Yes! Malaysia Airlines has again lauched their new airplane Airbus 330-300 on April 14, this is part of the airline plan to have youngest fleets in Asia by 2015.

Overall, the design of seats and better in-flight entertainment will definitely attract more passengers.

Malaysia Airlines Enhances Customer Experience With Its New Airbus 330-300

April 14, 2011

Sepang (14 April 2011): Malaysia Airlines has launched its new A330-300 aircraft today, amidst a ceremonious event at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

The occasion was graced by Minister of Transport, Y.B. Dato’ Seri Kong Cho Ha. Also present were Malaysia Airlines’ Chairman, Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid and Malaysia Airlines Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Tengku Dato’ Sri Azmil Zahruddin, as well as representatives from Airbus and the Embassies of France, Spain, Great Britain and Germany, partners from the aviation industry, corporate customers, travel trade, winners of Malaysia Airlines Facebook page contest and members of the media. The reception marked another historical milestone for the airline.

Starting with a launch flight MH8888 from KLIA, guests were taken for a short journey to experience the new interiors and features of the aircraft. Upon arrival, the traditional water salute welcomed the latest aircraft to the Malaysia Airlines fleet, followed by a mixed drum ensemble. An eclectic dance performance symbolised the potpourri of cultures, as the passengers disembarked from the aircraft.

Malaysia Airlines’ Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Tengku Dato’ Sri Azmil Zahruddin said, “We are delighted to launch our first A330-300 five months after the delivery of the new B737-800 in November. The latest fleet is aimed at creating a strong and sustained platform for us to serve our discerning customers and for Malaysia Airlines to remain profitable. These aircrafts will serve the growing markets of South Asia, China, North Asia and Australia.”

The new Airbus A330-300 is the first of 15 aircrafts to be delivered to Malaysia Airlines over the next four years, as part of the airline's fleet renewal programme. It is the second fleet after the B737-800 to sport the dynamic livery with red and blue lines representing the Malaysia Airlines’ corporate colours.

Minister of Transport, YB Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said, “Malaysia Airlines has made another achievement in Malaysia’s aviation industry. Malaysia Airlines’ move to introduce this fleet is seen as an effort to promote more travel and business opportunities for both Malaysians and foreigners.”

The enhanced A330-300 has a total capacity of 283 seats, 36 seats in Business class and 247 seats in Economy class. All seats are equipped with AC power supply and USB port for laptops and electronic equipment. The new interiors are installed with mood lighting in all cabins and spacious overhead baggage compartments.

To provide enhanced experience and comfort, the sophisticated features and interiors of the new A330-300 Business Class cabin offer comfortable angled lie flat seats, a fold-out privacy divider and six-way adjustable headrest, among others, presenting the traveller with both a mini office, as well as a place to unwind.

The Economy Class cabin, features lightweight and slim design seats with four-way headrest. Each seat is equipped with individual audio-video on demand smart screens. The latest movies, TV programs, moving map and games are available for both cabins.

The first commercial flight on the new A330-300 will be from Kuala Lumpur to Brisbane departing on 20 April 2011, followed by flights to Shanghai, Osaka, Beijing, Perth and Delhi on later dates.

Water salute to welcome the MAS A330-300 into Hangar 5 KLIA

Gentlemen from left, Malaysia Airlines’ Chairman, Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid, Airbus, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Kiran Rao, Minister of Transport Malaysia, Y.B. Dato’ Seri Kong Cho Ha, Malaysia Airlines Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Tengku Dato’ Sri Azmil Zahruddin.

Malaysia Airlines cancels flights to Kuching for today
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 1:37 PM GMT +8. Please check this page for regular updates.

Malaysia Airlines has cancelled all flights to and from Kuching today due to the temporary closure of the runway at Kuching International Airport. Other flights to or from other destinations to Kuching are also cancelled.

The only 2 flights that will be operating out of Kuching for today will be:-

Kuching to Kuala Lumpur (MH2515) departing at 2.05pm
Kuching to Kuala Lumpur (MH2597) departing at 8.00pm

The following flights have been cancelled:

Passengers on the affected flights have several options:

> Re-book on the next available flight tomorrow, however this is subject to the re-opening of Kuching airport.

> Change the travel date at no fee (regardless of ticket type) by 18 January 2011.

> Get a full refund depending on the terms and conditions of the fare type. Restricted tickets can be converted to a travel voucher with a 3-month validity.

Malaysia Airlines urges passengers who are booked on our flights to and from Kuching to check the status of their latest flights status or to call the MAS Call Center 1300-88-3000 (within Malaysia) or +603-7843 3000 (outside Malaysia) or visit our ticketing offices before leaving to the airport.

Passengers can also check the flight status on their mobile phone by visiting flymas.mobi

As for the 'lousy' AirAsia their flight details as below:

AirAsia plane skids at Kuching airport (The Star)
By Shaun Ho

KUALA LUMPUR: An AirAsia flight to Kuching skidded off the runway Monday night and landed on the grass verge, leaving four passengers with minor injuries.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said flight AK5218, an Airbus A320, was carrying 124 passengers and six crew members.

Cranes are used to remove the plane off the runway Tuesday

"The plane was landing during a downpour and that is when it skidded," he said Tuesday.

Kong said the plane had landed on soft soil on the edge of the runway. AirAsia and Kuching International Airport staff are working to remove the plane for checks.

As a result of the incident, services at the airport have been was disrupted, with up to 11 flights to the airport affected.

"I expect services at the airport to resume by noon," he said after opening the National Maritime Conference in Kuala Lumpur.

AirAsia Group Chief Executive Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes tweeted: "Working hard to remove aircraft. All passengers are home."

