#AK/D7/FD/QZ/PQ/JW | AirAsia Bhd / AirAsia X / Thai AirAsia / Indonesia AirAsia / AirAsia Philippines / AirAsia Japan

[mams]

JB hotels gear up for expected influx of Thai tourists
By Chuah Bee Kim


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HOTELIERS in JB are gearing up for an influx of Thai tourists following the launch of AirAsia's direct Johor Baru-Bangkok flights via the Senai Airport on Feb 2.
Several major hotels here have already tied up room and tour packages with the budget airline, while others are hoping to cash in on the spillover through special publicity and promotions.

To date four hotels - Compact Hotel Johor Baru, Eden Garden Hotel Johor Baru, Puteri Pan Pacific Hotel Johor Baru and Sofitel Palm Resort - have started offering special packages in association with the airline.

"We hope to finalise the deals with the hotels by this Thursday," said AirAsia's senior manager senior manager Mimi Phua.

[baqthier]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori.../66125/1/.html

Thailand launches its first budget carrier - Thai Air Asia
By Channel NewsAsia Indochina Correspondent Sarosha Pornudomsak

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BANGKOK, Thailand: Thailand's first no-frills airline - Thai Air Asia - has been launched.

It's a joint venture between the kingdom's largest telecommunications operator Shin Corp and Malaysia's Air Asia.

Thai Air Asia will fly to 4 destinations within the country from the third of next month.

Its promotional rates will go as low as US$2.50 for a one-way ticket from Bangkok to popular resort areas like Chiang Mai, Phuket and Hat Yai.

These promotions will go on throughout the year, at intervals.

And even normal fares, executives say, would be at least 20 percent lower than those offered by domestic competitors.

Operating costs are lowered through the use of online bookings, and ticketless travel.

According to an optimistic forecast, it'll break even within the first 10 months of operations.

Thailand's domestic aviation industry carries about 7 million passengers a year, and this figure is expected to grow to 8 million this year.

The carrier expects to target Thais who've never flown before.

National carrier Thai Airways is fighting back by lowering its fares for destinations within Thailand.

And it's entering the no-frills fray.

Analysts say the national carrier will be launching a low-cost airline of its own within the next few months.

Thai Air Asia says it's ready for the competition.

Said its CEO, Tassapon Bijleveld: "We (Thai Air Asia) will definitely face it. We have a target of one million domestic passengers to carry and we will definitely focus on our end, on our operation to carry one million passengers."

Thai Air Asia will also fly international routes, with Singapore's Changi Airport its first international destination.

The company says its first flight is to Singapore is expected to take off as early as late March.

Air Asia's Chief Executive, Tony Fernandes, had wanted his Malaysian arm to be given discounts for landing at Changi Airport.

When he didn't get them, he chose Johor's Senai Airport as his Malaysian destination in the South.

But he's going ahead with landing his Bangkok flights at Changi - despite not getting discounts.

"We'll take Singapore from Bangkok for the moment. We still think Johor Bahru is a great place and our main growth will be in JB cause that's a low-cost airport," he added.

Air Asia says Indonesia could be the next ASEAN country it ventures into. - CNA

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[mams]

AIR ASIA to fly BANGKOK - SINGAPORE

By Yap Lih Huey, Edge Daily

Thai budget airline AirAsia Aviation Co Ltd has received Singapore’s approval to fly from Bangkok to Changi Airport and expects to do so by April.

However, it is still in negotiations with the Singapore authorities to reduce airport charges.

“Just got approval. We are the first low fare airline in Singapore,” AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes told Reuters by telephone text message in response to queries about plans for international services to the island republic.

Fernandes said the AirAsia service would involve seven flights per week from Bangkok to Changi Airport, starting from Feb 13.

However, Thai AirAsia Aviation chief executive officer Tassaton Bijleveld told reporters that AirAsia was looking at flying from Bangkok to Singapore by late March or early April.

“We want to fly to Singapore as soon as possible. The route is highly profitable as it generates one of the highest traffic in Southeast Asia,” he said at the official launch of Thai Air Asia in Bangkok.

He said AirAsia was still in talks with the Singapore authorities on the airport charges. He expected a more than 10% reduction in those charges. “We believe we can bring down the airport costs with Tony’s commendable negotiation skills,” said Tassaton.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Yeow reported that AirAsia Sdn Bhd could be eyeing a listing in the second half of next year.
Fernandes told reporters that the listing proposal would be submitted to its board next month.

“It is still in the early days and we are narrowing down the details to be presented to the board,” Fernandes said in Putrajaya on the sidelines of a dialogue between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and corporate leaders yesterday.

