyong kamustaka :)

GMG to increase KL-Dhaka flights

GMG Airlines, a private-owned airline from Bangladesh, will increase the frequency of its flights between Kuala Lumpur and Dhaka from the current thrice per week to five times per week from tomorrow.

In a statement issued recently, GMG Airlines director of international operations (commercial) Virendra Nautiyal said the increase in frequencies was partly due to the increase in travel among passengers from Malaysia to Bangladesh and Nepal.

The airline is currently using MD-82 with a seating capacity of 153 on the Kuala Lumpur-Dhaka- Kathmandu sector.

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_New...7.txt/Article/

Arkdriver

May 15th, 2007, 05:55 PM

ok naman.

when u use kumustaka it should be finished by kumusta ka na? or just say musta?

cheers

johnsonooi

May 15th, 2007, 07:20 PM

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/johnsonooijunsheng/mas2.jpg

johnsonooi

May 15th, 2007, 07:30 PM

9 May, 2007
MALAYSIA AIRLINES SUCCESSFULLY CUTS OVER INTERLINE ELECTRONIC TICKETING WITH SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Subang Jaya, Malaysia (9 May 2007): Malaysia Airlines completes another milestone in its pursuit towards being Electronic Ticketing (eTicketing) capable by September this year with the successful roll out of interline eTicketing with its first partner, Singapore Airlines, effective 8 May.

This cutover represents firm advancement towards Malaysia Airlines’ RM400 million Passenger Services System rollout to upgrade all IT infrastructure to facilitate the airline’s move to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) standard eTicketing.

This will enable Singapore Airlines’ ticket offices to issue eTickets to all the destinations it services to passengers of both airlines. The next phase will cover ticketing by Malaysia Airlines’ agents in Malaysia and Singapore, as well as Singapore Airlines’ agents worldwide. Subsequently, this initiative will cover all distribution channels of both airlines.

The partnership was formalised today at Malaysia Airlines’ Headquarters in Subang by Malaysia Airlines Commercial Director, Dato’ Rashid Khan and Singapore Airlines Executive Vice President Marketing & The Regions, Mr. Huang Cheng Eng.

A significant aspect of this initiative is both airlines will not consult to set fares together but each airline will determine its own fares independently.

Dato’ Rashid said, "We are delighted with the completion of this milestone, interline eTicketing, which sets us firmly on track to be eTicketing capable by 21 September.

“We want to thank Singapore Airlines for coming onboard as our first interline eTicketing partner. Their invaluable experience and support have enabled us to overcome many of the challenges along the way. We are also grateful to both teams and our vendors who have tirelessly worked under very tight timelines to complete this project.

“We will now move to implement this with over 200 airlines worldwide.”

Commented Mr Huang: “I am delighted that Malaysia Airlines chose Singapore Airlines as its first Interline E-ticketing partner thus further strengthening the already close ties we enjoy.

Interline E-ticketing is yet another addition to the long list of collaborative efforts by the two airlines to make air travel between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore as convenient as possible for their customers. I am sure customers of both airlines will welcome e-ticketing as this makes travel convenient and hassle-free.

I would like to thank my colleagues in Malaysia Airlines for their dedication, support and cooperation, which are so essential in bringing this project to fruition.

I would also add my thanks to the team from Singapore Airlines and all others who worked very hard to make the cutover a success. It is an accomplishment that we all can be proud of.”

With the rollout of Interline eTicketing between both airlines, plans are also under way to implement eTicketing for the shuttle service arrangement on the Kuala Lumpur - Singapore - Kuala Lumpur route.

Also present at this event were Malaysia Airlines Senior General Manager Transition Management, Dr. Amin Khan; Singapore Airlines Senior Vice President South-East Asia, Mr. Teh Ping Choon; Singapore Airlines Vice President Sales & Distribution, Mr. Yeoh Phee Teik; and IATA’s ‘Simplifying the Business’ Regional Programme Manager Asia Pacific, Mr. K.C Yeoh.

For more information, please contact:

Communications Division
Malaysia Airlines
Tel : (60) 7840 4512 (office hours)
Tel : (60) 12 6596523 (after office hours)
Fax : (60) 37847 3171
URL : www.malaysiaairlines.com

Public Affairs Department
Singapore Airlines
Tel : (65) 6541-5880 (office hours)
Tel : (65) 9753-2126 (after office hours)
Fax : (65) 6545-6083
URL : www.singaporeair.com

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Phone Numbers: Media Room Tan Wai Fong Anbarasu S Emma Melissa Ahmad Rossilawati Omar
603 7840 3881 603 7840 4504
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Fax Number:
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Email : media@mas.com.my

alsen

May 16th, 2007, 12:44 PM

MALAYSIA Airports Holdings Bhd today began managing Astana International Airport after the second largest Kazakhstan airport was handed over to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Malaysia Airports Management & Technical Services (Labuan) Private Ltd.

Its managing director, Datuk Seri Bashir Ahmad, described the management agreement as an excellent opportunity to further prove the company's capability and expertise in managing airports.

"The management of Astana International Airport will further strengthen the relationship between Kazakhstan and Malaysia. It will also pave the way for Malaysian investment in Kazakhstan," he added in a statement.

The 10-year management agreement signed last month enables Malaysia Airports to carry out the operation, management and maintenance of Astana International Airport.

Malaysia Airports aims to give immediate focus on developing Astana's airport business plan.

The company will initially assign three staff to be based in Astana who will assist in operations, technical and finance matters, and support from the head office will be provided when required.

Currently, 13 airlines are operating at Astana, which offers direct links to 12 international cities in three continents and 10 domestic destinations. - Bernama

alsen

May 17th, 2007, 01:22 PM

Airbus A380 visit Malaysia on Discovery Channel

xq_ExsYqbMU

Arkdriver

May 17th, 2007, 01:34 PM

does anyone have the full version of the video?

fairul

May 18th, 2007, 03:53 AM

Airbus A380 visit Malaysia on Discovery Channel

xq_ExsYqbMU

haha..thanks...i was at the airport for 3 straight days for this event...one of the best moment in my life so far...

johnsonooi

May 29th, 2007, 03:10 PM

28 May, 2007
MALAYSIA AIRLINES’ FIRST 3 MONTHS PROFIT BEATS 2007 FULL YEAR TARGET (POSTS RM133 MILLION PROFIT IN Q107, EXCEEDS FULL YEAR TARGET BY RM83 MILLION)

Kuala Lumpur (28 May 2007): National carrier, Malaysia Airlines today announced a net profit of RM133 million for the first quarter ended 31 March, beating its 2007 full year target of RM50 million by RM83 million.

This stellar performance, marked the swing from loss-making to profits, as Malaysia Airlines improved its performance by RM454 million. It made RM133 million net profit in Q107, from a loss of RM321 million a year ago, as a result of its Business Turnaround Plan (BTP) initiatives.

Operating profit accounted for RM129 million (before finance costs and exceptional items), the airline’s third successive operational profit and highest since the BTP was announced in February 2006.

Quarterly revenue rose 21% to RM3.6 billion from RM3 billion previously, driven by a 21% increase in passenger revenue.

http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/News_Management/bar1.gif

Malaysia Airlines Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Mr Idris Jala said, “We had a really good quarter. In just the first three months of this year, we made RM133 million, and managed to beat our 2007 full year profit target by RM83 million.

“Making an operating profit of RM129 million in quarter one which is a seasonally lean period for the airline industry clearly shows that our focus on key business activities to deliver big results fast is paying off. We have rolled out new competitive and dynamic fares, opened storefronts by publishing new fare markets and put in tighter inventory controls. We are now aiming to hit our stretch profit target of RM300 to RM700 million for the year.”

The national carrier also improved its cash position to around RM1.8 billion from RM1.6 billion in December 2006. The airline had partially repaid some of its short term debt borrowings and the increase in cash is attributable to a strong cash position generated from operations.

Mr Jala, however, said that, “We must be relentless in implementing the BTP as there is still a long way to go. As competition intensifies, we have to work harder to increase revenue, reduce cost and further improve the level of our service delivery. This is especially critical as the second quarter is typically a lean time for the industry and consequently, it has traditionally been the airlines’ worst financial period.”

Q107 vs. Q106 (January-March)

Q107 incorporated the second full quarter of the domestic business’ P&L since the domestic rationalization on 1 August 2006. The domestic business made an operating profit (before finance costs and exceptional items) of RM22 million during the quarter.

Passenger revenue was up 21% to RM2,593 million from RM2,137 million in Q106. The upward trend was reflected in a 15% increase in yield (a measure of average fares per passenger per kilometer flown) to 26.1 sen/ Revenue Passenger Kilometer (RPK) compared to 22.6 sen/ RPK. Revenue per Available Seat Kilometer (a measure of revenue per kilometer) grew 19% to 18.5 sen/ ASK from 15.5 sen/ ASK while seat factor was up 2 p.p.t.

For the first time, both yield and seat factor increased concurrently since the BTP was launched at 15% and 2 p.p.t. respectively. This demonstrates the success of the airline’s new competitive and dynamic fares which has attracted more customers.

http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/News_Management/bar2.gif

As expected, cargo revenue was down by 4% to RM534 million from RM556 million due to reduction in belly space as a result of the airline’s route rationalization in line with the BTP.

Outlook

Malaysia Airlines will continue to focus on improving its yield, network efficiency and savings. Its 2007 key business priorities to improve service delivery, to enhance revenue and productivity, to implement its Passenger Services System and structural cost reductions are on track.

Its B737-400 aircraft replacement plans are progressing well with proposals received from aircraft manufacturers, Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier. This is in line with Malaysia Airlines’ overall aircraft revamp exercise as it moves towards owning at least 30% of the fleet which will be used to serve its core routes in the Asia-Pacific area.

Issued by:

Media Relations, Communications Division
Malaysia Airlines, Subang

pedang

May 30th, 2007, 11:08 AM

May 30, 2007 15:20 PM

Airbus Still In Talks With Malaysia Airlines On A380 Compensation

KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 (Bernama) -- Airbus is still in talks with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) on compensation for the delay in delivery of the A380 superjumbo aircraft.

"We are still talking with Malaysia Airlines. It is still ongoing," said Airbus spokesman Anthony Phillip at the Airbus A350XWB media briefing here today.

However, he declined further comment.

MAS had ordered six Airbus A380 valued at US$1.8 billion at list prices in 2003 with the first delivery scheduled in early 2007.

The national carrier will be compensated for the delay, Airbus chief operating officer for customers, John Leahy, said last month.

Airbus was now trying to finalise discussions with MAS while the delay issues have been sorted out with Singapore Airlines, Qantas and Korean Air, Leahy said.

"Absolutely, there will be some compensation for them (MAS). We have to come up with the date when they want the aircraft, then we will look at it (the quantum of compensation for the delay in delivery)," he said.

He noted that there was no cancellation by MAS for the order.

Leahy said that discussions were ongoing with MAS on the date of delivery and compensation, which is expected to be resolved in the coming months.

MAS managing director Idris Jala noted that discussions on the matter were still ongoing.

"We are having ongoing discussions with Airbus," he said at a press conference after announcing the company's results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2007, last Monday.

Under a revised schedule, MAS will receive the first A380 aircraft in late 2009.

-- BERNAMA

teckkang

May 30th, 2007, 12:45 PM

Airbus A380 visit Malaysia on Discovery Channel

xq_ExsYqbMU

wow, it flew just above KL city. nice. thnx for sharing. :)

triple-j

May 30th, 2007, 03:11 PM

amazing...

forrestcat

June 1st, 2007, 06:22 PM

June 01, 2007 20:28 PM

MAS Should Consider Having Aircraft As Compensation For A380 Delays

By Massita Ahmad

KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) should consider having aircraft as compensation for the delivery delay of six A380 superjumbo aircraft on order, says an analyst.

MAS had ordered six Airbus A380s valued at US$1.8 billion at 2003 list prices and the first delivery was scheduled for early this year.

Production delays on the double-decker superjumbo had caused the European aircraft consortium to be saddled with compensation payments.

"This should be a win-win deal. MAS had just recovered from its 18-month cash crisis. Such an arrangement could save a lot of dollars for the national carrier," the analyst told Bernama today.

After all, she said MAS was currently in the midst of finalising the replacement plan of its Boeing 737-400 aircraft while evaluating the purchase of about 50 narrowed-bodied and 50 wide-bodied planes.

Such a shopping list could cost more than US$15 billion, said the analyst who wished to remain anonymous.

The aircraft types or mix in the replacement plan is expected to be finalised by year end and eventually, MAS, which has 39 Boeing 737-400s now, would phase out this particular model in stages from next year until 2014.

The national carrier is looking at buying the 50 narrow-bodied aircraft from either the A320, Boeing 737 Next Generation or Bombardier C Series.

Proposals by MAS had already been sent to Airbus, Boeing and Bombardier.

MAS managing director Idris Jala recently hinted that the wide-bodied planes should be smaller than the A380 superjumbo and as such the A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner should "fit the needs".

Idris, however, noted that the finalisation of the narrow bodied planes would also have to take into consideration the type of wide-bodied aircraft to be purchased.

Each narrow-bodied plane can cost up to US$60 million while each wide-bodied can cost up to US$200 million.

Meanwhile, Alan Pardoe, Airbus' director product marketing for the A330, A350, A340 Family, said the A350 Family would suit MAS' wide-bodied aircraft preferences.

"Yes, undoubtedly," he said when asked at the Airbus A350XWB media briefing here Wednesday.

He believed that Asia would be the MAS "heartland" and a future fleet with new aircraft from Airbus would reflect that.

-- BERNAMA

Arkdriver

June 2nd, 2007, 11:02 AM

bombardier stopped their c series development according to wikipedia...so the choices now is narrowed to boeing 737 and airbus a320.

TWK90

June 6th, 2007, 05:54 AM

Idris Jala First Malaysian Voted To IATA Board

KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Idris Jala has been elected to the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) board of governors effective Wednesday until 2010.