Related stories:

Kuching airport closed temporarily (The Star)

KUCHING: The Kuching International Airport has been closed Tuesday until further notice, a Malaysia Airports Bhd statement said.

This is becaused of an incident Monday night, when an AirAsia aircraft (flight AK5218 from Kuala Lumpur), skidded and veered off the airport's runway 25, when landing at 10.02 during heavy rain.

All passengers were evacuated safely from the aircraft.

Efforts to remove the aircraft Tuesday were hampered by continuous heavy rains.

 An AirAsia flight to Kuching skidded off the runway Monday night and landed on the grass verge, leaving four passengers with minor injuries.

Only one flight was released for departure from the airport, flight MH2505 to Kuala Lumpur.

All AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines flights from the airport have been effected.

Passengers are advised to contact their airline's offices to enquire about their flight status.

The real-time experience by one of the passengers on-board.

ADUN had narrow escape when plane skidded (Sarawak Update)

KUCHING – An Air Asia aircraft that carry 124 passengers that include an ADUN and his wife, skidded from the runway of Kuching International Airport at 10.15 pm last night.

The passengers were panic when they saw smoke billowing from the aircraft engine.

Passengers were screaming and crying in the plane as they waited for the emergency doors to be opened which the air-hostess appeared to be slow in doing it.

Passengers all rushed to the exit doors and flee from the plane.

Four panic passengers, one of them a male were rushed to the Sarawak General Hospital at midnight due to the incident.

All the passengers were drenched to the skin while waiting for help in the runway.

The plane AK2518 made a bad start when it was delayed for one hour at the KLIA. It departed to Kuching at 8.30 pm.

An angry passenger, Ling said the plane from KL was supposed to land at 10 pm at Kuching International Airport but they landed in the grass verge amid pouring rain at the time.

He said the pilot announced that there was drizzling in Kuching 10 minutes before landing and when they were about to land, they saw it was pouring heavily.

A passenger who did not wanted to be identified said their ordeal were not over yet as they got out of the plane as they were forced to wait over an hour at the grass verge in heavy downpour with women and children.

He said he was upset as help seemed to be slow and a bus later arrived. The bus was able to ferry 20 passengers each time with women and children getting on first.

He said a few passengers were too scared to even walk. Some of the passengers who got impatient with waiting walked towards the arrival hall.

Despite seeing vehicles driving towards the plane and trying to wave them down, none bothered to stop.

Snowdon Lawan, Balai Ringin and his wife who were among the passengers lamented at the poor services given at the airport.

A passenger said when they reached the arrival hall at the airport drenched to the skin, there was no towel or hot drinks for them. Most of the passengers, he said were shivering and shaking with cold and fear.

Due to the mishap at the runway, an AirAsia plane from Kota Kinabalu, AK6037 meant to land at 10.25 pm transit to Singapore.

Another from JB AK5840 meant to arrive at 22.05 pm flew to KL. A flight AK6038 leaving to KK at 10.55 pm was cancelled.

Two of MAS flights were also diverted. One was MH2530 arriving from KL at 10.45 pm while MH 2534 from KL expected to arrive at 11.59 were diverted.

A tweet from AirAsia claimed that KIA has been temporarily closed down due to the unfortunate accident.

The latest tweet by @tonyfernandes at 2:18 pm - Good progress on moving plane. Plane should be cleared in 90 mins. We are trying to ensure everyone who wants to go to kuching will go. Good cooperation from MAB and MAS. Thank you

More to come.

Metzelder says: It is a clear reason why you should not choose this budget airline as your preferred airline choice. This incident doesn't cause any causalities but who can guarantee this will not happen again.

Looking back with so many complaints against them, they should really take a chance to restructure them and not just lobbying for new routes from Government.

Secondly based from the article of Sarawak Update, it reflects Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB) is doing a poor job in helping the victims getting out from the airplane and treatment while at arrival hall of so called 'Kuching International Airport'.

I come across a detail report of the past accident happened involving AirAsia.

Its time to check the operations, in detail (WordPress)

These landing mishaps happen far too frequent for this airline. On 19 March 2007, KCH saw flight operation disruptions because of the same problem, by the same airline.

On 9 Nov 2004, AK 106 skidded of the runway during landing at BKI.

Disrupted flight operations took two days to normalise. Disruptions cause a lot money. Especially when an airline’s business is dependent on the minimal turnaround time as one of the KPIs.

KCH, March 2007

Every time these accidents happened, Malaysia Airlines ground handling and engineering are asked to resolve the stranded-aircraft-of-the-runaway. This is because AirAsia has no adequate engineering facility at these airports and the disruptions also adversely affected Malaysia Airlines operations.

Its time for Department of Civil Aviation to go through operations and safety procedures of AirAsia. Too much at stake. Somebody should pay for the losses of business incurred by Malaysia Airlines and Malaysia Airports. Then again AirAsia was reluctant to settle their dues with Malaysia Airports.

Never fly with AirAsia!!

From my previous posts, MAS has received their new B737-800 and started operating it on its maiden flight to Kota Kinabalu International Airport on Nov 15.

Media Release
160 First To Fly On MAS' New B737-800

Nov 15, 2010

Subang (15 October 2010): Some 160 guests and MAS’ senior management team were the first to fly on Malaysia Airlines’ new B737-800 which departed for Kota Kinabalu today.

The national carrier is the first full service airline in the world to operate the B737-800 with the new Boeing Sky Interior.

Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Tengku Dato' Sri Azmil Zahruddin said, “We are delighted to have our guests enjoy an interior which is based on that of the B787 Dreamliner including the use of mood lighting to enhance comfort. The new cabin offers bigger stowage bins, higher ceiling, and larger windows.