On how much the airline planned to raise from the IPO, he said: “It’s limitless — we are a small company and we are up against lots of competition — people with lots of money.”

Fernandes and a group of shareholders own a 74% stake in AirAsia through a company Tune Air Sdn Bhd, while Bahrain’s Islamic Development Bank, Bank Crescent Venture Partners from Saudi Arabia and Frankfurt’s Deucalion Capital hold the remaining 26% stake.

Fernandes also said the airline expected to handle 3.2 million passengers this year, up from 2.1 million passengers in 2003 and 1.1 million in 2002.

[szehoong]

AirAsia to fly to Bangkok


PETALING JAYA: Budget carrier AirAsia is scheduled to commence direct flights to Bangkok – its second regional destination – from KLIA and Senai Airport, Johor Baru beginning next month.

AirAsia has existing flights to and from Phuket, which commenced last month.

The new route will take off with the Johor Baru-Bangkok flight on Feb 3 followed by the Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok flight on Feb 9.

[baqthier]

"Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok flight on Feb 9."



Hope got hotel package also ler..

[baqthier]

http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=24253

Bid to make Labuan a hub for AirAsia

Labuan: HMD Tours and Travel, a tourism company here, has taken a forward step to develop Labuan into a “gateway” for tourists from Brunei by using budget airline AirAsia. “Presently the no-frills airline does not land in Brunei and as a result, travellers in the Sultanate are deprived of the opportunity to cheap airfare.

We have now tied up with two companies in Brunei to encourage Brunei travellers to use AirAsia services via Labuan.

“Under the arrangements made we would provide a complete package that allows the tickets to be bought in Brunei and use the fixed shuttle services for connections to AirAsia flights in and out of here,” HMD manager Raynie Mohd Din Jaffar told Daily Express after concluding the agreements in Brunei recently.

Raynie explained that under the first agreement with Brunei-based MegaBorneo Marketing Services, the company had been appointed to operate HMD Service Counter in Brunei.

The company would provide assistance to travellers who wish to fly on AirAsia. Brunei clients who do not have a credit card or access to the Internet can purchase tickets from MegaBorneo which will not only be responsible to promote the Labuan/Malaysia package but all other holiday packages.

Under the second agreement with another Brunei-based company, Interhill Industries has been appointed as the ferry service provider by using “Seri Anna” to transfer passengers from and to Brunei/Labuan. The company will also be responsible for groundhandling of passengers arriving or departing on AirAsia flights, at the Muara Terminal.

Raynie said presently AirAsia operates daily flights from here to Kuala Lumpur and it was likely that the number of flights would increase in the near future.

“We hope that with the facilities and services put in place, more people from Brunei would be encouraged to use Labuan as their transit point,” he said.

[mams]

AirAsia tidak gentar untuk bersaing
Oleh Suffian A Bakar


AIRASIA Sdn Bhd (AirAsia) tidak gentar dengan persaingan yang bakal dihadapinya berikutan kemunculan beberapa syarikat penerbangan tambang murah serantau yang baru, kata Ketua Eksekutifnya, Tony Fernandes.

Bulan lalu, Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA) mengumumkan akan melancarkan Tiger Airways yang menawarkan perkhidmatan penerbangan tambang murah bagi menghadapi persaingan daripada AirAsia.

Laporan sebelum ini menyebut Tiger Airways akan dikuasai SIA yang memiliki kepentingan ekuiti sebanyak 49 peratus; Indigo Partners LLC (24 peratus) dan Irelandia Investments Ltd (16 peratus).

Irelandia Investments Ltd adalah syarikat pelaburan Tony Ryan, pengasas Ryanair.

Tony berkata, AirAsia tidak melihat Tiger Airways sebagai satu ancaman kepada AirAsia.

“Kami akan memberikan mereka satu persaingan yang hebat.

“Sejarah sudah membuktikan bahawa apabila dua syarikat tambang murah beroperasi dalam pasaran yang sama, sebuah daripadanya terpaksa berundur kerana tidak berupaya menghadapi persaingan.

“Saya akan pastikan syarikat yang sebuah lagi itu bukan AirAsia,” katanya.

Tony berkata, perkhidmatan penerbangan tambang murah adalah bidang kepakaran AirAsia bersesuaian dengan matlamat asal penubuhannya.

“Wawasan syarikat itu adalah bagi menggalakkan lebih ramai pelanggan menggunakan pengangkutan udara, khususnya golongan yang berasakan pengangkutan udara adalah terlalu mahal bagi mereka,” katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian kepada pemberita sebelum pelancaran Thai AirAsia Co Ltd (Thai AirAsia) di Bangkok baru-baru ini.