The first Malaysian to be named to the 30-member IATA board, Jala joins other leaders from the world's leading airlines, MAS said in a statement.

Commenting on his appointment, Jala said: "This is an excellent opportunity for Malaysia Airlines to be involved in the key decisions impacting the airline industry as a whole."

He thanked all his staff for their full and continued support of MAS' business turnaround plan.

New IATA board chairman Fernando Pinto said: "Malaysia Airlines under Jala has made great progress in turning the corner.

"We are delighted to have him with us, and trust that his experience and invaluable insights will further strengthen the board."

IATA is a trade association representing some 250 airlines which account for some 94 per cent of the world's air traffic.

-- BERNAMA

nazrey

June 13th, 2007, 08:01 AM

Brunei transit for travellers
Wednesday June 13, 2007
By STEPHEN THEN
TheStar

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Travellers from Brunei have been known to cross into Sarawak to fly elsewhere because of the currency exchange rate.

These days, desperate travellers from Sarawak are coming here by land and using exit points in Brunei to get to their intended destinations in Malaysia.

It is not a cheap journey for these travellers, who are affected by the on-going air connection woes in northern Sarawak.

For example, Sarawakians who want to go to Labuan, but cannot do so due to the grounding of Fokker-50 aircrafts in Miri, have to go to Brunei to fly to Labuan or use speedboats from ports in the sultanate.

Those in Miri who want to go to Limbang and affected by the same flight problems use the land route by cutting through the two Brunei border checkpoints.

A three-hour taxi ride here from Miri costs at least RM280.

Taxi driver Ling Tek Siong told The Star he received a call at 3.45am from an offshore worker in Miri who was desperate to go to Labuan Island.

“The flights from Miri to Labuan are affected by the air-connection problems.

“This man wanted me to pick him up at 5am and send him to Brunei so that he could get a speedboat from Muara (port in Brunei) to Labuan,” he said.

Malaysian taxis are only allowed up to the Brunei immigration complex and not beyond. From there, travellers must use Brunei-registered taxis or vehicles to reach their destination.

Fokker flights to many parts of northern Sarawak and Kota Kinabalu are suspended because out of the seven Fokkers operated by Fly Asian Xpress (FAX), only one is fully functional.

The rest are affected by technical problems and undergoing urgent repairs.

FAX sources said the airline expected to get another two Fokkers flying in the next few days.

In Miri, it is learned that many passengers who want to go to other parts of the state cannot get seats on board Malaysia Airlines or AirAsia because the airlines are booked solid.

Travellers affected by the FAX woes are using these two airlines to get to destinations nearest to the ones served by the Fokkers, so that they can use land and river routes to reach their intended points.

pedang

June 14th, 2007, 07:01 AM

June 13, 2007 18:51 PM

Subang Terminal 3 To Cater For Jet Owners

PUTRAJAYA, June 13 (Bernama) -- The Cabinet has agreed for Terminal 3 at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang to be turned into a general aviation hub to cater specially for private jet owners from around the world.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said the demand for such a hub is expected to increase due to the economic boom in Asia.

"Malaysia has very good potential to be an aviation hub given its strategic central location in this part of the world, plus the ample space and other releated facilities," he told reporters after presenting excellent service awards to 26 officers and staff of his ministry here today.

Chan said: "It is going to be a very lucrative business. We have all the ingredients to be very successful.

"We want private jet owners in the region to come and use Malaysia as a transit point enroute to Europe or for refuelling, maintenance and for other logistical needs."

Chan said the government would also talk to leading jet business operators from the US, Europe and Australia to expand their operations to Subang.

"We will be doing some upgrading work at the terminal to make it more conducive for jets to land for lot more aviation activities there," he said.

He expects the work to be completed in six to eight months.

Chan also said the Cabinet had decided that the Penang-based Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines (MAS), to fly to all domestic destinations and to Indonesia and Thailand from Subang.

"From Subang, they can fly to destinations not served by either MAS or AirAsia," he said, adding that his ministry was studying Firefly's request to operate from Senai and Kota Kinabalu as well.

Chan, however, said the services were only for turbo prop or propeller-powered planes.

He also assured the people in Sabah and Sarawak that the government would provide reliable rural air services to the interior areas.

-- BERNAMA

ntly1

June 14th, 2007, 12:41 PM

DAILY EXPRESS NEWS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time for Sabah to have own airline: Yong Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Datuk Yong Teck Lee said the time has come for Sabah to study the possibility of operating its own airline, with or without Sarawak.

He said with professional and expert management sourced internationally, a Borneo Airline, can be profitable and later expand the service to regional destinations.

"It has been said that a city or country needs a big population to operate a viable airline. But Brunei and Singapore have proven that small economies also can make a success out of its own airlines with vast international networks," he said.

If there is a need, Sabah can tap the international aviation industry, work out an alliance with regional airlines like Silk Air and Royal Brunei Airlines and fly our own Borneo Airlines to Singapore, Brunei, Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, Manila, Bangkok, London and other international destinations, he said.

Yong said this in response to the poor service rendered by Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) in Sabah and Sarawak. The Rural Air Services (RAS) in both states, currently operated by FAX, would be taken over by MASWings, a new fully-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, in stages from Oct 1.

FAX had taken over RAS from MAS in August last year, but failed to provide a satisfactory level of service due to frequent technical problems.

Yong, a former Chief Minister, also called on the Federal government, particularly the Ministry of Transport, to get its act together and give the people of Sabah and Sarawak this basic mode of transportation that is badly needed to get to the vast areas of Sabah and Sarawak.

"This trial and error approach by the top officials of the Ministry is doing a gross injustice to the people of Sabah and Sarawak. There have been too many cases of desperation, frustration and tears of stranded passengers at the KK and Lahad Datu airports," he said.

He said having achieved so much development after 44 years in Malaysia, it is shameful to see that the aviation service has gone from bad to worse, even worse than the days of MSA (then known as Malaysia Singapore Airlines) in the 1960s.

FAX's poor service is more than just delays and cancellations, he said, adding that there are many cases that warrant investigations.

Listing out the examples, Yong said these include flight cancellations with little or no notice; flight delays with no update on the Expected Time of Departure; arbitrarily putting passengers on other unscheduled flights; completely misleading SMS (short messaging service) and phone calls like asking passengers to rush to the airport to catch an earlier flight when the flight was delayed for two hours instead; payments being received by FAX via the Internet for flights which were later found to be non-existent when passengers tried to check in at the airport; the Kota Kinabalu FAX office blaming the Miri FAX office; the ground staff blaming the office staff; and in the case of Lahad Datu, airline flights had been replaced by a lousy 10-hour bus ride from Lahad Datu airport to Kota Kinabalu.

"Even the elected representatives (YBs) and Assistant Minister from Lahad Datu now travel two hours by car to Tawau or Sandakan to catch the MAS flight out of Lahad Datu.

"The loss of time, money and fuel, energy and hardship caused to ordinary people and consequential loss to the economy is incalculable," he said.

He called on the Minister of Transport and senior officials to try the FAX service themselves, saying only then will they understand the sense of betrayal felt by the people in Sabah and Sarawak.

Meanwhile, it was erroneously stated in our report Wednesday that FAX is a subsidiary of MAS.

nazrey

June 27th, 2007, 05:51 AM

MAS Offers 50 Pct Rebate For New Students Of Govt Universities
Updated : 26-06-2007
Media : Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is offering a 50 percent rebate on its economy class domestic fares to student who have been accepted this year in local government universities.

This rebate was in response to the government's call for affordable airfares for these students to join the institutions of higher learning, MAS said in a statement Tuesday.

The offer is available effective immediately for travel up to July 31, 2007, and applicable on eight routes between Kuala Lumpur and East Malaysia, covering Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau, Labuan, Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.

These non-refundable offers ranging from RM175 for Kuching/Kuala Lumpur to RM280 for Tawau/Kuala Lumpur one-way, excluding applicable taxes and other charges, are saleable only in Malaysia for payment and ticketing via MAS ticket offices nationwide.

Apart from the 50 percent discount, the airline is also offering the students an additional 10 kilograms free baggage allowance for outbound travel to facilitate their relocation for studies at the government universities.

MAS said the students must present the original and photocopy of the acceptance letter issued by the universities together with their identity card/MyKad at time of payment and ticketing.

Skyprince

July 5th, 2007, 06:07 AM

Daily flights to Karachi, Lahore :banana:

RAWALPINDI, July 5 (Bernama) -- Pakistan and Malaysia have agreed to increase air links from existing three weekly to fourteen weekly frequencies, Pakistan Press International reported.

During official level talks Wednesday under bilateral Air Services Agreement here, both officials agreed to expand existing arrangements in order to promote trade, tourism and people to people contact.

Under a MoU signed, designated Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will commence operation with total of fourteen weekly frequencies, seven each to Karachi and Lahore, the news agency quoted as saying.

While designated airlines of Pakistan will operate equal number of frequencies to Kuala Lumpur and other points in Malaysia.

It was also agreed to allow airlines of either side to operate unlimited number of frequencies exclusively for cargo operations.

-- BERNAMA

nazrey

July 31st, 2007, 08:00 AM

Let Idris Jala finish his mission at MAS
Tuesday July 31, 2007
COMMENT BY WONG CHUN WAI
TheStar

Malaysia Airlines flew into turbulence recently after a series of flight delays and cancellations. But its CEO is trying hard to steer the airline back on track.

IT’S always easy to point fingers at someone for a screw-up. In this case, it’s Senator Tajulurus Mohd Zain of the Merbok Umno division who demanded the sacking of Malaysia Airlines managing director Datuk Idris Jala for a series of flight delays and cancellations recently.

Some politicians, who assume they are very important, are fuming because they have been affected by these delays and the person they hold responsible is the MAS chief executive officer.

There is no question there are internal problems in the national airline, probably much more than what has been admitted by Idris himself but the man must be credited for doing his job – to cut losses, make profits for MAS and retain the airline’s brand name.

He has introduced the private sector culture into the once ailing airline including having the appraisal system for its 19,500 staff, which has never been done since the airline was set up but it is a common, if not mandatory practice, in private companies.

There has to be some yardstick to measure a worker’s productivity and performance but word is that there is resistant. Needless to say, an automatic increment or promotion will affect the operating costs of the airline.

Last week, Tajulurus, who is a member of the Senators’ Club, called for Idris’ dismissal to prevent a further “sliding of services” by the national carrier.

MAS, he said, was fast losing its credibility and its services was regressing from “bad to worse,” adding that Idris should leave and MAS was bogged down with internal problems.

Tajulurus has chosen to overlook some basic facts – Idris has only been on the helm for a little over one-and-a-half years, taking a job which nobody wanted as the balance sheet of the company read like a horror book.

Inheriting a mountain of problems, he has slowly built up the airline. The task has been difficult, particularly from interfering politicians but to his credit, he has chosen to be forward-looking, refusing to answer questions from reporters who often attempt to dig for information about the company’s scandalous past.

From flying to unprofitable destinations, in the name of South-South co-operation to overpriced nasi lemak, to some members of the royalty who refused to pay for their tickets and overweight baggage, Idris has tried to reduce the obstacles one by one, fully aware that he is stepping on sensitive areas.

In just a year after Idris took over, MAS returned a first-quarter 2007 profit of RM133mil. It’s a feat, really.

Tajulurus may be unhappy but OSK Investment Research, for example, retained its “buy” call for MAS on July 17 despite the bad press involving delays blamed on technical glitches, bad weather and problems with a new computer system.

In short, Idris has tried to avoid political and commercial turbulences, which Malaysians are familiar with, and at the same time, show other CEOs he can make MAS fly again, yielding positive results.

Malaysians are also looking forward to its low-cost subsidiary, Firefly, which is expected to begin operate flights from Subang and Senai to Ipoh.

OSK also reported that “we maintain our buy call on expectations of a code-sharing agreement with a Chinese airline which will help bolster connectivity starting in 2008,” it said.

There are challenges ahead for MAS – by Jan 1, 2009, Asean would have opened up its skies, making the airline industry highly deregulated – that means more traffic rights to airlines with the possibility of supply outstripping demand.

Already, there are 400 new planes this year and another 500 new ones next year from Middle East and India, based on Boeing and Airbus’ order bookings.

Idris has no choice except to drive towards a more performance-based culture, as he said in a recent interview. He has been given the mandate and he should use it well, never mind what the politicians want to say.

But Idris also need to manage its switch-over to the new IT system better as no passenger would want to stand at the check-in counter for 30 minutes to get a boarding pass and then wait for another two hours before flying off because of a delay.

Worse, there have been cases of passengers being stranded for days.

More importantly, he must take seriously the talk of an “unofficial go-slow” involving alleged discontent over its shares option and bonuses. His hands are clearly full as he has 14 unions to deal with, a nightmare no CEO has to tackle.

Clearly, MAS cannot afford flight delays, irrespective of the causes, or purported cases of over-booking, which can be regarded as an economic sabotage to the Government’s Visit Malaysia 2007.

Still, it is no surprise that MAS won the “World’s Best Cabin Staff” award at the World Airlines Award 2007, which involved an 11-month survey.

The smiles of our MAS crew and the nasi lemak that awaits Malaysians after being away from home have long made the national carrier a winner.

For Jala and his staff, it also means keeping the company profitable and more important, to fly on time.

fairul

August 12th, 2007, 02:41 AM

from The Star yesterday...

MASWings set to boost tourism

By SHARON LING

KUCHING: Malaysia Airlines' subsidiary MASWings is on track to take to the skies on Oct 1 as scheduled.

It expects to be fully operational by Dec 1, when the new rural service airline will have a fleet of 13 aircraft, providing almost 200 flights a week in Sabah and Sarawak.

MAS managing director Datuk Idris Jala said the new airline would initially operate four Fokker 50 and four Twin Otter aircraft.

This will be increased to seven Fokker 50 and five Twin Otter aircraft from Oct 28.