“One of the latest features is the touch-screen inflight entertainment units in every business and economy seats, individual power supply and USB ports for electronics.”

Guests included Deputy Minister of Transport, Dato’ Abdul Rahim Bakri; Department of Civil Aviation’s Director-General, Dato’ Azharuddin Abdul Rahman; MAHB’s Senior General Manager (Operations), Dato’ Azmi Murad, corporate clients, travel agents and many more.

The 160-seater aircraft sports a new dynamic livery with red and blue lines, Malaysia Airlines' corporate colours.

He said, "The dynamic livery epitomises our determined spirit to provide Malaysian Hospitality to our guests.

“When deciding on the new livery, we considered a number of designs including those that were similar to our very popular hibiscus and heliconia designs. However, these designs added a significant amount of weight to the aircraft, which would not have been very environmentally responsible. Therefore, we went for a cleaner design that is more flowing and environmentally friendly.

"We will receive 3 B737-800 this year, and our first A330-300 next year. These are exciting times for Malaysia Airlines and our customers who will enjoy the latest generation aircraft."

Upon the aircraft’s arrival in Kota Kinabalu, the Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman will launch the city as Malaysia Airlines’ Eastern Hub.

Malaysia Airlines is leveraging on the strategic location of Kota Kinabalu as an ideal gateway to promote travels to and from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.

The first commercial flight on the B737-800 will be from Kota Kinabalu to Haneda, Tokyo, departing at 4.35pm.

Malaysia Airlines have ordered up to 55 B737-800, 25 A330-300 and 6 A380. By the end of 2010, there will be 3 B737-800 in service. Next year, there will be 6 B737-800 and 5 new A330-300 in operations – the first of which will arrive in April 2011.

Malaysia Airlines’ new B737-800 inaugural flight to Kota Kinabalu (L-R) Malaysia Airlines MD/CEO Tengku Dato' Sri Azmil Zahruddin and Malaysia's Deputy Minister of Transport, Dato’ Abdul Rahim Bakri.

Cabin crew inside the new B737-800

Issued by:
Media Relations Unit/Communications Division, Malaysia Airlines

And again Malaysia Airlines has been voted the “World’s Leading Airline to Asia” by World Travel Awards (WTA) which gives recognition to the very best in travel, tourism as well as hospitality products and services.

Since 1993, Malaysia Airlines has flown over 17 million passengers from outside Asia to its hub in Kuala Lumpur. On an annual basis, the national carrier brings in over one million customers from outside Asia to Malaysia.

Malaysia Airlines is an award winning airline. This year alone, the airline was accredited with “Staff Service Excellence for Asia Award 2010” and “World’s Best Economy Class Award 2010” by Skytrax. It is also recognized as the “Best Airline in Southeast Asia” by GT Tested Awards, Global Traveller Magazine and ranked 7th in the Top 10 Airlines Worldwide category for Best in Travel Poll 2010 by Smart Travel Asia.

By 2015, Malaysia Airlines will have one of the youngest and most environmentally friendly fleets in Asia Pacific.

(from left to right) MAS Regional Senior Vice President, UK and Ireland, Mr Syed Abdillah Syed Abdul Aziz; WTA Global Sales & Marketing Director, Mr James Khan; MAS Chairman, Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid ;and WTA President and Founder, Mr Graham E. Cooke, with a model and MAS cabin crew.

Local airlines expanding too quickly? Firefly, MAS and AirAsia may get 24 new aircraft next year (The Star)

Monday November 15, 2010

By Jeeva Arulampalam

PETALING JAYA: Can the local aviation sector support the rapid expansion plans of local airlines over the next several years? An educated guess may suggest otherwise.

Firefly, a wholly-owned unit of Malaysia Airlines (MAS), announced last week that it would commence jet aircraft operations out of the main terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in January.

It aims to operate six B737-800 aircraft from KLIA next year to East Malaysia, on top of its turboprop aircraft operations for domestic and regional routes out of Subang Airport.

Maybank Investment Bank Research, citing data compiled by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, said that the domestic sector recorded passenger volume of 13.5 million last year and has been growing at a 10-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7%. The international sector carried 12 million passengers and has grown at a 10-year CAGR of 7.3%.

“Assuming these growth rates continue, it implies four to five additional aircraft will be required per annum to meet both domestic and international demand growth,” the research house said in a report issued last week.

Now, the local airline industry would see more than just four to five planes entering the market on a given year.

For instance, Firefly, MAS and AirAsia may receive as many as 24 new aircraft next year.

In total, MAS will receive up to 86 new passenger planes by 2016 (this is larger than its entire fleet of 60 planes today), but only 56 of the new orders are firm.

MAS is undertaking a fleet renewal exercise and will see it retiring its older aircraft.

Firefly plans to have 44 new planes, jets and turboprops, by 2015 compared with its current fleet of seven turboprop planes.

AirAsia has defered its order from 23 to eight planes next year. The company has made 175 firm orders of A320 aircraft, which should see the final aircraft delivery made in October 2014.

However, industry observers noted that AirAsia’s decision to defer aircraft could be due to slower anticipated passenger growth in tandem with the global economic recovery.

AirAsia, which has Thai and Indonesian affiliates, also has the luxury of redeploying next year’s aircraft orders to its neighbouring operations.

“We don’t think the (local) air traffic growth rate will be able to support (Firefly’s) fleet deployment plan, given that AirAsia and MAS also has their own fleet growth plans. It is looking very likely that somebody has to give in, and MAS is the most probable candidate to relent,” the report said.