Thai AirAsia ditubuhkan hasil usaha sama antara AirAsia dan AirAsia Aviation Co Ltd (AACL) yang membolehkan AirAsia menjalankan operasi domestik di Thailand.

Tony berkata, berikutan pelancaran Thai AirAsia, Bangkok kini menjadi pusat AirAsia selepas Senai dan KLIA.

“Dengan bertapaknya AirAsia di Bangkok, ia menjadikan penerbangan ke China menjadi lebih dekat lagi.

“Ia adalah sebahagian daripada pelan induk syarikat untuk menjadikan AirAsia syarikat penerbangan terunggul di Asia sesuai dengan namanya,” katanya.

Beliau berkata, pada masa sama pihaknya sedang berbincang dengan beberapa rakan kongsi di India bagi menjadikan negara itu sebagai pangkalan untuknya menyediakan khidmat ke negara Asia Barat.

“Usaha berkenaan juga dibuat sejajar langkah AirAsia yang sudah membuka pintu rundingan dengan rakan kongsinya di Sumatera, Indonesia untuk menjadikan lokasi berkenaan sebagai pusat ke pasaran selatan,” katanya.

[mams]

Instant take-off for AirAsia’s joint venture
Zainul Ariffin and Azura Abas

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21:
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AirAsia’s joint venture with Shin Corporation of Thailand has proved an instant hit, with more than 20,000 seats on its domestic Thai routes sold within three days.
Sixty per cent of the bookings were made through the Internet, indicating how holiday planning has changed in recent years.

AirAsia, Malaysia's no-frills budget carrier, is being courted by other countries in the region such as Singapore and the Philippines, and has become a model Malaysian success story in just two years.

A group of investors, led by the carrier's chief executive officer, Tony Fernandes, bought the debt-ridden airline from DRB-Hicom for one ringgit more than two years ago and almost immediately turned it into a profit-churning venture, fashioning their business model on successful European budget airlines such as Ryan Air.

An exuberant Fernandes told the New Straits Times in a telephone interview from Bangkok today that the company's initial expectations had been "far exceeded".

"It just shows that the Malaysian way of doing things is well accepted in Thailand. We hope our success will be a good export story for other Malaysian companies to emulate." AirAsia's chief operating officer, Raja Mohd Azmi Raja Razali, said the numbers represented a good start for the joint venture, as February was usually a slow month for <a href="http://go-advertising.com?go=air+travel" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: air travel';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">air travel</a>.

Thai AirAsia is AirAsia Aviation Co Ltd's subsidiary in Thailand, with 51 per cent of its equity owned by Shin Corporation and the rest by AirAsia.

AirAsia senior manager (purchasing and distribution) Bernard Francis said the high figures were a record for Thailand, which only recently introduced the cheap air fare scheme.

All seats were sold at the promotional price of Baht99 or RM9.90 for the Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Bangkok-Phuket, BangkokHaadyai and Bangkok-Khon Haen flights following the launch in Thailand.

The fare promotion for the 20,000 seats covers flights scheduled between Feb 3 and 29.

AirAsia will operate flights between Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, while Thai AirAsia will fly between Bangkok and Johor Baru from next month.

Half of the seats available for the Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur route for February were sold within six days of bookings being opened. The flights begin on Feb 9.

[mams]

IPO for AIRASIA?

On Jan 13, Fernandes said AirAsia's board of directors would meet next month to discuss the possibility of floating the company on Malaysia Securities Exchange Bhd.

"If the listing exercise takes place this year, we will make the initial public offering either in September or November."

[mams]

The old or new livery.......which one did u like?

[baqthier]

The new one of course! Less color but more photogenic

[glenj]

Business Times - 04 Feb 2004


Thai AirAsia starts services

(BANGKOK) Thai AirAsia Co started commercial flights yesterday without incident or seat cancellations a day after the budget carrier's first demonstration flight for the media was aborted because of an indicator malfunction.

'We received 40 to 50 calls from passengers but luckily there was no cancellation,' said Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive of Thai AirAsia.

Thai AirAsia is a venture between Shin Corp, owned by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family, and Malaysia's AirAsia Sdn, Southeast Asia's first low-cost carrier. The company, which is starting operations with two used Boeing 737s leased from its Malaysian parent, plans to have about eight aircraft by year-end.

Monday's incident has not affected the company's plan to fly about 1 million passengers in Thailand this year, Mr Tassapon said. The airline's first flight, to the northern city of Chiang Mai, departed from Bangkok on time at 7.25 with about 110 passengers, about 70 per cent of the available 148 seats, he said. All six flights scheduled for yesterday have booked passenger loads of 60 to 70 per cent, he added. - Bloomberg

[glenj]

FEB 12, 2004
AirAsia, S'pore partner to set up budget airline

SINGAPORE -- No-frills Malaysian carrier AirAsia announced on Thursday it will start a joint venture airline in Singapore, intensifying competition in a new niche industry already crowded with regional players.

AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said the venture - with a Singaporean partner he declined to disclose - will be worth some S$120 million (US$72 million).

The new venture will initially offer services to six destinations using two planes but will eventually have three planes offering 18 to 32 flights a day, Mr Fernandes said.

He said he applied to Singapore's Civil Aviation Authority for an air operator's certificate three weeks ago. It could take six to nine months to get the approval and the airline cannot fly until then, he said.

Two other low-cost rivals - Singapore Airlines' budget spin-off Tiger Airways and ValuAir, run by former SIA executives - are also slated to begin operations this year.

AirAsia is currently trying to service the Singapore market with two daily flights between Kuala Lumpur and Senai airport in Malaysia's Johor state, which neighbours Singapore. Passengers have to take a shuttle bus from Singapore to Johor.

AirAsia Thailand, a tie-up between the Malaysian carrier and Shin Corp, a company owned by the family of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has already started operating flights between Singapore and Bangkok with promotional one-way fares of $50, one-eighth of regular fares. -- AP

[liping_t]

boy..Tony Fernandez is one smart fella, he's found a creative way of getting round all these air right's issues! Genius! Can't wait till he takes his company public! I think he's gonna be the budget airline industry Star Cruises.

[hypermount]

Ah I got this from Malay Mail Print edition...still can't find it online sigh!

"AIR ASIA THE BEST IN ASIA PACIFIC"

was tops on Boing's list for having the best ultilisation and dispatch reliability amongst players in the airline industry.

Asia pacific Airline of the Year 2003 CAPA (Centre for Asia pacific Aviation) at singapore. jointlyshared with Virgin Blues.

[szehoong]

Originally posted by hypermount

Ah I got this from Malay Mail Print edition...still can't find it online sigh!

"AIR ASIA THE BEST IN ASIA PACIFIC"

was tops on Boing's list for having the best ultilisation and dispatch reliability amongst players in the airline industry.

Asia pacific Airline of the Year 2003 CAPA (Centre for Asia pacific Aviation) at singapore. jointlyshared with Virgin Blues.

wei...this one old news liao lah.....someone posted that online a few weeks ago lah

[hypermount]

Okay I thought it was new LOL. Malay Mail mah.

[szehoong]

Originally posted by hypermount

Okay I thought it was new LOL. Malay Mail mah.

And you tot Malay Mail is so 'updated'!

[ethan]

No-frills airline Air Asia Sdn Bhd has opened another channel for air travellers to pay for flight tickets booked via telephone at Pos Malaysia Bhd’s 600 branches nationwide.

In a statement last Friday, Air Asia said the payment for tickets booked via Air Asia’s Nationwide Call Centre would have to be made within 48 hours.

Travellers need to request and fill “Pos Akaun 39” forms at Pos Malaysia, stating booking reference number, contact number and amount payable before effecting payment.

A copy of the “Pos Akaun 39” form would be given as a receipt. Pos Malaysia charges a RM2.50 fee the service. Air Asia accepts flight bookings via phone, SMS and the Internet.

[baqthier]

Seized in the most globalized city
http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/thu/mar4w2.htm
From Borneo Bulletin

AirAsia shuttle buses seized

SINGAPORE (AP) - Singapore said Wednesday that it has seized two buses used by Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia to ferry passengers from the city-state to an airport in southern Malaysia.

The carrier was authorised to use the buses only for chartered sightseeing tours, the Land Transport Authority said in a statement.

But the buses had been shuttling passengers from Singapore to Senai Airport in the southern Malaysian state of Johor - about an hour's drive away from the island state.

The no-frills carrier flies twice daily between Senai and Kuala Lumpur. "LTA has escorted both buses back to its office for investigation and has taken statements from the drivers," the statement said.

An LTA spokeswoman, who asked that her name not be used in line with standard authority practice, said the buses were impounded after officials noticed AirAsia was offering the shuttle service on its Web site.

AirAsia does not fly out of Singapore's Changi Airport because it says the charges are too high, although a subsidiary has flights from there to Thailand.

The Straits Times said the airline had applied for a licence to run shuttle buses, but was turned down. No reason was given for the rejection but critics say it is part of the government's efforts to protect Changi from increasing competition, the report said.

AirAsia Thailand, a joint venture between the Malaysian carrier and Shin Corp., a company owned by the family of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, operates flights between Singapore and Bangkok.