By Dec 1, MASWings will have a fleet of eight Fokker 50 and five Twin Otter aircraft serving a network of 23 destinations in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.

http://thestar.com.my/archives/2007/8/11/nation/n_pg23idris.jpg
Tour of duty: Idris (left) presenting a model of a Fokker 50 aircraft with the MASWings livery to Taib after the briefing in Kuching yesterday. Looking on is Wong.
It will have 13 Fokker 50 and 80 Twin Otter flights weekly by Dec 1.

“We’ll be bringing back a lot of the old routes and frequencies that we used to have.

“I think that will be very good for local travel within Sabah and Sarawak,” Idris told reporters after briefing Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud on MASWings here yesterday.

Idris said MAS took over full maintenance of the aircraft on Aug 1 and restoration work had begun.

He said all preparatory work was on schedule and the airline would be ready to take over turboprop operations from FlyAsianXpress (FAX) on Oct 1.

“We are doing everything we can to make sure the aircraft are in safe and reliable condition and we should be able to bring back on-time performances to the levels that they were when we were running (the rural air services) before,” he said.

State Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Wong Soon Koh, who was at the briefing, said the handover of rural air services to MASWings would be a boost to Sarawak’s tourism industry.

“We have been suffering, but with MASWings taking over I’m confident our tourism industry will grow from strength to strength,” he said.

Taib will launch MASWings in Mulu on Oct 1.

MASWings flights are now open for booking through the MAS call centre at 1-300-88-3000.

good news :cheers:

Kopassus

August 12th, 2007, 12:42 PM

Does anyone know the status of the NMX-1 project? (joint venture with PT Dirgantara Indonesia)

Sabtu, 21 Agustus 2004
Projek Pesawat NMX-1 Batal?
PT DI Diminta Alihkan Produksi ke Malaysia

BANDUNG, (PR).-
Projek kolaborasi Indonesia-Malaysia atas pembuatan pesawat eksekutif bermesin jet NMX-1 terancam batal, menyusul persoalan yang muncul antara kedua pihak. Ini disebabkan Malaysia selaku pemodal, kemudian ngotot ingin mengalihkan tempat produksi ke negara mereka.

Sejumlah sumber di PT Dirgantara Indonesia, baru-baru ini menyebutkan, akibat kondisi demikian, belum jelas lagi kelanjutan projek bersangkutan. Saat ini, projek NMX-1 baru memasuki pre-eliminary design, namun rencana semula direncanakan prototipenya sudah roll-out (diperkenalkan kepada umum) tahun 2005.

"Malaysia sejauh ini belum mempunyai kemampuan, industri atau tempat yang dianggap memenuhi syarat pembuatan pesawat terbang. Di mana mereka akan membuat pesawat NMX-1? Kami juga mencurigai ada itikad lain dari pihak Malaysia, mengapa mereka begitu ngotot mengalihkan pembuatan NMX-1, yang sesuai kesepakatan semula akan dibuat di pabrik PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) Bandung," ujar seorang pejabat PT DI.

Disebutkan rekannya, produk NMX-1 merupakan pesawat jet eksekutif bermesin dua jenis turbojet. Pesawat bersangkutan dirancang untuk dapat membawa enam orang penumpang, dan mengincar pasar di Asia. Dalam projek itu, Indonesia dalam hal ini PT DI selaku perancang dan pembuat, sedangkan Malaysia selaku pemodal.

"Inilah susahnya kalau perusahaan sedang kolaps, keinginan sangat banyak dan kemampuan kami rasa ada. Namun karena persoalan finansial dan manajemen, membuat kami harus didikte pemodal, yang celakanya negara lain," keluhnya.

Jika pesawat NMX-1 jadi dibuat, informasi yang diperoleh, nantinya akan mengincar pasar di antara produk-produk sekelas, misalnya Beech dan Cessna buatan AS, Embraer Brasil, dll. Salah satu andalan untuk menarik minat pasar Asia, NMX-1 ditawarkan dengan harga lebih murah namun kemampuan dan kenyamanan tak berbeda jauh dengan kompetitornya.

Apa yang terjadi dalam projek produksi pesawat di Indonesia (PT DI)? Dikatakannya, terasa menyedihkan jika dibandingkan potensi dan kemampuan yang ada. Secara teknis, banyak tenaga di PT DI dinilai dan terbukti memiliki kemampuan, namun secara manajemen finansial yang masih harus lebih dioptimalkan, seperti yang dialami projek NMX-1 sehingga harus bergantung kepada Malaysia.

Padahal, katanya, PT DI sebenarnya merupakan satu-satunya industri pesawat terbang secara nyata di kawasan Asia. Walaupun negara lain di Asia, seperti India, Jepang, Israel, juga membuat pesawat terbang, mereka hanya bersifat assembling dan pengerjaannya bukan langsung di negara mereka, serta hanya sebagian kecil yang dapat diekspor.

Humas PT DI, Rakhendi Triatna, yang dikonfirmasi, membenarkan bahwa saat ini Indonesia (PT DI) melakukan kerja sama dengan Malaysia dalam pembuatan projek pesawat eksekutif bermesin jet. Namun ia menyatakan belum tahu bahwa projek bersangkutan terancam batal akibat ngototnya Malaysia agar produksinya dialihkan ke negara mereka, serta mengatakan belum mengetahui apa nama atau kode produk bersangkutan. (A-81) ***

Arkdriver

August 12th, 2007, 07:34 PM

hi friend. I think i already made a thread about it. Aeronimbus. I think that's it. You can check. It's a joint venture between Malaysia and Indonesia but not many people know about it. It's in this pengangkutan thread.

nazrey

August 15th, 2007, 10:09 AM

15-08-2007: MAS to learn from low-cost carriers
by Yong Yen Nie
THEEDGEDAILY

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) wants to learn from AirAsia Bhd and other low-cost carriers (LCCs) as a constructive step to be more competitive in the regional and global airline industry, said MAS executive director and chief financial officer Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin Raja Abdul Aziz.

However, he stressed that MAS would leave its primary premium airline strategy and objective intact towards meeting the needs of customers.

Azmil said MAS wanted to be more proactive in reducing costs to reflect higher profitability and increased efficiency, and adopt such strategies as that deployed by LCCs.

“A lot of airlines have been customer-driven in the past. We used to give the customers more, without justifying how these costs met with the revenue. Now, we want to understand what our customers want and what they are willing to pay for,” he said.

He added that MAS, despite being a full-service liner, was operating under lower costs than full-service liners and even some LCCs from the US and Europe.

“We are looking into various business processes of low-cost carriers and where they differ (from MAS’); we assess to see if they would put us into an advantageous position should we adopt them. But we need to understand the cost factors involved as well,” he said.

“The level of competition in the airline industry will increase over these few years. There is already an increase in capacity including from airlines around the region and also in the number of aircraft orders from India and China.

“We expect the delivery of over 800 aircraft into the Asia-Pacific region, including to India and China in the year 2008/09,” he said at the CFO Summit 2007 on “Creating Value in Uncertain Times” here yesterday.

With the successful management and strategy facelift that MAS had undergone recently, he was confident that it was ready to meet the challenges and stiff competition head-on.

“We also have the Asean liberalisation starting from Jan 1, 2009. One such route is the KL-Singapore route. We are ready for the competition. But this is the most difficult challenge that we will have,” Azmil said.

One of the changes that MAS has been making vigorously is its aircraft-turnaround time. LCCs typically have a turnaround time of 25-30 minutes but full-service liners can halt for a full 45 minutes.

Although there is not much time difference, a half-an-hour difference for MAS’ 40 aircraft will churn an extra 20 hours of turnaround time.

These 20 hours translated into cost savings or revenue-generation of three extra flights, Azmil said. Still, MAS has gone through major improvements in their operations.

Azmil said: “The strength of low cost carriers lies in their ability to fly from nine to 12 hours a day. MAS flights used to operate for seven hours a day, but has now increased to eight hours a day.

“We have increased our utilisation (of aircraft). Our turnaround time has decreased from 45 to 35 minutes. We are getting close.”

However, he said that as much as they could learn from LCCs, full-service liners had different business models, and MAS would not try to copy their strategies completely.

For instance, AirAsia has launched premium pricing for some of its services, such as express boarding and food but being a full-service liner, MAS was careful not to jump onto the bandwagon.

“As a full-service liner, we don’t charge customers for food. We also don’t charge customers for in-flight entertainment. However, research from the US and European markets have shown that full-service liners are able to charge premium-pricing for these services.

“We will look into it but the challenge for charging premium-pricing is this — should we charge a 20% premium-pricing on these services, we have to ensure that our costs are lower than that,” he said.

On the possibility of adopting the premium pricing strategies, Azmil said: “Our finance team would have to work harder than they have ever done. But, they have improved over the years, by leaps and bounds.”

tbc

August 15th, 2007, 04:06 PM

..... said MAS executive director and chief financial officer Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin Raja Abdul Aziz

1) “..... One such route is the KL-Singapore route. We are ready for the competition .....”

2) "One of the changes that MAS has been making vigorously is its aircraft-turnaround time. LCCs typically have a turnaround time of 25-30 minutes but full-service liners can halt for a full 45 minutes"

3) "..... a half-an-hour difference for MAS’ 40 aircraft will ....."

4) “Our finance team would have to work harder than they have ever done. But, they have improved over the years, by leaps and bounds.”

1) That was NOT what his boss, Datuk IJ was saying just a week or two ago

2) No point in reducing aircraft turnaround time when you have excess capacity to start with, MH birds basking idly under the blazing sun at KLIA is quite a common sight. On the other hand, over vigorous effort in this direction I believe has at least partly contributed to the system wide delay chaos recently, as conceeded by Datuk IJ. I understand flights are being rescheduled to accomodate longer turnaround time ?

3) Such a senior chap and he doesn't know how many birds MH is operating, certainly more than 40 last I checked

4) Fuel surcharges, Admin surcharges etc have also come into being, it can only be hoped the quantum of which does not improve by leaps and bounds too !

:)

forrestcat

August 15th, 2007, 04:49 PM

Red in The Age that Air Asia will start flights to Australia in September :banana: ...to Brisbane,is it?

Arkdriver

August 15th, 2007, 06:04 PM

i think he pointed to 40 aircraft to the 734 fleet. We all know mas operate close to 100 planes. 17 b747, 17 b777, bla bla bla

patchay

August 16th, 2007, 01:13 AM

Red in The Age that Air Asia will start flights to Australia in September :banana: ...to Brisbane,is it?

to Gold Coast ... I think.

nazrey

August 16th, 2007, 10:35 AM

Sultan abdul Halim Airport, Alor Star, Kedah
M Radzi Desa
Alor Star1 (http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=1229474&size=L&width=1200&height=812&sok=JURER%20%20%28pbhagel%20%3D%20%27Znynlfvn%27%29%20NAQ%20%28cynpr%20%3D%20%27Nybe%20Fgne%20%28NBE%20%2F%20JZXN%29%27%29%20%20BEQRE%20OL%20cubgb_vq%20QRFP&photo_nr=1)
Alor Star2 (http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=1059384&size=L&width=1200&height=812&sok=JURER%20%20%28pbhagel%20%3D%20%27Znynlfvn%27%29%20NAQ%20%28cynpr%20%3D%20%27Nybe%20Fgne%20%28NBE%20%2F%20JZXN%29%27%29%20%20BEQRE%20OL%20cubgb_vq%20QRFP&photo_nr=2)

johnsonooi

August 29th, 2007, 06:57 AM

27 Aug, 2007
Malaysia Airlines posts Q2 net profit of RM113 million

Subang (27 August 2007): Malaysia Airlines reported a net profit of RM113 million for the second quarter ended 30 June 2007, improving its performance by RM290 million from RM177 million in losses a year earlier.

This marks the airline’s 4th successive quarter of net profit since the launch of its Business Turnaround Plan (BTP) in February 2006, and tracks well for Malaysia Airlines to achieve its stretch profit target of RM300 to RM700 million this year.

Malaysia Airlines made a huge improvement with sales increasing 17% to RM3.55 billion from RM3.03 billion a year ago. Revenues rose RM519 million, with passenger revenue increasing 20% to RM2.5 billion. Yield, the average fare per passenger per kilometer flown grew 13%, while seats filled or seat factor rose 1.2 percentage points to 70%.

This enabled Malaysia Airlines to post an operating profit of RM48 million (before finance costs and exceptional items) from losses of RM163 million previously.

Both yield and seat factor grew as the airline reaped the benefits of its revenue and sales enhancement initiatives which were implemented in January this year.

International routes turned a profit of RM7 million (before finance costs and exceptional items) compared to losses of RM163 million a year ago while domestic operations made RM41 million (before finance costs and exceptional items).

Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Idris Jala said, “We made good progress, turning an operating profit of RM48 million in quarter 2 which traditionally has been the airlines’ worst financial period. But to sustain the airline’s profitability, we need to make radical changes. Malaysia Airlines must transform into a 5-star airline with LCC cost.

“To achieve this goal, we must change – totally. Our services have to be top-class. Customer experience at all touch-points must be excellent. What we offer our customers must be different and compelling. Today, we have 312 initiatives to improve customer experience under our customer value proposition program and we have recently regained the World’s Best Cabin Staff Award. In addition, under our Malaysian Hospitality or MH program, we aim to treat passengers as guests in our homes.

“We must be relentless in cutting costs, and the necessary structural changes will take place in due time. We must grow new businesses. There is strong potential in our Engineering & Maintenance (E&M) division, and Firefly. Prospects for E&M are bright as the robust demand in regional air travel, and the limited expertise available, will spur the demand for our services. Firefly has obtained Government approvals to fly from Johor Baru and Kota Kinabalu, in addition to Penang and Subang. We have also submitted requests to fly to more local and regional routes.”

The E&M division is currently doing more than 30% third party maintenance, repair and overhaul work. By 2010, 50% of the business is expected to be third party work.