While the B737-800 is the direct rival for the A320, Maybank said it was difficult to say which aircraft would be better as it boiled down to the purchase price and operational costs.

Analysts anticipate that competition would intensify between both low cost carriers, especially for domestic routes to East Malaysia, causing yields to come under pressure.

As it is, the fare war has begun with Firefly offering 50,000 seats as low as RM9 and AirAsia responding with a million free seats.

What remains to be seen is how quickly Firely can turn its jet operations profitable given the intensified landscape.

Little is known about Firefly’s financials as it was not disclosed by MAS’ management. The media and analysts were told in separate briefings last week that Firefly was profitable with its ATR operations and its net profit margin was above industry average.

What was disclosed was that the breakeven seat factor for an ATR is below 70%. The aircraft needs less than 50 passengers per flight to breakeven.

Possible shortage of pilots seen as airlines expand (The Star)
By Lee Kian Seong

PETALING JAYA: Airlines in Asia are increasing the recruitment of pilots and maintenance crew to meet growing demand for such professionals in the coming years because of aggressive expansion in the industry.

Although the airlines industry does not face a shortage of pilots at present, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) operations director Captain Azharuddin Osman sees a possible pilot crunch over the next few years as airlines take delivery of more new aircraft.

“We will see more demand for pilots in the next few years as airlines all over the world are taking delivery of more new aircraft,” he told StarBiz.

He said the recruitment of co-pilots in Malaysia was not difficult and in fact, a lot of young Malaysians had expressed an interest to join this profession. MAS currently has about 1,400 pilots.

“Demand for pilots is normally based on the company’s expansion plans and the number of aircraft in the system. We address the demand for pilots in two ways– through our own internal promotion and via our own cadet pilot training. We have also external recruitment from Malaysia or other countries,” Azharuddin said.

It was reported that there was a need for more than a million pilots and maintenance crew in the global commercial aviation industry in the next 20 years, with Asia accounting for almost 40% of the demand.

It was estimated that from 2010 to 2029, world demand for pilots and maintenance personnel would be 466,650 and 596,500 respectively. Of that amount, 180,600 pilots and 220,000 mechanics would be needed in Asia.

MAS executive vice-president of engineering and maintenance Mohd Roslan Ismail said that while there was great interest in maintenance crew recruitment in Malaysia, it was becoming more challenging to as the general level of English proficiency was a concern.

“This is a global industry where the medium of communication is in English and all aircraft manuals and documentation are in English,” he said, adding that MAS had currently more than 1,050 trainees and over 3,000 qualified technicians and engineers.

To meet manpower demands, Roslan said MAS worked with local academic institutions like Politeknik Shah Alam and the Malaysian Institute of Aviation to offer on-the-job training.

“We also train students sponsored by Yayasan Terenganu, Yayasan Johor and Felda to churn out engineers and junior technicians at our MAS Engineering Training Centre,” he said.

A Cathay Pacific spokesperson said the aviation industry was facing a shortage of engineers and that the airline was very keen in developing local aviation engineering professionals as well as attracting qualified engineering professionals to join the company.

“Pilot shortage is a phenomenon that affects all airlines, but it is not a particular problem for Cathay Pacific at the moment as we are not currently recruiting pilots.

“We have our own pilot training programme based in Adelaide, Australia, from which 341 pilots have graduated since our programme began in 1988. We currently have 106 cadets undergoing training in Adelaide,” the spokesman said.

A spokesman for Singapore Airlines (SIA) said: “SIA has always taken a long term view of our plans for pilots to ensure we have a pool to meet our operational requirements.”

The spokesman said its Singapore Flying College (SFC) trained cadet pilots from the early stages, adding that SIA had been recruiting cadet pilots in recent months and this was due to the fact that there were lengthy training lead times.

“At the moment, we are not hiring trained pilots but we do conduct occasional exercises where we hire them depending on operational requirements,” the spokesman said.

About 150 cadet pilots graduate from SFC every year, although this number could vary according to the company’s long term plans and crewing situation.

“Our turnover rate of pilots has been consistently low over the years and we are not short of pilots. We have over 2000 pilots and the response to our recruitment exercises for pilots has always been good,” the spokesman said.

MAS gets first B737-800 (Bernama)

Tuesday November 2, 2010

SUBANG: Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS) yesterday received its first B737-800, the latest generation aircraft which promises both economy and business-class passengers a better travel experience.

MAS' new B737-800 was welcomed with a water-cannon salute when it arrived at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang.

Passengers will enjoy an in-flight entertainment system which will include audio and video-on-demand, roomier interior, better ambience, higher ceiling and mood lighting.

The national carrier had placed an order for 55 such aircraft with Boeing and would take delivery of three more by the year-end, said managing director and chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Seri Azmil Zahruddin.

“We are proud to announce that we will be the first full-service airline in the world to operate B737-800 with the new Boeing Skyline Interior,” he said after taking delivery of the new aircraft at Skypark Airport here.

Boeing B737-800 pilot Capt. Muhammad Affindy Abd Rahman (right) chatting with (from left) MAS CEO Tengku Datuk Seri Azmil Zahruddin, engineering and maintenance executive vice president Mohd Roslan Ismail, MAS chairman Tan Sri Dr. Munir Majid and operations director Capt. Mohamed Azharuddin Osman in the plane's roomy interior after flying it back from Seattle yesterday.

The 160-seater aircraft sports a new dynamic livery with red and blue lines representing MAS’ corporate colours.

MAS has also ordered 25 A330-300 and six A380 aircraft. It is expected to take delivery of the first A330-300 next year. — Bernama

In pictures:

The arrival of Malaysia Airlines’ new B737-800 aircraft at SkyPark Subang Terminal.