For the first-half ended 30 June 2007, Malaysia Airlines reported a net profit of RM246 million, a substantial improvement over its RM480 million in losses previously. Sales rose 19% to RM7.19 billion from RM6.05 billion, with passenger revenue increasing 21%. Yield increased 14%, while seat factor rose 2 percentage points to 70.5%. In recognition of the excellent performance in the first-half of the year, Malaysia Airlines recently rewarded all staff with an interim half month bonus.

Looking forward, Jala said, "I am upbeat about the second half of the year. It has been traditionally better as air travel peaks during this period. In addition, the Omega and Alpha projects (revenue and sales enhancement initiatives) will bear more fruit from July onwards. I am asking my team to go for record profits this year. We want 2007 to be the year where we make the highest profits in our corporate history. I have confidence in the MAS people, we are seeing the results and above all, we know what it takes to win.”

Issued by:
Media Relations, Communications Division
Malaysia Airlines, Subang

nazrey

September 18th, 2007, 08:43 AM

Safe landing at Phuket
Tuesday September 18, 2007
By CHRISTINA CHIN
TheStar

http://www.thestar.com.my/archives/2007/9/18/nation/n_pg31joe.jpg

Safe landing: Travaglini and other passengers clapping
when the plane landed safely in Phuket on Monday.

PHUKET: They heaved a sigh of relief before breaking out in laughter and applause as the plane came to a halt.

The 230-odd Malaysia Airlines (MAS) passengers, mostly holidaymakers, celebrated the aircraft’s safe landing here yesterday evening.

The flight was MAS' first to Phuket since Sunday's crash of a budget airline, which forced the Phuket International Airport to close.

As the airport had just opened, heavy traffic at the parking bay caused a 10-minute delay in passengers disembarking from the flight.

Earlier at the KL International Airport (KLIA), passengers were in a jovial mood, eager to finally make their way to the “Pearl of the Andaman.”

Honeymooners Chady El Feqhalg and Lina Layla from Lebanon said they considered cancelling their trip after hearing about the crash but decided against it at the last minute.

Asked how they felt when the plane landed safely, Chady said:

“How do I feel? Absolutely relieved!” he said.

Atsuko Kiyora who was to board the 7.30pm (Malaysian time) flight to Phuket on Sunday said she was glad to finally arrive in Phuket.

For Australians Joe Travaglini and his family who were on transit at KLIA, the flight delay had cost them a day in vacation time.

“We were to be on the morning flight but that was cancelled,” he said.

Malaysian Ginger Hamiza and her companion Nigel Stanley described the accident as a “fluke” and had no intention of cancelling their trip.

“Fortunately, my travel plans were not affected by the crash as I had booked the evening flight yesterday,” Stanley said.

A MAS spokesman at KLIA said two flights had been cancelled since Sunday as a result of the crash.

The airline said it used a bigger aircraft yesterday to fly home passengers who were stranded in Phuket.

Taxi driver Adnan Pombisut claimed that business was slightly better than on normal days when the Phuket airport was closed.

“Many people did not know that the airport was going to be closed, so I drove them there and dropped them back to the hotel again when they realised that their flights had been cancelled. So instead of a one-way fare, they paid for a return trip,” he said.

AirAsia could not be reached for comment but their website showed 12 flights between Phuket and Bangkok daily, and one flight daily between Kuala Lumpur and Phuket.

Halawala

September 18th, 2007, 02:44 PM

QATAR Airways has upgraded the aircraft on its Doha-Kuala Lumpur-Bali route to an Airbus A330 offering passengers in every seat a fully interactive audio and video entertainment system.

All 10 weekly services between Doha and the Malaysian capital will be served with the long-range aircraft, non-stop. The aircraft will also operate on all four weekly flights on the Kuala Lumpur-Bali sector, a route launched in March.

Qatar Airways launched flights to Malaysia in December 2001 with three flights a week and progressively increased capacity to the current frequency of 10 services.

The Doha-Kuala Lumpur route had been operated with an Airbus A300, which is gradually being phased out of the airline’s fleet. Qatar Airways is now using two aircraft types on the route - an A330-200 featuring 22 business class seats and 259 in economy, as well as an A330-300 with 30 business class seats and 275 in economy.

The upgraded A330s feature up to 53 more seats than the A300.[/B]

Skyprince

September 18th, 2007, 04:58 PM

Thanks Mohammed, wow very good news ! Many of my friends and relatives ( including my dad ) who frequently travel abroad said Qatar Airways is the best airline they've ever flown with !

I thought that there are only 7 weekly-service between DOH and KUL :?

nazrey

September 19th, 2007, 08:09 AM

MAS uses bigger aircraft to fly passengers from Phuket
Updated : 18-09-2007
Media : The Star

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) used a bigger aircraft to fly affected passengers back from Phuket, Thailand after the Phuket airport was reopened at 5pm Monday following Sunday's air crash.

MAS, which operates two daily flights to the island resort, used an Airbus A330-300 instead of a B737-300 for its MH790 flight Monday evening.

The airline said in a press statement that the bigger aircraft was to accommodate the affected passengers from Sunday evening and Monday morning's flights, which were cancelled.

The Airbus has twice the seat capacity compared to the Boeing.

¡§As the airport closure was beyond the control of airlines, passengers on our affected flights have been duly informed of the situation,¡¨ the statement read.

The Phuket airport was closed following the crash of budget airline One-Two-Go which killed 89 people during a storm.

Airasia could not be reached for comment, but their website showed 12 flights between Phuket and Bangkok daily, and one flight daily between KL and Phuket.

When contacted, travel agents in Phuket said business was going as usual with no cancellation of bookings.

When the Phuket airport was closed, we transferred our clients to Krabi airport, which is about three hours away by bus. There is no problem as this is a low season, with fewer international flights, said Phuket Venture general manager Nipa Nuhkaew.

fairul

September 19th, 2007, 12:53 PM

suprise suprise..

September 19, 2007 12:42 PM

Kuching/Macau/Kuching Daily Flight By AirAsia This November

SIBU (Sarawak), Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Low-cost carrier AirAsia will begin its new Kuching/Macau/Kuching daily flight on Nov 15 this year.

Sarawak Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Sri Wong Soon Koh, who announced this here last night, said this was a breakthrough for the state sky.

"There is a big market in the eastern part of China in cities like Macau, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and others for Sarawak tourism," Wong said.

"Likewise, those from Sabah, Kalimantan in Indonesia and Sarawak can fly through Kuching on this direct flight to these places," he said after a "Reporters' Day" dinner organised by the Rejang Institute of Journalists.

Wong said that he held discussions with AirAsia over the flight and the airline agreed to it.

He said more details on the flight would be released soon.

He also advised local tour operators to come up with suitable packages to attract tourists in order to sustain the flight.

Commenting on the RM800 million allocation to develop tourism infrastructure in the state as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the 2008 budget, Wong said he had yet to obtain more details about it.

"But this will mainly be for infrastructure like improvements to our park facilities, building jetties, improving accommodations, bringing in water and power supplies and others," he said.

-- BERNAMA

baqthier

September 19th, 2007, 06:53 PM

Sigh..I do hope AirAsia would consider Brunei-Kuching flights

fairul

September 19th, 2007, 11:34 PM

Sigh..I do hope AirAsia would consider Brunei-Kuching flights

that would be great...yeah..RBA to resume service to KCH later this year..
:banana:

Skyprince

September 21st, 2007, 04:04 PM

Malaysia Airlines will suspend Nagoya and Zurich :( // will introduce Lahore flight :banana:

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Tuesday/Nation/20070918015138/Article/

tbc

September 21st, 2007, 05:15 PM

"There is a big market in the eastern part of China in cities like Macau, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and others for Sarawak tourism," Wong said.

"Likewise, those from Sabah, Kalimantan in Indonesia and Sarawak can fly through Kuching on this direct flight to these places," .....
He doesn't know does he ?!:nuts:
Sabah (KK to be exact) already has flights to MFM, CAN and HKG, Shenzhen coming up shortly. In fact, KCH flights to CAN and HKG currently stopover at BKI.
Doesn't sound too logical to "fly through Kuching" - fun though it may be !:)

fairul

September 22nd, 2007, 08:44 AM

^^ you know our politician..always talk crap ..heheh

TWK90

September 22nd, 2007, 01:26 PM

Source : http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/11857

PM to launch upgraded Labuan Airport next month

http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/mediafiles/picture/3030/Front-D-229.jpg?1190425664
MODERN…the upgraded airport terminal

22nd September, 2007
LABUAN: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will officiate at the launch of the upgraded Labuan Airport on October 26. Labuan MP Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman said the airport has been upgraded at a cost of RM365 million.

“Upgrading works were completed last month…it is now a very modern airport,” he said during a meeting with village heads here. Suhaili who is also Labuan Corporation chairman added an Airbus 330 aircraft would make the first landing in conjunction with the launch. He also expressed confidence that the upgraded airport would turn Labuan into a popular tourist destination in the region.

“We want to have direct flights from Japan, Taiwan, China, Korea and other foreign destinations,” he said. Meanwhile Malaysia Airport Berhad (MAB) general manager Datuk Azmi Murad said the Labuan Airport is now capable of handling 2.2 million passengers a year from 1.65 million previously.

Its runway is now 2,745 metres long and 60 metres wide while the terminal area has also been expanded from 16,000 sq metres to 22,000 sq metres.

OshHisham

September 22nd, 2007, 06:56 PM

Malaysia Airlines will suspend Nagoya and Zurich :( // will introduce Lahore flight :banana:

fu*k damn stupid as* hole MAS!!! if the 'recovery' plan means to scrap all important destination...pergi balik sarawak sumpit babi lagi baik lah Idris Jala!

since i was in nagoya for 4 years...everytime i take MAS from nagoya-KL..it was always pack with people....i can't understand MAS's decision..:ohno:

btw, why Lahore? nak angkut pendatang haram banyak2 ke malaysia ke? stupid company!! kalo macam ni lah punya performance, pergi mampuslah MAS!...jgn mimpi nak lawan SIA

marcusaffleck

September 23rd, 2007, 12:13 PM

fu*k damn stupid as* hole MAS!!! if the 'recovery' plan means to scrap all important destination...pergi balik sarawak sumpit babi lagi baik lah Idris Jala!

since i was in nagoya for 4 years...everytime i take MAS from nagoya-KL..it was always pack with people....i can't understand MAS's decision..:ohno:

btw, why Lahore? nak angkut pendatang haram banyak2 ke malaysia ke? stupid company!! kalo macam ni lah punya performance, pergi mampuslah MAS!...jgn mimpi nak lawan SIA

Good load factor doesn't mean there is good yield for this sector. MH is on the correct path to become an profitable 5-star airline where they slash unprofitable routes so they would be more competetive.

nazrey

September 23rd, 2007, 12:33 PM

Malaysia To Be Regional Aircraft Maintenance Hub - Najib
Updated : 21-09-2007

PETALING JAYA, Sept 21 (Bernama) -- The government plans to turn Malaysia into a regional hub for aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The deputy prime minister said this had been outlined by the Malaysian Aerospace Council chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"Suitable areas for MRO activities have been identified. They would not only involve Malaysia Airlines (MAS) but also other parties like Eurocopter which operates a similar facility for helicopters here (Subang)," he told reporters after opening the MAS Engineering Training Centre (METC) in Subang here Friday.

Najib said the move to establish the METC and related training programmes for Felda youths were among the strategies to attain the government's objective.

The METC, he said, had obtained international certification, with 30 per cent of its business coming from international airline operators.

He said Malaysia was ranked fifth in Asia and tenth in the world in terms of MRO capability.

Najib said besides civilian aircraft, Malaysia was also able to perform MRO work on foreign military planes through Airod Sdn Bhd.

"So our hub will be unique because it'll be able to handle civilian and military planes as well as helicopters," he said.

Earlier, in his speech, Najib said MAS should enhance its engineering prowess which was the backbone of the airline's operations.

"Engineering capability to support MAS must be second to none. There is a need to embrace the culture of precision and excellence. Now everything is calculated in micro and you need precision to have the competitive edge," he said.

Najib said MAS engineers and technicians were much sought-after by foreign companies but while this was a flattering reflection on the nation's ability, it nevertheless presented a new challenge of how to ensure the existence of a critical pool of talents in this field.

He said with the increasing demand for air travel resulting from increased affluence and affordability, fleet expansions and the introduction of new and bigger aircraft would undoubtedly require development of a robust MRO industry.

fairul

September 23rd, 2007, 12:38 PM

johnsonooi

September 23rd, 2007, 01:42 PM

^^
^^
yes...i was about to say the same thing...even with a full load aircraft..it doesnt mean it will make profit to the carrier...good yield is very important

next on the queue..hopefully the JNB-CPT-EZE route....as for Nagoya...it is serve with few frequencies a week....and MH is having a hard time to catch the premium traffic to make the route profitable...unlike SQ which has daily service there...

i even read that the LHR route is only breaking even for MAS...suprise indeed huh...

100% agreed to what fairul said. I think osh should revise your statement and your signature as well.:lol:

We tends to complaint something that compromise our benefits. I understand that why osh complaint about MAS. It is just human nature. We are not an expert in aviation. So, what MAS try to do is to becomes a profitable airlines. Thus, MAS should scrap any route that compromise their profitability. Let Idris Jala to do what he has to be done and let us evaluate his works later.

tbc

September 23rd, 2007, 03:40 PM

Skyprince

September 23rd, 2007, 07:47 PM

100% agreed to what fairul said. I think osh should revise your statement and your signature as well.:lol:

We tends to complaint something that compromise our benefits. I understand that why osh complaint about MAS. It is just human nature. We are not an expert in aviation. So, what MAS try to do is to becomes a profitable airlines. Thus, MAS should scrap any route that compromise their profitability. Let Idris Jala to do what he has to be done and let us evaluate his works later.

Actually I am kinda agree with Osh. MAS should expand its size and not to downsize. Look at Emirates. Look at Etihad. Emirates keep introducing new destinations almost every month. Etihad started from zero few years back but now it is already a premium airline flying to 70 destinations worldwide. But MH ? Sad.