Malaysia Airlines’ Chairman and MD/CEO welcoming the Captains and the new aircraft.

Firefly to add more domestic destinations (The Star)
Monday November 8, 2010

By Jeeva Arulampalam

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has finally turned to wholly-owned unit Firefly to compete head-on with low-cost carrier (LCC) AirAsia as Firefly looks to add more domestic destinations now and Asean routes eventually.

As the global airline industry recovers, full-service carriers (FSC) in Asia are swiftly looking at ways to enter the low-fare segment and regain lost market share as more travellers opt to fly with LCCs.

While MAS plans to expand aggressively into Asia with its new fleet, it will not want to lose out on the short-haul market given that 78% of the 24 million tourist arrivals in Malaysia last year came from this market (more so neighbouring markets), 15% from medium-haul markets and 7% from long-haul markets. Firefly’s expansion can help address this concern.

StarBiz reported last week that Firefly, which operates turboprop aircraft from Subang, will start flying jets as early as the first quarter next year from KL International Airport.

Firefly will start flying jets from KLIA as early as the first quarter next year.

Citing sources, the report said that Firefly will initially use four to six B737-400s to provide cross-over flights to Sabah and Sarawak and add Asean destinations once it receives the relevant approvals.

To facilitate the expansion plan, MAS may continue to lease the B737 aircraft and charge Firefly a fee for the utilisation of these planes.

Firefly managing director Datuk Eddy Leong will reveal Firefly’s expansion plan today to the media.

HwangDBS Vickers Research viewed the expansion as positive for MAS, given Firefly’s profitable operations and ability now to help partly subsidise the loss-making routes.

“The expansion will also help MAS compete with AirAsia, which is estimated to have a bigger market share in Malaysia compared to MAS,” said the research house in a report last Thursday.

AirAsia Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes remains unfazed by the expansion plans.

“We are beyond worrying about what legacy airlines do. AirAsia has grown and will continue to grow positively due to a disciplined focus on cost and the short haul single class model,” he told StarBiz.

It can be an uphill task for a FSC to operate its own LCC, considering that many LCCs have gone bust or were bought over by LCC rivals. For instance, Easyjet bought over British Airways’ LCC Go for £374mil in 2002 while Europe’s Ryanair purchased KLM Royal Dutch Airline’s loss-making LCC Buzz at £15mil in 2003.

Closer to home, Garuda Indonesia is now focused on fixing itself before it looks to mend its LCC Citilink Airlines.

There have been exceptions such as Qantas Airways’ successful LCC Jetstar Airways. Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines’ associate Tiger Airways has also done well in the regional LCC space.

HwangDBS said its main concern with Firefly’s expansion plan was the higher operating costs of the old B737s, which could affect its bottom line despite Firefly’s low-cost business model.

A local aviation analyst said the fuel consumption for the older Boeing aircraft was higher, at an average of 10% to 15% more per seat basis than the newer models.

Many of the LCCs like Jetstar, Tiger Airways and AirAsia operate relatively newer A320 planes.

Fernandes added that MAS’ decision to move into the LCC space would remove the last hurdle for AirAsia X.

“This removes the last blockage for AirAsia X and allows us to build a world class hub. Now MAS has entered our space, the long-haul market should be fully liberalised for AirAsia X,” he said.

Fernandes may not be too far off the mark, as the Government has stated its intention under the Economic Transformation Programme to enhance connectivity to priority medium-haul markets.

The plan is to increase frequencies to 10 priority cities, which include Beijing, Delhi, Melbourne, Mumbai, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Taipei and Tokyo. Malaysia is said to have a double-digit flight frequency gap to most of these cities compared with Singapore and Thailand.

The local transport ministry will be working on increasing air rights to the countries that have restricted air rights, primarily Australia, Japan and India. The distribution of subsequent air rights will also be done in a more transparent and liberalised manner, as the transport ministry develops an air rights allocation framework.

Metzelder says: The only thing I want to highlight is unethical biz plan by AirAsia. They merely accusing Government for over-protecting MAS as their 'golden child' after failed to lobbying for new route.

Besides that, please never compare MAS with AirAsia. Both are running different business model, MAS is a 5-star airline and is Full service carrier while AirAsia as World Best Low Cost Carrier will only remain as LCC. Comparison of fare prices is always an issue with passengers comparing it while the level of service and professionalisme is way different.

This is a very good prove to show how unethical are they.

The battle between AirAsia and Tiger Airways (The Star)
Friday Reflections - By B.K. Sidhu

Friday October 22, 2010

THE verbal spat between the two Tonys in the aviation sector reminds some people of how Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik had to fight for the survival of palm oil back in the 1980s.

Then it was Lim against the Western world, and at stake was Malaysia’s palm oil industry.

Lim succeeded and today Malaysia is one of the biggest suppliers of palm oil globally.

This week the clash is between Tony and Tony – Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, the boss of AirAsia Bhd; and Tony Davis, CEO of Singapore’s Tiger Airways.

Both helm award-wining airlines.

AirAsia has won numerous awards and so has Fernandes. The airline has a wide reach, has operations in Thailand via Thai AirAsia and in Indonesia via Indonesia AirAsia. Its sister airline, AirAsia X, is Asia’s first long-haul low-cost carrier.

To tease Tiger Airway for its recent flight cancellations, AirAsia ran full-page advertisements in Singapore newspapers with the tag-line “If Tigers were meant to fly, they would be born with wings”. The ads also featured a drawing of a tiger cub crying. But AirAsia regional head of commercial Kathleen Tan denies the ads had anything to do with Thai Tiger.