If MH launches daily services to Nagoya or Fukuoka ( and not to suspend them) and raise its frequency to Europe, Oceania, and the Middle East-- it will surely carry more loads and be more successful than it is now.

MH management should think BIG . Take Emirates or Etihad or Qatar Airways as their model.

Arkdriver

September 23rd, 2007, 08:45 PM

Well the wheels of the judiciary in bolehland grind along at snail's pace as far as the big wigs are concerned. Depends who tajuddin and company throw their support to in the back room wheeling and dealing in umno. Recently the federal court threw out the appeals court ruling in a landmark case involving tajuddin's cohorts as well as their patron. So it will probably all come to nought or just a rap on the wrist if they are even found guilty.

We have news reports of corruption in the procurement of screw driver sets for the IBKN ( National Youth Institues ). A RM32 set cost the government RM224 and a digital camera of market price of about RM 1000/= was purchased for over RM8000/+!!!

What happen at the national level is mirrored at micro level in MAS, another statutory bodies and agencies. There was one approved tenders for a can of coke ( RM0.60 in the 80's and 90's ) for RM5/=, a RM0.15 egg costing RM1/= for " guaranteed " supplies, a cheap pathetic nasi lemak or " chicken cooked red " meal costing less than RM 2.00 ( in the 80's and 90's ) being invoiced for RM 23/= for crew meals.

The average Malaysian has such a high tolerance for such practices that it is small wonder why the country with such huge natural and human resources keep languishing amongst the corrupt third world basket cases.

The huge Petronas Towers, highest flag pole etc all serve to keep the whole population in la la land and blind to the utter plunder under their nose. And people in MAS still wonder why the airline is in perpetual decay!!

Hey MAS is a buffet wagon and fruit basket....

And they have yet to pay my 2 month salary although my contract was terminated more than a year ago. Empty promises.

johnsonooi

September 23rd, 2007, 11:05 PM

Actually I am kinda agree with Osh. MAS should expand its size and not to downsize. Look at Emirates. Look at Etihad. Emirates keep introducing new destinations almost every month. Etihad started from zero few years back but now it is already a premium airline flying to 70 destinations worldwide. But MH ? Sad.

If MH launches daily services to Nagoya or Fukuoka ( and not to suspend them) and raise its frequency to Europe, Oceania, and the Middle East-- it will surely carry more loads and be more successful than it is now.

MH management should think BIG . Take Emirates or Etihad or Qatar Airways as their model.

Using the airlines from the gulf countries to compare with MAS, I assume that you have ignored certain important factors that govern the profitability. Please revise your statement.

Skyprince

September 24th, 2007, 12:12 AM

^^ like ?

Compare MH and QR. MH is the national airline of a country of 27 million while QR is the carrier of a tiny Gulf state with only 1 million population.

johnsonooi

September 24th, 2007, 12:13 AM

^^ like ?

Compare MH and QR. MH is the national airline of a country of 27 million while QR is the carrier of a tiny Gulf state with only 1 million population.

How about government tax incentive, fuel price, load factor, competitors???

Skyprince

September 24th, 2007, 12:23 AM

How about government tax incentive, fuel price, load factor, competitors???

These must be overcomed. Everybody must strive towards making MH a giant global brand similar ti the levels of SQ, EK, CX and nowadays QR.

OshHisham

September 24th, 2007, 04:11 AM

Good load factor doesn't mean there is good yield for this sector. MH is on the correct path to become an profitable 5-star airline where they slash unprofitable routes so they would be more competetive.

Nagoya is an important business destination in japan, and how SIA can perform well in singapore-nagoya route while MAS can't? if MAS is focusing in a 'unknown' new destinations...somewhere kampung in China or Pakistan...it will not give a 'premium' image to MAS. definately!

what i see is, we in malaysia will never understand on 'BRANDING'. that's why when our businessman can only think about profit while disregarding 'brand' it turns up like our national car,food products, advertisement themes, and not to mention highrise architecture.....f*cking ugly! it seems like our local brands always associated with 'cheap and nasty' Sheik already mention about this in one thread... next time learn from arabs....if not singapore

Sheik

September 24th, 2007, 05:42 AM

Nagoya is an important business destination in japan, and how SIA can perform well in singapore-nagoya route while MAS can't? if MAS is focusing in a 'unknown' new destinations...somewhere kampung in China or Pakistan...it will not give a 'premium' image to MAS. definately!

what i see is, we in malaysia will never understand on 'BRANDING'. that's why when our businessman can only think about profit while disregarding 'brand' it turns up like our national car,food products, advertisement themes, and not to mention highrise architecture.....f*cking ugly! it seems like our local brands always associated with 'cheap and nasty' Sheik already mention about this in one thread... next time learn from arabs....if not singapore

Very well said. Agree totally. I wonder the same about MAS and SIA also. MAS should learn from SIA or other profitable airlines and not be so narrow minded. Now it's all about the bottom line and profits. MAS has increased their fares too to match their competitors but they only concentrate on their inflight service, food quality and quantity has suffered. They have to speed up the cabin upgrade, improve their products and restore their meal quality and quantity and not let cost cutting be an excuse. They have to justify their lofty ticket prices. If passengers are charged almost the same as other premium airlines, of course they will choose the one with better products and food if they don't care so much for service.

OshHisham

September 24th, 2007, 06:16 AM

MH management should think BIG

this is what happen if we take orang asli jakun from sarawak do the business! if selling corporate HQ still cannot recover the loss...what more can i say?

i miss Tun M era....this is where bail-out policy works....in a very competitive market, when everybody is running fast...starting back from 0 will never work!!

Sheik

September 24th, 2007, 06:39 AM

this is what happen if we take orang asli jakun from sarawak do the business! if selling corporate HQ still cannot recover the loss...what more can i say?

i miss Tun M era....this is where bail-out policy works....in a very competitive market, when everybody is running fast...starting back from 0 will never work!!

Weren't they bailed out once b4 during Tajudin's time? Bail out only 1 part of the story. What if they continue to lose billions, cannot keep bailing out right?They still need to reorganize to stop losses and show profits which they are doing now. I know we don't like the measures they are taking to show profits, like cutting nagoya service but the government is giving them freedom to do whatever without any intervention even if it means pissing off passengers.

Remember July was their most profitable month when the delays and complaints were the worst and they said they will repeat the same July schedule again in January but hopefully minus the delays.

Sheik

September 24th, 2007, 06:49 AM

OshHisham

September 24th, 2007, 07:29 AM

OMG! does he says MAS will follow US airline method of doing business...?:gunz:

Skyprince

September 24th, 2007, 08:34 AM

"Everything has its silver lining. July was the worst operation month since I became chief executive officer, but it was also the best financially," Idris said in a conference on transformational leadership in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

"Life is about the trade-off. In the US, the most profitable airlines are those that pissed off the customers most," he said.

Still, it was a lesson well learned, he said, and MAS plans to reintroduce the same tight schedule next January because of the good profit.

Idris gave the assurance that other elements would be properly controlled to avert a repeat of the heavy delays.

Staff are also happy now with the performance management system being reviewed and an interim bonus paid.

MH is a national flag carrier so instead of thinking about profit it also has the role to market the name of Malaysia to the world. But what MH is currently doing is the exact opposite. Look at Emirates. It operates 6-weekly flights between Dubai and Sao Paulo starting next week , while MH fails miserably to maintain its twice-weekly Buenos Aires service. SQ has 4 daily flights to Beijing while MH is struggling even to maintain 1 daily service. Shame.

And now MH is going to downsize its fleet-- an invitation to disaster, really. MH already lose out to SQ /CX/ TG in popularity, and from now on it will go further down.

Thanks to Air Asia-- it gives bright future to the Malaysian Aviation sector.

johnsonooi

September 24th, 2007, 10:35 AM

These must be overcomed. Everybody must strive towards making MH a giant global brand similar ti the levels of SQ, EK, CX and nowadays QR.
Yes. We have to rebrand the MH and becomes more profitable. Let Idris Jala to determine what strategy is the best for MH. We shall sit back and watch. If he did not overturn the business plan, then it is still not late to bash him :yes:

Neither me and you have a chance to be CEO and we did not know how the feelings are when we have to make decisions. It might sounds easy for you, but please bare in mind that decision makings are not always easy and will get you into dilemma state.

johnsonooi

September 24th, 2007, 10:45 AM

this is what happen if we take orang asli jakun from sarawak do the business! if selling corporate HQ still cannot recover the loss...what more can i say?

i miss Tun M era....this is where bail-out policy works....in a very competitive market, when everybody is running fast...starting back from 0 will never work!!
LOL What's wrong that we take sarawakian to be a CEO of MH???:bash: :bash: :bash:

Come on. MH just cancelled a route to Nagoya, and I dont see the point that the issue of sarawakian here is mainly the factor that contribute to the cancellation of route.

OMG. It is a new millennium era and I still have this racism inplant in the oversea graduate. It is a sad thing to say. Malaysians are proud people, but malaysians did not expect the racism to be thing we are proud off.

Put yourself into Idris Jala position, do you think you can bring MH to a paramount? If you cant, then stop being cynical on the issue that Idris Jala is incapable because he is a Sarawakian!!!

I respect you that you are japan oversea graduate and have a more broaden mind. But this proves that I am wrong and you are just merely another fanatic racist!

johnsonooi

September 24th, 2007, 10:47 AM

MH is a national flag carrier so instead of thinking about profit it also has the role to market the name of Malaysia to the world. But what MH is currently doing is the exact opposite. Look at Emirates. It operates 6-weekly flights between Dubai and Sao Paulo starting next week , while MH fails miserably to maintain its twice-weekly Buenos Aires service. SQ has 4 daily flights to Beijing while MH is struggling even to maintain 1 daily service. Shame.

And now MH is going to downsize its fleet-- an invitation to disaster, really. MH already lose out to SQ /CX/ TG in popularity, and from now on it will go further down.

Thanks to Air Asia-- it gives bright future to the Malaysian Aviation sector.

To be honest, how well did you understand emirates? how well did you understand MH? Ask yourself those questions. If you are fully understand the strategy of MH and EK, then I think you would not come out this statement.

johnsonooi

September 24th, 2007, 10:49 AM

As Fairul said, even the kangaroo route, one of the world profitable route, is just merely break even. I was totally surprise that when I heard that. So, Skyprince and Osh, why not both of you become the CEO of EK, MH and SQ since that you have the better ideas to bring MH to the peak???:lol:

OshHisham

September 24th, 2007, 10:49 AM

Yes. We have to rebrand the MH and becomes more profitable. Let Idris Jala to determine what strategy is the best for MH. We shall sit back and watch. If he did not overturn the business plan, then it is still not late to bash him :yes:

Neither me and you have a chance to be CEO and we did not know how the feelings are when we have to make decisions. It might sounds easy for you, but please bare in mind that decision makings are not always easy and will get you into dilemma state.

Ir you know the story of Apple Inc recovery plan by Steve Jobs, you will know that Idris Jala decision is a no good thing. Steve Jobs even make a famous quote, "A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets"

johnsonooi

September 24th, 2007, 10:51 AM

Ir you know the story of Apple Inc recovery plan by Steve Jobs, you will know that Idris Jala decision is a no good thing. Steve Jobs even make a famous quote, "A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets"

Yes. Did MH have a similar situation like Apple? We are talking a completely different sector. Aviation and Technology.

OshHisham

September 24th, 2007, 11:07 AM

"Life is about the trade-off. In the US, the most profitable airlines are those that pissed off the customers most," he said.

this is what Sheik has posted. i have no more to say.....so, you can guess what is in Idris Jala's mind.

read also the story of Panasonic founder,Matsushita Konosuke when he says about 'recovery', ...believe me he would also reject the idea of terminating here and there made by the sarawak penan.

johnsonooi

September 24th, 2007, 11:14 AM

this is what Sheik has posted. i have no more to say.....so, you can guess what is in Idris Jala's mind.

read also the story of Panasonic founder,Matsushita Konosuke when he says about 'recovery', ...believe me he would also reject the idea of terminating here and there made by the sarawak penan.

I accept that what you try to say and it is your right to say something about Idris Jala. But we should not bring the race issue here since the forum rule has restricted such manner cannot be accepted. Please revise your signature.

OshHisham

September 24th, 2007, 11:25 AM

Please revise your signature.

yes, i have already revised.

malaysian...please and please lah learn from korean corporate in marketing strategy. sponsorship, massive advertisement really do the jobs, and these can make a huge turnaround indeed, as people around the world recognize SAMSUNG, LG, HYUNDAI, KIA(once declared bankrup)

downsizing as what MAS does...is just an 'ordinary' recovery plan...not a 'wow' thing as what we expected him to do.

just a simple question for you to think....Why everytime Singaporean can, we just can't?

Skyprince

September 24th, 2007, 11:26 AM

Yes. Stop any racist remark on this forum. Follow the rules.

fairul

September 24th, 2007, 01:25 PM

weh..aku ni orang Sarawak..watch your mouth...

Arkdriver

September 24th, 2007, 01:47 PM

Oshkosh, i see your point, but it's very inappropriate for you to start a racist remark and personal attack. That guy Idris Jala don't even know you and you don't even met or know him. Maybe he's a Penan but he's established man. Look i'm more affected than you when the guy came in and started reshuffling everything in MAS, i'm angry too so does MAPA (Malaysia Airlines Pilot Association) members and all that, but you, overseas graduate, should have not started posting dumbfounded remarks.

You think you have better plan for MAS to turnaround? Why not write it in details here. The Jala guy decided to scrap Nagoya route but he did after careful analysis considering all factors. You? Just based on your experience commuting on the route in the past?

So you want the airline to have the same principle like Apple? Apple sold iPods, computers. They sold materials. MAS, in the other hand, sold service. What happen if Apple facing downturn in their sales? They didnt downsize like you emphasize to us before, but materials can be kept in the inventory. MAS, to keep running on unprofitable or just break-even route has to bear escalating fuel cost, flight crew cost and various charges (airport fees, landing fees, rights fees-payable to government, maintanence fees, ground handling fees etc. Running a service company is different from running a manufacturing company.

This is just my simple explanation about running an airline. What i'm trying to tell all of you, it's different story altogether between this two type of business. I'm solely believed, that MAS problem is their work culture which is hard to change. I dont know if Jala recognise this issue but if he did, he must have tough time in trying to change things.

With regards to Singapore Airlines, the company is just like everything Singapore. Discipline, serious work culture with little intervention from politician. It may be a state-run airline but everything is being run professionally there. Unlike in MAS, corrupt practice started at the prestigious cadet pilot selection, often son of a captain get chosen ahead of better candidates. MAS, for me, to get in or to get a better position, is abbreviation of Mesti Ada Saudara. Some senior pilots (not Malay, not Chinese) always took advantage of his position as senior MAPA member by choosing his selected expensive wines, took it out from the plane for for free despite protest from chief steward. It's only one of unprofessional conduct happened in the past before the Jala guy came in. I dont know if it's still happened now.

Arkdriver

September 24th, 2007, 01:50 PM

I think oshkosh is another cheapskate like those in the mould of Umno politician who called for Jala resignation because of flight delays.

Sheik

September 24th, 2007, 02:04 PM

STOCKHOLM, Sept 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd's (MAHB) participation at the 13th World Route Development Forum (Routes 2007) here is more meaningful this year as it will receive the baton to host the forum in Kuala Lumpur next year.

The Routes 2008, slated for Oct 12-14, will be the 14th consecutive forum and the first to be held in Asia.

MAHB has taken one of the largest booths to woo the airlines at the forum, both big and small, to attend Routes 2008.

And with that in mind, the firm that runs the highly-touted Kuala Lumpur International Airport came prepared with a strong contingent.

Among the local participants are Malaysia Tourism Board, Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd, KL Airport Services Sdn Bhd, Malaysia Airlines, Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Sepang International Circuit and Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur, led by the Mayor, Datuk Abdul Hakim Borhan.

MAHB managing director, Datuk Seri Bashir Ahmad, said the company had beat regional rivals to host Routes 2008.

"Although Routes may not be as big as other world conferences, those attending it will be crucial not only for MAHB but also boost Malaysia's tourism industry," he told reporters here Friday.

Basir said MAHB has lined up a lot of plans for the Routes 28 delegates such as sightseeing and the Formula One championship.

"A lot of the European and American airlines have yet to come to Malaysia and we want to encourage them to do so," he said.

He said although Routes has always been European-centric, MAHB hoped that next year's forum would attract a large turnout.

Judging by the preparation and enthusiasm by the Malaysian delegates, Bashir's estimation of 2,800 delegates for Routes 2008 may well come true.

-- BERNAMA

fairul

September 24th, 2007, 02:06 PM

wait till this whole BTP complete..then we can judge his work..he's only halfway through the BTP...

ddes

September 24th, 2007, 02:49 PM

Chill man, this forum is too heated up.:)

I think MH's recent steps to cut unprofitable routes and to become a "5 star low cost airline" is in a right decision, despite the AirAsia group of airlines will probably be the larger airline in the coming years.

MH will face alot of changes in the future and so it needs to be profitable to start it with a clean sheet. MH will face AirAsia and AirAsia X, the ASEAN capital cities open skies, and eventually a full ASEAN open skies.

You will need to see relavance of this because expanding recklessly is not something MH can afford to do now. Apple had a specialized product. Aviation is different, here, very body has similar premium product.

johnsonooi

September 24th, 2007, 03:32 PM

yes, i have already revised.

malaysian...please and please lah learn from korean corporate in marketing strategy. sponsorship, massive advertisement really do the jobs, and these can make a huge turnaround indeed, as people around the world recognize SAMSUNG, LG, HYUNDAI, KIA(once declared bankrup)

downsizing as what MAS does...is just an 'ordinary' recovery plan...not a 'wow' thing as what we expected him to do.

just a simple question for you to think....Why everytime Singaporean can, we just can't?

I think those are the answers you need.
:)

Chill man, this forum is too heated up.:)

I think MH's recent steps to cut unprofitable routes and to become a "5 star low cost airline" is in a right decision, despite the AirAsia group of airlines will probably be the larger airline in the coming years.

MH will face alot of changes in the future and so it needs to be profitable to start it with a clean sheet. MH will face AirAsia and AirAsia X, the ASEAN capital cities open skies, and eventually a full ASEAN open skies.

You will need to see relavance of this because expanding recklessly is not something MH can afford to do now. Apple had a specialized product. Aviation is different, here, very body has similar premium product.

wait till this whole BTP complete..then we can judge his work..he's only halfway through the BTP...

Oshkosh, i see your point, but it's very inappropriate for you to start a racist remark and personal attack. That guy Idris Jala don't even know you and you don't even met or know him. Maybe he's a Penan but he's established man. Look i'm more affected than you when the guy came in and started reshuffling everything in MAS, i'm angry too so does MAPA (Malaysia Airlines Pilot Association) members and all that, but you, overseas graduate, should have not started posting dumbfounded remarks.

You think you have better plan for MAS to turnaround? Why not write it in details here. The Jala guy decided to scrap Nagoya route but he did after careful analysis considering all factors. You? Just based on your experience commuting on the route in the past?

So you want the airline to have the same principle like Apple? Apple sold iPods, computers. They sold materials. MAS, in the other hand, sold service. What happen if Apple facing downturn in their sales? They didnt downsize like you emphasize to us before, but materials can be kept in the inventory. MAS, to keep running on unprofitable or just break-even route has to bear escalating fuel cost, flight crew cost and various charges (airport fees, landing fees, rights fees-payable to government, maintanence fees, ground handling fees etc. Running a service company is different from running a manufacturing company.

This is just my simple explanation about running an airline. What i'm trying to tell all of you, it's different story altogether between this two type of business. I'm solely believed, that MAS problem is their work culture which is hard to change. I dont know if Jala recognise this issue but if he did, he must have tough time in trying to change things.

With regards to Singapore Airlines, the company is just like everything Singapore. Discipline, serious work culture with little intervention from politician. It may be a state-run airline but everything is being run professionally there. Unlike in MAS, corrupt practice started at the prestigious cadet pilot selection, often son of a captain get chosen ahead of better candidates. MAS, for me, to get in or to get a better position, is abbreviation of Mesti Ada Saudara. Some senior pilots (not Malay, not Chinese) always took advantage of his position as senior MAPA member by choosing his selected expensive wines, took it out from the plane for for free despite protest from chief steward. It's only one of unprofessional conduct happened in the past before the Jala guy came in. I dont know if it's still happened now.

I

globocentric

September 24th, 2007, 07:44 PM

[QUOTE=ssangyongs;15525459]Oshkosh, i see your point, but it's very inappropriate for you to start a racist remark and personal attack. That guy Idris Jala don't even know you and you don't even met or know him. Maybe he's a Penan but he's established man. Look i'm more affected than you when the guy came in and started reshuffling everything in MAS, i'm angry too so does MAPA (Malaysia Airlines Pilot Association) members and all that, but you, overseas graduate, should have not started posting dumbfounded remarks.

You think you have better plan for MAS to turnaround? Why not write it in details here. The Jala guy decided to scrap Nagoya route but he did after careful analysis considering all factors. You? Just based on your experience commuting on the route in the past?

So you want the airline to have the same principle like Apple? Apple sold iPods, computers. They sold materials. MAS, in the other hand, sold service. What happen if Apple facing downturn in their sales? They didnt downsize like you emphasize to us before, but materials can be kept in the inventory. MAS, to keep running on unprofitable or just break-even route has to bear escalating fuel cost, flight crew cost and various charges (airport fees, landing fees, rights fees-payable to government, maintanence fees, ground handling fees etc. Running a service company is different from running a manufacturing company.

This is just my simple explanation about running an airline. What i'm trying to tell all of you, it's different story altogether between this two type of business. I'm solely believed, that MAS problem is their work culture which is hard to change. I dont know if Jala recognise this issue but if he did, he must have tough time in trying to change things.

With regards to Singapore Airlines, the company is just like everything Singapore. Discipline, serious work culture with little intervention from politician. It may be a state-run airline but everything is being run professionally there. Unlike in MAS, corrupt practice started at the prestigious cadet pilot selection, often son of a captain get chosen ahead of better candidates. MAS, for me, to get in or to get a better position, is abbreviation of Mesti Ada Saudara. Some senior pilots (not Malay, not Chinese) always took advantage of his position as senior MAPA member by choosing his selected expensive wines, took it out from the plane for for free despite protest from chief steward. It's only one of unprofessional conduct happened in the past before the Jala guy came in. I dont know if it's still happened now.[/QUOTE

One cannot deny that Japan has the highest landing charges on earth. Osaka Kansai has the world's highest and Nagoya will not be far behind given that it has spend billions building a similar airport to Kansai, Centrair. Landing a B747 in Kansai will cost an airline in excess of USD10000 an hour.Therefore,MAS cannot keep relying on low fares on these routes. However, the fundamental problem lies in the chronic mismanagement of funds. If they are purchasing items at those prices, not even a route that gives them full occupancy in all classes most of the time will make a profit eg the Kangaroo Route.

Greg

September 24th, 2007, 11:13 PM

MAS will stop the Zurich - KL flights by Januar 24, 2008 :cry:

OshHisham

September 25th, 2007, 03:27 AM

MY BIG APOLOGY FOR THE PENAN REMARK....
i have a very sentimental feeling on KL-Nagoya route and i can't accept Idris Jala decision on it.

can u imagine the route once 3 times a week and increased to 5 times a week on 2006, but suddenly being totally scrapped....!!

OshHisham

September 25th, 2007, 03:42 AM

You think you have better plan for MAS to turnaround? Why not write it in details here. The Jala guy decided to scrap Nagoya route but he did after careful analysis considering all factors. You? Just based on your experience commuting on the route in the past?

as i mentioned, the route had just been increased its frequency from 3 times to 5 times a week on 2006. if the route was not profitable, why the 3 turn to 5? and if SIA can do a good business there, why MAS can't? since you are serving SIA, maybe the lost of MAS didn't mean anything to you! and i'm as a malaysian only want to see the flag carrier outperform SIA, it's traditional rival!!

Running a service company is different from running a manufacturing company. I'm solely believed, that MAS problem is their work culture which is hard to change. I dont know if Jala recognise this issue but if he did, he must have tough time in trying to change things.

their target is same.....CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. so most of the strategy have similarity!

Arkdriver

September 25th, 2007, 06:43 AM

MAS lost mean everything to me, and now they're back in black. Untung berjuta juta. Gaji tertunggak RM 8 ribu pun tak boleh bayar ke? I've wrote to all HR people yet the reply is "We're doing the best we can". So dont think i dont have any interest here.

YeahWho

September 25th, 2007, 11:55 PM

YeahWho

September 26th, 2007, 01:07 AM

IF the kangaroo route is just at break even level after all these years
IF routes with "good" load factors are loss making
IF there is a need to downsize and rationalize things every few years

then why bother running an airline, go do something else !
(this wise thought not mine originally, credit to a certain pilot no less !)

Totally agree! There must be a certain break even load factor on a certain route. Above that, we call it good load factor and below that, you all know what it is. So, don't tell me MAS needs 100% load factor for every route. If so, there must be either corruption somewhere or the CEO/CFO and other executives are just not fit to run the company. Keep in mind that even though airline industry is a service business, by having your a larger fleet, you can always have more bargain power when it comes to procurement for the F&B, plane reburbishment, buying new planes, and so forth. These are all going to keep the cost lower in the long run.

Skyprince

September 26th, 2007, 01:21 AM

FYI, MAS was fully booked from LA to Hyderabad from June to Sept this year. According to my friend's wife who wants to go back to India from DFW this June thru MAS but was told that it was fully booked. I just couldn't imagine why MAS as one of the major SEA airlines only fly to LAX in the whole west cost of North America continent. They should at least try to fly to SFO to tap in the North California market. They should also increase the frequency from LAX to KUL in the peak summer months. If landing right is an issue, then talk to the US gov't. The whole market is >20Mil, why only choose for 10Mil?

Hmm.. very agree. SQ already make world's longest non-stop flight between Singapore and Newark so it's a question mark here on why MH fails even to maintain twice or thrice weekly service to New York. MH even planned to scrap KUL-ARN-EWR due to low pax factor but then canceled due to Visit Malaysia Year pressures . If SQ can make nonstop to EWR, I expect MH ( the national airline of a so-called "record-breaking" country --the Bolehland ) to make stuff like KUL- Houston, KUL-Seattle, KUL-Atlanta, KUL- Minneapolis non stop you know what I mean.

OshHisham

September 26th, 2007, 03:38 AM

Totally agree! There must be a certain break even load factor on a certain route. Above that, we call it good load factor and below that, you all know what it is. So, don't tell me MAS needs 100% load factor for every route. If so, there must be either corruption somewhere or the CEO/CFO and other executives are just not fit to run the company. Keep in mind that even though airline industry is a service business, by having your a larger fleet, you can always have more bargain power when it comes to procurement for the F&B, plane reburbishment, buying new planes, and so forth. These are all going to keep the cost lower in the long run.

you go baby!

nazrey

September 26th, 2007, 09:08 AM

Malaysia Elected To Powerful World Aviation Body In Montreal
September 26, 2007 10:05 AM
By Alan Ting

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has been elected to the aviation world's highest body - the International Civil Aviation Organisation or ICAO Council, at the 36th ICAO Assembly in Montreal Tuesday.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, who is heading the country's delegation to the assembly, said Malaysia was deeply honoured in being elected for the first time by 190 contracting states to sit on the powerful council.

Malaysia has been a member of ICAO for the past 50 years but has only now been elected to sit on its council which is instrumental in deciding matters related to world civil aviation.

A global forum for civil aviation, the Montreal-based council deliberates on issues concerning global civil aviation and adopts international standards and recommended practices.