Tiger Airways is partly owned by Singapore Airlines. Based in Singapore, it flies to many destinations within Asia. On Tuesday it was named the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation’s Low Cost Airline of the Year. Tiger Airways also has operations in Australia. It is about to seal a deal to set up Thai Tiger Airways, a low-cost airline in Thailand.

The new venture is the thing that triggered the spat.

Fernandes described Tiger Airways as an “odd” choice business ally to Thai Airways. He said this in an interview with Bangkok Post. He was sceptical about having Westerners running any successful Asia-based business, referring to some of Tiger Airways’ management.

“We’re Asians, not a bunch of white guys running the airline,” he said, explaining that Thai AirAsia was run by Thai management who know the local and Asian markets. Tiger Airways had also recently cancelled numerous flights that left thousands of passengers stranded due to manpower shortage and aircraft fault.

Tiger Airways in an immediate reaction said it was a “racist remark” made by Fernandes.

To rub salt into the wound, Fernandes also described Tiger Airways as “a tiny carrier”.

But Davis seemed unperturbed and he declared on Wednesday that Tiger aims to be among the top three global airlines.

This spat stems from competition. A new player in the Thai air market would mean more competition for Thai AirAsia.

To tease Tiger Airway for its recent flight cancellations, AirAsia ran full-page advertisements in Singapore newspapers with the tag-line “If Tigers were meant to fly, they would be born with wings”. The ads also featured a drawing of a tiger cub crying.

But AirAsia regional head of commercial Kathleen Tan denies the ads had anything to do with Thai Tiger.

“We thought it’s a great time to do things that are a little bit fun; a little bit wicked. It’s not meant as a one-up, we’re not attacking anyone, we were just being clever and witty to assert our marketing leadership. We love a good fight on the marketing front once in a while,” she said.

Whatever the campaign may be for, it did not stop Davis from saying, “It’s no wonder some of our competitors are getting so rattled.”

Thailand is a big tourism market. People from all over the world visit Bangkok and many other tourist destinations there so adding another player would keep the incumbents on their toes. Erosion of market share is to be expected.

Fernandes understands that and there is also nothing to stop Davis from entering the market since Thai Airways likes Tiger Airways.

These two Tonys may be taking a swipe at each other and coming up with all kinds to tactics to discredit each other but for the consumer, competition is great. Had AirAsia not set up operations in Malaysia we would probably still be paying premium airfares to travel and in the same vein, more budget airlines in Asia simply means even more people can fly.

Whatever the motivation of these rivals, what matters to the traveller is safety, good service, low airfares, more baggage room and comfort. The fiercer the fight, hopefully, the lower the airfares

MAS crew grounded
... pending investigations into body-in-toilet episode

Wednesday, August 4

PETALING JAYA: Six Malaysia Airlines cabin crew members have been taken off flight duties until the completion of investigations into the discovery of a dead passenger in the toilet of the aircraft they were operating on.

The body was discovered by the cleaning crew about 20 minutes after the passengers and crew disembarked after flight MH767 had arrived from Ho Chi Minh City at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at about 10.50pm on Saturday.

It was believed that in their haste to disembark, the cabin crew had missed checking the toilets. It was believed the 38-year-old man was found in the toilet of the economy class of the Boeing 737 airliner.

It was also learnt the police found an empty syringe in the toilet.

Sepang deputy police chief Baharudin Mustapha told The Malay Mail that the case has been classified as sudden death and no foul play was suspected, following a post-mortem.

It is, however, believed that the man may have been an addict.

Baharudin declined to name the man who was on transit at KLIA to Australia, saying the body had since been released to the Australian High Commission for repatriation. Checks showed Malaysia Airlines flies three times daily between KLIA and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Malay Mail was informed the flight and cabin crew will face an internal inquiry to determine why they failed to adhere to standard operating procedure to ensure the airliner was empty before they disembarked.

Sources informed The Paper That Cares the cabin crew was supposed to check all the toilets before and after landing.

The inquiry is also expected to focus on how the man had managed to smuggle in the syringe into the airliner.

Malaysia Airlines Director of Operations Captain Mohamed Azharuddin Osman, in a statement to The Malay Mail, said: "We express our deepest condolences and sympathy to the family of the deceased. The customer was travelling from Ho Chi Minh to Kuala Lumpur. Upon MH767's arrival in Kuala Lumpur at 1050pm (Malaysian time) on Saturday, July 31, the customer was found unconscious in the aircraft lavatory by the ground crew. The ambulance was called and the doctor on duty confirmed that the customer has passed away.

"Malaysia Airlines has standard operating procedures in place whereby the crew is to check through the cabin and aircraft lavatories to ensure that no baggage or items are left behind after all passengers have disembarked. Investigations are currently ongoing into the matter.

"The crew will be taken off their flight duties until the completion of the investigations.”

Guidelines on syringes onboard

LIKE other international airlines, Malaysia Airlines has strict rules on bringing syringes and needles as carry-on luggage.

According to its baggage information posted on its website, the national carrier states: "All medication should have a professional pharmaceutical label on the container if you are transporting medication in your carry-on luggage. If you require a medical syringe, you must have the needle guard intact."

Most airlines also follow the guidelines by International Air Travel Association that if for medical reasons, passengers need to inject themselves during the flight, they are permitted to carry syringes in the cabin. They will be asked to produce appropriate medical evidence (such as a doctor's letter) when they check-in and at security screening points. This should be kept with them at all times

Metzelder says: Firstly I would like to wish condolence to deceased and family.