The council, which is a United Nations specialised agency and ICAO's governing body, comprises 36 members who are elected every three years.

"This is the highest achievement for Malaysia. It's very significant for the country since being accepted as an ICAO member 50 years ago," Chan told Bernama by phone from Montreal when conveying the results of the election held just hours ago.

ICAO works to achieve its vision of safe, secure and sustainable development of civil aviation through cooperation among member states.

Among other things, ICAO codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport.

ICAO, whose headquarters is located in the Quartier International of Montreal, also adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation.

ICAO also defines the protocols for air accident investigation followed by transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, commonly known as the Chicago Convention.

-- BERNAMA

Sheik

September 26th, 2007, 03:04 PM

Wednesday September 26, 2007
MYT 12:07:46 PM

British Airways to discuss reinstating flights to Malaysia

STOCKHOLM: Officials of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and British Airways (BA) will meet in a couple of months to continue discussions on BA reinstating flights to Malaysia.

MAHB managing director Datuk Seri Bashir Ahmad, who met with BA CEO Willie Walsh at the 13th World Route Development Forum here, said: “There is certainly an interest to return but right now, they are looking at figures and forecasts to ensure that when they do operate, the service will be viable and sustainable for the long term.”

“No date (to commence flights) has been fixed as it depends on the viability of the operations and the availability of aircraft,” he said, adding that it was purely a business decision.

“Every time we talk, the picture becomes clearer. We appreciate their willingness to talk to us openly and to share their views on this matter,” he said.

BA was being cautious because it did not want to have to pull out again. “Once they come in, they want to stay,” Bashir said

globocentric

September 26th, 2007, 03:46 PM

Hmm.. very agree. SQ already make world's longest non-stop flight between Singapore and Newark so it's a question mark here on why MH fails even to maintain twice or thrice weekly service to New York. MH even planned to scrap KUL-ARN-EWR due to low pax factor but then canceled due to Visit Malaysia Year pressures . If SQ can make nonstop to EWR, I expect MH ( the national airline of a so-called "record-breaking" country --the Bolehland ) to make stuff like KUL- Houston, KUL-Seattle, KUL-Atlanta, KUL- Minneapolis non stop you know what I mean.

Why MAS fails to maintain a thrice weekly service to New York? Simple. Malaysians need to get a visa for the USA whereas Singaporeans dont. Furthermore, i have sources that told me the majority of visa applications made by Malaysians were rejected. There is also a world of difference in how Malaysians and Singaporeans are treated by the US immigration. Most of the Singaporean passengers in front of me passed through with minimal questioning when i was in New York JFK recently and i had to answer a few annoying questions.By the way , Singapore Airline flies to New York twice daily. It has another flight to JFK that goes via Frankfurt. I was on that flight last month and it was damn full.

Skyprince

September 26th, 2007, 05:39 PM

Why MAS fails to maintain a thrice weekly service to New York? Simple. Malaysians need to get a visa for the USA whereas Singaporeans dont. Furthermore, i have sources that told me the majority of visa applications made by Malaysians were rejected. There is also a world of difference in how Malaysians and Singaporeans are treated by the US immigration. Most of the Singaporean passengers in front of me passed through with minimal questioning when i was in New York JFK recently and i had to answer a few annoying questions.By the way , Singapore Airline flies to New York twice daily. It has another flight to JFK that goes via Frankfurt. I was on that flight last month and it was damn full.

hmm.... I thought most of the passengers between Southeast Asia and Europe/North America are Westerners . Almost all flights I took to Europe ( Amsterdam, London, Stockholm, etc ) like 90% filled with Europeans with very very few Asian faces seen...

globocentric

September 26th, 2007, 06:37 PM

Skyprince

September 26th, 2007, 06:55 PM

[QUOTE=Skyprince;15568421]hmm.... I thought most of the passengers between Southeast Asia and Europe/North America are Westerners . Almost all flights I took to Europe ( Amsterdam, London, Stockholm, etc ) like 90% filled with Europeans with very very few Asian faces seen...[/QUOTEt

It depends on the origin. Most of the outbound flights from Singnapore to the USA has a substansial number of Asians partly due to the ability of Singaporeans to enter without visa. The number of Malaysians on MAS flights to the USA will be a lot less because of the visa requirement for Malaysians. However, the majority of pax from SIN- Europe consists of westerners except London.

Hmm... but I do think that the majority of Asians travelling on West-bound flights from Changi or KLIA are from Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or simply the rest of Southeast Asians.

There are very very few Malaysians on Europe-bound flights from KLIA though Malaysians don't need visa to enter Western Europe.

YeahWho

September 26th, 2007, 09:02 PM

Skyprince

September 26th, 2007, 09:10 PM

nazrey

September 27th, 2007, 09:23 AM

Airline offers ‘Balik Kampung’ promotion tickets
Wednesday September 26, 2007
TheStar

IN the spirit of Ramadan, Fly-Firefly Sdn Bhd has extended the deadline of purchasing RM9.99 ‘Balik Kampung’ promotion tickets to tomorrow.

“We want to give the people an alternative to spend more time with their families and friends, instead of spending hours queuing at toll gates, fighting for bus tickets or stuck in jams,” said Firefly Managing Director Eddy Leong.

According to Penang Hub manager Audrey Yu, over 5,000 promotion tickets have already been purchased at the ticketing office.

Firefly flies exclusively to six destinations – Kuantan, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Baru, Langkawi, Phuket and Koh Samui, Thai- land.

The travelling period for the promotion tickets is until Oct 10.

Tickets can be booked online at www.fireflyz.com.my, by calling 03-78454543 or visiting Firefly’s ticketing office on the ground floor of Komtar, Penang.

globocentric

September 27th, 2007, 06:58 PM

I don't think it is the visa issue that cause the failure of the KL-NY route. It is the route frequency. Think of it this way, if you are M'sian who don't live in the Klang Valley and you want to go to NY. You have two choices: one is by MAS via KUL but it only has 3 flights per week and the second one, SIA has 2 flights per day as mentioned earlier by globocentric. Where would you transit at? The answer is obvious, right? Through SINGAPORE by SIA! Because you don't have to worry too much if you miss your flight or if there's any delay. If you take MAS, you may have to wait for another 2 to three days to catch the next flight but if you take SIA, you just take the next flight the same day or 12 hours later. This is especially important for business travel. To support my point, just look at the KUL-LAX route. It was fully booked from June-Sept. The reason? Because it has a higher frequency (Of course this is not the only reason). If it is because of the visa issue, then it will have the same fate as KL-NY route. Perhaps MAS shouldn't make Arlanda its transit point to NY because Sweden's pop. is so small. It should choose cities like Paris, Frankfurt, or London. Landing rights may be?

I do not quite agree. The failure of the NY route is caused by the poor load factor on the KUL - ARL sector not the ARL - Newark sector. Flying from New York to either London or Paris is a worse option even if MAS manage to get landing rights(chances are close to zero). There is even an air services agreement on which airlines that are allowed to fly between Heathrow and the USA, something that many people are not aware of. Furthermore, London and NY are served by more than 20 flights a day and Paris is not very different. Therefore, the two routes are already too saturated. I do agree with you on one point though. Non availability of daily flights will force many passengers to transit via Singapore. Many passengers from KL choose to transit in Singapore as well because of the wider choice and frequencies. SIN has multiple daily flights to many cities in the world, something that KLIA cant even come close to matching

YeahWho

September 27th, 2007, 09:05 PM

Arkdriver

September 27th, 2007, 11:14 PM

they want to terminate arlanda route but was asked to delay it by the government because VMY 2007 campaign.

travelling with MAS is not cheap. If u wanna go to europe, it's best to use SIA or middle eastern carrier.

OshHisham

September 28th, 2007, 09:19 AM

i just got an update from my friend staying in Nagoya. MAS 'successfully' increase the price fo KL-Nagoya route, again!. bravo Idris Jala, and then blame Air Asia lah for your failure...what a very smart 'no brainer' CEO!!:applause:

think again, even though Tajuddin Ramli responsible for MAS lost, but he did bring MAS into a 5-Star carrier, and since then MAS has a very pleasant image worldwide, then come Idris Jala....malaysians feel he is the right guy to bring MAS into profit judging from his previous performance in Shell. but then...yes, MAS come into profit, but the 'premiership' status of the airline ruins!!...much pariah than the budget AirAsia itself....seriously i am the last guy who want to see MAS die or at least becoming Garuda Indonesia-like carrier!

so, what is the best word should i use other than 'stupid'?

White_soX

September 28th, 2007, 08:01 PM

globocentric

September 28th, 2007, 08:03 PM

If that is the case, it tells me that MAS shouldn't fly to Arlanda because there's no demand. If SIA doesn't fly to Arlanda and MAS still cannot capitalize on this, that means there's no demand. I remember MAS used to fly to NY via Frankfurt. Wonder why they switch to Arlanda. IMO, if MAS is serious on a certain route, it should provide a daily flight or at least 6 times weekly to that destination. This will not only convenience the surrounding pop. but will also attract travellers around the region to transit at KLIA. If it already provides all those and still fails, that tells us that there is no demand and the route should then be terminated. If it keeps introducing new routes with only 2-4 times weekly frequency, it will sure fail. If I am a business man and need to go to KL on day 1 and return the next day, I wouldn't fly with MAS even if it is much cheaper than SIA as SIA provides me the convenience schedule i need. I hope the MAS executives realize this rationale and ractify this. I would rather they provide daily or multiple daily flights to 10 cities than provide 3 times weekly to 100 cities.

I cant understand MAS rationale for starting the KUL- ARL route at the first place. You dont need a no brainer to tell you that it is not viable. How many Swedish want to visit Malaysia? How many Malaysians even have the slightest interest of going to Sweden?I would say very very few. I do not deny that Sweden is a nice place to visit. I've been there before and the people there are definently the most friendly by far. However, the number of Asian visitors it receives are still very low. There is only one market that MAS
can tap into for the KUL - ARL route, Swedish passengers that are going to other South East Asia cities such as Phuket and Bali. However, stiff competition from Thai Airways will give them a tough time. How many of you have been to Sweden before?

Arkdriver

September 28th, 2007, 09:08 PM

my father works in Lund....nice country..no doubt..and i took mas from KLIA. no complaint.the flight quite full...

Arkdriver

September 28th, 2007, 09:18 PM

oshkosh, trust me, airline business not as easy as you thought, MAS lack of aircrafts to offer more seats more frequencies for less price.............and you can't just fly from somewhere to somewhere without hving 5th freedom.

that's right osh..not as easy as you think. Route axing is just temporary measure until they got on the right track and brand new planes again and reinstate axed route again. We cant let the company keep bleeding money because we are keeping routes. They wont axed route if it's profitable. Apple no-retrench no-downsizing cant be apply to airline business.

As a malaysian i'm sure that you dont like your tax money going down the drain trying to maintain TR method of running loss making airline than IJ's more discipline and less-nationalistic business plan. MAS is making money again on domestic routes, and in fact TR legacy of mentality (government workers mentality) still have deep root in MAS.

OshHisham

September 28th, 2007, 11:12 PM

so, the reason for route axing is...lack of aircrafts? ok then, that's acceptable reason for me., but plz don't tell me MAS is going to be an AirAsia copycat in term of flying to unknown rural kampung 'new destinations'....bcoz that's the crappiest thing for a flag carrier to do!

and ssangyongs, what do you mean by 'government workers mentality'? don't say like that lah...i'm also government worker too...

but have to agree in a certain part...do you know why gov sect workers behaving like that?...the fact is, most of them are soon-to-be-retired people...so, you know lah how old peoples doing job! damn slow..!

Arkdriver

September 29th, 2007, 09:56 AM

osh, u work for the government ke? lito show me your business card...if i'm not mistaken that's ur name. haha.

what i mean by government workers mentality is the way the airline has been run under TR. They think it's one of the government agencies for aviation sector thus resulting in overpriced, excessive business claim (i did mentioned previous page), slow decision making and it's all not helped by MAPA which running (even until now) by idiots and clowns. Munir Majid used to fly to London on first class seat without actually paying anything and paid one of his concubine minah salleh consultant a whopping rm 40k per month salary and yet the airline cant get out of heavy losses. It's quite surprising how he managed to stay in MAS until today. That's all internal problem that resulted in MAS being run as inefficient company which clearly IJ is getting rid all of them and instill a real corporate ethics into the company.

MAPA members couldnt help themselves. Many of them leaving the company for a better paying job in middle east. MAS pilots are highly sought after. a b737 commander can easily land b777 skipper job in the middle east and india. IJ is trying to reduce MAPA bargaining power for higher salary by sending more than 200 cadets this year to flight skool around malaysia to show to senior pilots "if u dont agree, i have many other boys who's more willing to accept low pay to fly those birds"...Clearly IJ is squeezing all cost to return to sustainable profitability (operating profit, not selling assets profit).

They are still in BTP phase. Wait until 2009, when the skies to singapore is open to tiger and airasia, how they are going to react.

glenj

October 1st, 2007, 01:11 PM

Does anyone know whether MAS in is any talks to purchase new aircraft to replace her B737-400 workhorses? I recall reading something about this. The 734s must be close to 25 years old now if i'm not wrong. SQ has already replaced her entire fleet of A310s and now operates 777s on the SIN-KUL sector. Likewise, I believe SQ may start phasing out the 744s once the A380s start entering service.

Sheik

October 1st, 2007, 01:25 PM

Arkdriver

October 1st, 2007, 05:16 PM

globocentric

October 1st, 2007, 06:39 PM

744 mainline crews are slowly being phased out. Given 2 options. Go to SQC, stay and not guaranteed selected for a380, or bailed out (berambus) when contract finished. Many choose to leave, as they're not prepare for pay decrease in SQC. And i'm hired to fill the vacancies.

Why are they phasing out the 744? I dont think they have ordered enough A380 to replace the entire 744 fleet. I am glad in a way because the SQ744 has quite narrow seats compared to the 772 or 773. I was on one of their new 772 ER recently and i must say that the economy class PTV is almost as large as the MAS business class PTV

Arkdriver

October 1st, 2007, 07:08 PM

744s are old. 744 just cant beat fuel efficiency of a380. with limited time operating slots at LHR they need to maximise every available space and A380 can offer this. a380s ordered may not match the current number of available 744 but with more point to point aircraft available now like 787 and upcoming a350, i can see a380 will be used when flying to aiports with limited time slots and during peak winter season in europe. Slow take up rate of a380 may give us doubt but i think in the long term more and more airline will regret for not choosing a380 for their operation.

I heard MAS maybe cancel the a380 because their a380 simulator just waiting orders to be dismantled. well, rumours...hangar is already completed..may or may not, i would love to see a380 flying into KUL in the near future.

YeahWho

October 2nd, 2007, 01:09 AM

oshkosh, trust me, airline business not as easy as you thought, MAS lack of aircrafts to offer more seats more frequencies for less price.............and you can't just fly from somewhere to somewhere without hving 5th freedom.

Lack of aircraft? So, how did they fly to so many destinations before before the BTP? Did they retire some aircrafts and never replace them back?

Anyway, here is the quote from a MAS frequent flier in the business class (taken from Skytrax):

Malaysia Airlines - by J Head

27 September 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 3 stars

LHR to KL. Outbound in 1st Class, return in Business Class. This is my 7th trip to Malaysia this year, all with Malaysia Airlines. The overall product is still very good but let down (as I've written on this forum before) by the Enrich Customer Service. Outbound, I upgraded from Business to First using my Enrich points. These were deducted from my account immediately, yet I still await the original Business Class points allowance to be credited to my account one week on. Sent Enrich Customer Service an email about this but as usual, not even the courtesy of a response. Rang Enrich customer service in KL who said that my membership details were not on my booking details (not "I'm sorry sir, I can see you obviously took the flight, let me help you here") By the way, I know my details were in the system as I confirmed this at Heathrow on the outbound leg. One other thing to point out, on four of the seven trips with Malaysian Airlines this year, I've purchased various items from their in-flight magazine ranging from jewellery to perfume and toys for the kids. Whilst the cabin crew dutifully take my Enrich Gold card away at the time of every order, I've never received any of the points for any of the purchases made during the past year. Overall, a good product on the ground and in the air, severely let down by the lack of any customer service or responsiveness from the Enrich Team in KL. I think I'll seriously consider BA to Singapore and then a short hop up to KL from now on.

See how bad MAS Enrich customer service is? I just hope that Idris Jala take some time to read the customer satisfaction survey from Skytrax and act promptly.

OshHisham

October 2nd, 2007, 03:20 AM

I read that too. I think they will make an announcement soon. Hopefully the dreamliner is part of it.

dreamliner...?OMG! that's the most beautiful aircraft i've ever seen....:okay:if vietnam airline can have numbers of them...why MAS can't?

OshHisham

October 2nd, 2007, 03:24 AM

Anyway, here is the quote from a MAS frequent flier in the business class (taken from Skytrax):

Malaysia Airlines - by J Head

27 September 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 3 stars

LHR to KL. Outbound in 1st Class, return in Business Class. This is my 7th trip to Malaysia this year, all with Malaysia Airlines. The overall product is still very good but let down (as I've written on this forum before) by the Enrich Customer Service. Outbound, I upgraded from Business to First using my Enrich points. These were deducted from my account immediately, yet I still await the original Business Class points allowance to be credited to my account one week on. Sent Enrich Customer Service an email about this but as usual, not even the courtesy of a response. Rang Enrich customer service in KL who said that my membership details were not on my booking details (not "I'm sorry sir, I can see you obviously took the flight, let me help you here") By the way, I know my details were in the system as I confirmed this at Heathrow on the outbound leg. One other thing to point out, on four of the seven trips with Malaysian Airlines this year, I've purchased various items from their in-flight magazine ranging from jewellery to perfume and toys for the kids. Whilst the cabin crew dutifully take my Enrich Gold card away at the time of every order, I've never received any of the points for any of the purchases made during the past year. Overall, a good product on the ground and in the air, severely let down by the lack of any customer service or responsiveness from the Enrich Team in KL. I think I'll seriously consider BA to Singapore and then a short hop up to KL from now on.

See how bad MAS Enrich customer service is? I just hope that Idris Jala take some time to read the customer satisfaction survey from Skytrax and act promptly.

there's a lot of, should i say almost 90% of the customers' review on MAS in skytrax (come on lah, i read the review regularly, don't fool me lah) is positive one.....why you only post the bad one ah?

YeahWho

October 2nd, 2007, 06:06 AM

there's a lot of, should i say almost 90% of the customers' review on MAS in skytrax (come on lah, i read the review regularly, don't fool me lah) is positive one.....why you only post the bad one ah?

Didn't you read the whole thing? He said it is good on ground and in the air, but let down by the Enrich program. Ask yourself this, how would you feel if you don't get the all the enrich points/mileage you deserve even after you make a complaint to the customer service. For a frequent flyer like him, he will probably get a free ticket very soon but still have to pay so much for another ticket when you should get it free. Most of the good reviews didn't mention about the Enrich program. I have even read a previous preview which you have to go to the MAS HQ office personally to claim the denied mileage.

OshHisham

October 2nd, 2007, 07:05 AM

Didn't you read the whole thing? He said it is good on ground and in the air, but let down by the Enrich program. Ask yourself this, how would you feel if you don't get the all the enrich points/mileage you deserve even after you make a complaint to the customer service. For a frequent flyer like him, he will probably get a free ticket very soon but still have to pay so much for another ticket when you should get it free. Most of the good reviews didn't mention about the Enrich program. I have even read a previous preview which you have to go to the MAS HQ office personally to claim the denied mileage.

even though i don't have any problems with my enrich, but as you said..whenever you got a problem with 'customer service', try to re-contact with another person in that customer service devision, it seems that sometimes there are some mistake did by the person in charge, but doesn't mean all the services are poor. i believe even SIA or BA also do the same mistake. that's why every time you have to confirm with the person you dealing with once you give him/her your enrich card...

most of the time and most of the services, your cooperation also much needed....don't be too lazy and know complaining only.

OshHisham

October 2nd, 2007, 07:45 AM

:drool:
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/787/images/K63965-03_lg.jpg

Arkdriver

October 2nd, 2007, 09:36 AM

Vietnam Airlines has the backing of their government and they dont have large debt unlike MAS. Vietnam Airlines is expanding and their size is still way smaller than MAS, while MAS realize size doesnt matter, so they're downsizing the company. They sold planes and building, retrenched workers, in order to get back to the shape that will enable them to operate efficiently and once the BTP finished they're going to order new planes again. MAS will return to be what is used to be but not in 2-3 years time. MAS can order 787 but it gonna take years because the slot has been fully booked until year 2013-2015.

Some of the MAS planes which has been sold. I dont know wether profit from selling this plane goes to PMB or MAS.

9M-MKT (A333) sold to vietnam airlines new rego VN-A370
9M-MPA sold to boeing. Now undergoing transformation to be 747 DREAMLIFTER in taipei. Transport aircraft for boeing. Like Airbus Beluga but Boeing version
9M-MPG sold to aircraft leasing company, originally painted with Oasis color but they cant reach further agreement, repainted and being leased to Air India
9M-MPE and 9M MPC are surprise surprise leased to Singapore Airlines. A380 delivery delay really hit hard even SIA have to find 747 to be leased. Because about 40 747 flight crew already undergoing A380 type rating in TLS, there's a shortage of 747 pilots (temporary), some of the captain are now doing both SQC and SQ mainline pax flights.

In the future i could see MAS operates :

A380 (if they dont cancel the order)
A350 (replace a330 and 777)
b737 NG or A320
B777F for maskargo

ordering 787 may take them too long for first delivery, by the time they get 787, a350 could be sent to launch customer and i believe at that time a350 are far more superior and economical than 787.

another point to ponder, maybe the if they're going to cancel a380 and get 747-8 instead, this is possible when we take into accounts engineering expertise mas had in their MRO department. Subang MRO business is really doing good at the moment with lufthansa, garuda, saudi arabia send their a/c for maintanence there. it could be a waste of resources to retrain their engineering staff to airbus standard.

Another possibility (because IJ said they gonna operate only 2 type or brand of a/c):

B747-8
B777 (newer variant)
b787
b737NG
B777F

they can have the mixture of both boeing and airbus like they do now.

Vietnam Airlines is really doing good now. I would say given 3-4 years time they will be as good as MAS, THAI and SIA. Some MAS 737 pilots left the company and joined Vietnam Airlines on 777 fleet.

OshHisham

October 2nd, 2007, 09:48 AM

size does matter

Emirates Flies The World To Brazil

DUBAI, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- Emirates, the international Dubai-based airline, made history Monday when fight EK261 took off from Dubai International Airport to Sao Paulo, Brazil, representing the first ever non-stop flight between the Middle East and South America.

Emirates is using its technically advanced Boeing 777-200LR on the route, with Brazil becoming the 60th country and Sao Paulo the 94th destination on the airline's rapidly expanding network.

Passengers from over 12 countries, including Malaysia, China, Japan, South Korea, India and Australia, joined the first flight to Sao Paulo after connecting through Dubai from other Emirates flights, Emirates said in a statement here.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group, said that the non-stop flight to Sao Paulo marked an important milestone for Emirates.

"Not only is it our first gateway in South America, but it means we now fly non-stop to six continents from Dubai," he said.

"Our services provide a perfect match for business people and leisure travellers from the whole Middle East region, Africa, Far East and Australia seeking a convenient route to South America.

"The service will also offer Dubai as a new tourist and business destination to the relatively untapped market of South America," he added.

Passengers travelling on the Dubai - Sao Paulo route will enjoy unrivalled in-flight service, including eight luxurious private suites in First Class, 42 of its latest lie-flat seats in Business, and generous space for 216 passengers in Economy.

The aircraft is fitted with the Ice Digital Widescreen - Emirates' next generation inflight entertainment system, offering over 1,000 channels of movies, TV and game entertainment on demand - more than any other airline offers, by far.

The plane departed Dubai at 10:00 hrs, the flight time was 15 hours and 30 minutes with an arrival time at Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport of 18:30 hrs on the same day.

The return flight, EK262, departs Sao Paulo at 01:25 hrs and arrives in Dubai at 23:05 hrs on the same day

johnsonooi

October 2nd, 2007, 11:06 AM

Arkdriver

October 2nd, 2007, 11:07 AM

size does matter if the company is being run properly, mind you that.

glenj

October 2nd, 2007, 01:02 PM

there's a lot of, should i say almost 90% of the customers' review on MAS in skytrax (come on lah, i read the review regularly, don't fool me lah) is positive one.....why you only post the bad one ah?

Regarding MH product/service, I've always felt that they provide gd value. What screws it up sometimes is the occasional bad publicity it gets. Also, what MH needs is to refresh its advertising strategy. One of the many reasons why SQ is so successful is because their marketing focuses on them being a market-leader or trail-blazer in the industry- just think of the immense publicity it stands to enjoy by being the first to operate the 380, not to mention the clever goodwill-generating publicity of auctioning seats on the maiden flight for charity - clever! Also, SQ's recent overhaul of its cabin decor, entertainments systems etc keeps it ahead of the competition. Not sure what MH is doing about revamping these. If it continues to delay these on account of getting its house into shape, then it will lose market share, especially when the new mid-east airlines such as Qatar and Etihad are promoting themselves aggressively. Qatar has already creeped into the top-tier on Skytrax.

Skyprince

October 2nd, 2007, 05:34 PM

globocentric

October 2nd, 2007, 06:02 PM

To know how bad it is-- I supposed to accumulate around 37,000 miles on four round-trip flights KUL- ( NGO/ FUK/ DXB/ CAI ) but when I checked it was nil ! Still up to now , I don't receive any points :bash: :bash:

Did you show them your Enrich Card during check in? If not, you can still claim the points by sending them the boarding pass. You might not receive any points if you are travelling on a discounted ticket or a redemption ticket

Sheik

October 3rd, 2007, 02:31 AM

It's time for MAS to upgrade the Enrich computer system and fix the problems.

Skyprince

October 3rd, 2007, 10:00 AM

Look how far Singapore has left us behind:ohno:
SQ is raisin its Bangalore flights from current 7 to 10/week, while MH is just raisin it from 3 to 4 :ohno:

SINGAPORE AIRLINES TO ADD THREE FLIGHTS FROM BANGALORE

Tuesday October 2, 2007, 10:53 am

BANGALORE, Oct 2 Asia Pulse - Singapore Airlines (SGX:S55) on Monday announced commencement of three additional services from Bangalore from October 29, taking the number of flights from the city in a week to 10.

In addition to daily night flights, there will be day flights on every Monday, Friday and Saturday from Bangalore to Singapore and vice-versa, Singapore Airlines General Manager--India-- C W Foo told reporters while launching the new services here.

The new services will be using the Boeing 777-200 aircraft with a three-class configuration -- 12 First, 42 Business and 234 Economy class seats.

"It will offer greater choice and excellent connectivity for customers travelling beyond Singapore to the South West Pacific and the Far East regions as well as US (San Francisco)", Foo said.

To commemorate this occasion and to celebrate festival season, the airline has announced special economy fares for its customers from Bangalore to Singapore and other popular destinations in Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand and USA.

On ground, the Singapore Airlines India customers can avail of its e-ticket services. The airline has also started an Internet check-in facility.

In addition, the airline has also brought the Boarding Pass Privileges (BPP) programme to its Indian customers. BPP allows customers who present their Singapore Airline boarding pass (all 3 classes) within seven days of their flight, to enjoy value-added benefits and discounts.

(PTI)

YeahWho

October 3rd, 2007, 04:59 PM

It's time for MAS to upgrade the Enrich computer system and fix the problems.

And fix the people too if they still think that working for MAS is a save haven for their livelihood.

globocentric

October 4th, 2007, 06:52 PM