Indeed it was a sad story that hit out 5 star Malaysia Airlines, but I throughly support and ready to know the truth of it. Generally, we are proud of the high standard of professionalism of MAS cabin and ground crews.

Preventive measures should be taken to avoid such mishap from happening again.

Always fly with Malaysia Airlines!

When asked to comment on Malaysia Airlines’ claim that the network of AirAsia overlaps 90% of MAS’s, Fernandes said: “Azran Osman-Rani, our CEO of AirAsia X, will handle deal that. But do you think so?

“(To me) it is 30%–40% overlap, so the claim (by MAS) is incorrect. Do you say Tianjin is next to Beijing when the distance is so far away; it is just like saying Singapore and KL are in the same place.’’

He confirmed that AirAsia X has received the letter from the Government, stating the airline has the rights to fly into Seoul. He, however, declined to comment on the status of AirAsia X’s request for flights into Sydney

The carrier is expecting to operate from the new terminal by March 2012.

The existing LCCT can cater to 15 million passengers, while the new terminal, located near the KLIA, will be able to handle 30 million passengers. MAHB plans to raise RM2bil to RM2.5bil to develop the (permanent low cost carrier terminal) PLCCT, for which clearing works have started.

Asked if AirAsia had paid its dues to MAHB, Fernandes said: “We have been paying them regularly.’’


The dispute surrounds operational issues to design and facilities. MAHB has agreed to improve signages at the LCCT; add 1,333 carparks to bring the total to 2,707; realign the roads for better traffic flow; provide covered pedestrian walkways; and provide eight more A320 parking bays.

As for the new terminal, AirAsia will get 76 aircraft parking bays; its headquarters will be located at the terminal building; there will be support zones for its engineering, cargo and inflight complexs; and its inputs are incorporated for the semi-automatic baggage handling system and the design and allocation for check-in counters.

Asked if aerobridges were an added option, Fernandes said: “We will look into it if it does not burn into our cost as it is all about dollars and cents.’’

Fernandes also could not say if there will be a rail link. And although there is a plan to link the ERL from KLIA to the new airport, he could not confirm this. But he encourages KTMB to link the airport as then there will be a rail link for those living in the East Coast.

                                                                   Design option 2 &3

Metzelder says: It has been confirmed that the new permanent LCCT will take place, thus people should not misinterpret that current LCCT will have a makeover.

Over eight years battle between carrier and operator, it ended with best that it could have been by much collaboration between government, and Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad (MAHB managing director) together with Tony.

Comment

By Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin

AirAsia X has been lobbying its cause aggressively in the media locally and abroad to fly to destinations operated by Malaysia Airlines (MAS).

Its allegations appear to logic on surface: Open up Sydney, Seoul, etc., as that is best for the country.

There are two sides to any argument and I would like to take this opportunity to put forward the MAS point of view.

A bit of history: Under the domestic rationalisation exercise in March 2006, MAS was asked to give up the operations of the rural areas in Sabah/Sarawak and hand them over to AirAsia Bhd.

MAS was awarded 19 trunk routes to operate and AirAsia was granted both the trunk and non-trunk routes (about 96 routes). AirAsia subcontracted non-trunk routes to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fly Asian Xpress Sdn Bhd (FAX).

FAX operated the service from September 2006 to September 2007. There were countless complaints about the unreliability of its services which severely and negatively impacted communities, tourism and businesses in Sabah and Sarawak.

The Government asked MAS to take back the rural air services and MAS’s wholly-owned subsdiary, MASwings, took over on Oct 1, 2007. During that one year of FAX’s operation, it was paid more than double what MASwings received for the same scope of services over the past two years.

FAX was subsequently renamed AirAsia X.

In just some three years of operations after dumping the rural air services, AirAsia X has obtained rights for nine routes: London, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Mumbai, New Delhi, Taipei, Beijing and Shanghai.


Excluding the rights to fly to Seoul and Male – assuming this is official – 90% of AirAsia X’s routes overlap with those operated by MAS. On the other hand, only 17% of Tiger, Singapore Airlines (SIA) and SilkAir’s routes overlap

We will stand up and be counted. Yes, MAS lobbies the Government. So do AirAsia and AirAsia X. As an airline, we have transformed and we are fighting for our rights, as are AirAsia and AirAsia X.

Let me outline our viewpoints and why we stand behind the facts – not blind accusations – that we presented to the Government:
What makes Suvarnabhumi and Changi great hubs is that these airports provide customers with many destination choices.

Some 93 airlines operate out of Suvarnabhumi to over 187 cities in 71 countries. About 85 carriers operate from Changi to more than 200 cities in 60 countries.

On the other hand, some 50 airlines operate from KL International Airport (KLIA) to 100 cities in 44 countries.

What makes Changi a good hub is the number of destinations it offers. This gives consumers greater choice. For example, someone who wants to fly to Moscow has to go via Changi as there are no airlines flying to Moscow directly from KLIA.

If someone from Melbourne wants to fly to Moscow, he is likely to go via, say Changi, and not KLIA. AirAsia X can fly 10 times a day to Melbourne and this passenger is still more likely to use Changi.

If AirAsia X is serious about providing customers “with choices”, it should fly to new destinations. There are 34 or more new destinations that currently do not have direct flights from KL. All these destinations are within the range of AirAsia X’s A330-300s.

AirAsia X has been lobbying the Malaysian Government saying that it deserves to get the rights to fly to any destination because it has bought so many aircraft.

Yet, it is not willing to consider any of these 34 cities because it claims that these cities do not make economic sense.

Amongst the 34 are Fukuoka and Nagoya in Japan, and Chongqing in China. All these routes are operated by both SIA and Cathay Pacific. SIA also operates to Ahmadabad in India and Cairo in Egypt.

One of the destinations which the Transport Ministry lists as being granted to AirAsia X is Paris/Orly. Interestingly, AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani told MalaysianInsider in an interview dated April 28, 2010: “It (the rights) has yet to land on my desk. Until it does, we cannot initiate detailed plans”.

If AirAsia X’s argument is that it does not have planes or the correct aircraft, note that it has two A340s, each of which has a 12-hour flying range. It can also operate the A330s with one stop in the Middle East.
In addition, AirAsia X has applied for and been granted the rights to fly to many cities which it is not exercising. These cities include Amritsar, Cheongju, Pusan, Tianjin, Xian, Bahrain, Sharjah, Berlin, Manchester, Dublin, Vienna and Moscow.

AirAsia X is not keen to operate to these new destinations as it is well aware that it takes years of investment to make a route profitable.

Case in point is Abu Dhabi. SIA flies to Abu Dhabi. Yet, AirAsia X pulled out from Abu Dhabi after just three months in operation, citing that the route is not profitable.

When MAS flies to a new route, we are likely to incur losses in the first year up to the first five years as we spend money to develop awareness in the new destination and expand the market. This is an investment we are prepared to make, as short-term losses can result in long-term profits. In the long run, it is good for the country and gives consumers more choice.

For example, for the past 20 years, we invested tens of millions (of ringgit). Even today, we invest some RM100mil annually in marketing costs alone in Australia.

If AirAsia X is really serious about “choices for the people”, it will fly to destinations where it has the rights to. But the reality is that AirAsia X is only interested in MAS’ routes. Is this then in the best interest of the country?

For the record, we have been competing with various global, full service carriers for the past 60 years and competition is not new to MAS. We welcome competition as it means that we have to constantly transform ourselves – which is what we have been doing intensely in the past four years.

Passenger numbers
Let us also set the record straight on the information that AirAsia X has been providing to the media to support its claim to fly to Sydney and Seoul.

Azran claimed in the same interview that “some 80,000 Malaysians were flying to Sydney indirect.”

PaxIS (passenger intelligence services) data (collated by the International Air Transport Association), which captures all full service airline transactions, shows that in 2009, only 2,848 passengers travelled from KL to Sydney via Singapore. In 2010, the number is reduced to only 2,359. It would be good if AirAsia X can substantiate its allegations.

For Seoul, Azran claimed: “We should see a reversal of the trend of negative growth in 2009 to a positive growth in 2011” on the assumption that AirAsia X were to fly to Seoul.

For the first three months of 2010, tourist arrivals from South Korea grew by 26% compared with the same period in 2009. MAS’ passenger growth was up 48%. The trend is already strongly positive.

Both MAS and AirAsia X bring in tourists to the country. Tourism studies indicate that there is a 12 times multiplier effect to the country.

This year, we expect to fly in 5.5 million passengers. We expect this to generate some RM12.7bil of tourism dollars for the country.

However, most of AirAsia X’s passengers are in transit. For example, AirAsia X has said that 80% of its Australian passengers on AirAsia X self-connect to other destinations after arriving in KL.

In other words, while AirAsia X increases traffic into the country, most of their passengers transit in KL to other destinations. Although this makes the arrivals figures look higher, these passengers may not spend much money in Malaysia. This means less economic value to the country.

However, if AirAsia X operates to new destinations and invests in promoting Malaysia, it will go a long way to attract tourists from different countries and boost tourism in Malaysia.

In July 2008, when we met the Transport Minister, we proposed a clear framework for the aviation sector.

This framework will involve airlines, airports as well as a range of services to airlines and airports, MRO (maintenance, repair and operation) and catering. The sector contributes about 4% to Malaysia’s gross domestic product. Beyond its direct contributions to the economy, the aviation sector is a key enabler of tourism and commerce.

It is never too late to start. Malaysia needs a clear aviation policy – one that offers real choices to consumers and that benefits the country. It must be a long-term, comprehensive and impartial policy that will ensure that the country and rakyat takes precedence.

One that will ensure that KLIA becomes a regional hub, on par with Changi and Suvarnabhumi and that all local airlines – MAS, Firefly, AirAsia and AirAsia X – are given equal treatment, with consideration given to what is best for the country.

At the time we made the proposal, AirAsia was not advocating this. I am glad that it now thinks that this is a good idea.

The winner should not be the one who shouts the loudest in the media. Nor lobby the hardest. We need to learn to compete and collaborate, and work with the Government to achieve the nation’s aspirations.

● Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin is managing director/CEO of MAS.

AirAsia X (AAX) has not received approval from government to fly to Sydney and Seoul although the long haul budget carrier had expected to land in Australian city by June, this year.

“We had expected the approvals by the end of March and without a formal word from the Government we are unable to keep to our June time line,’’ AAX chief executive officer Azran Osman Rani told StarBiz yesterday (April 2).

Currently Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flies 12 direct flights on KL - Sydney route. While Jetstar, the other airline plying the route had stopped since 2008.

Making comparisons, Singapore and Bangkok to Sydney stands at 58 and 31 weekly flights respectively.

Azlan told the wide gap between tourist arrivals from Sydney/Seoul to Singapore and Bangkok versus Kuala Lumpur because they have three times more direct flights.

Azran surprised many by lashing out via his tweets on Twitter, alleging that “the (incumbent) is blocking us because they say that route must be protected.” He also alleged that Prime Minister has lack of consistency in what NEP aspired for (i.e private sector should drive growth and innovation).

His statement received backfire from various group include Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and MAS itself.

MAS senior general manager network and revenue management Amin Khan responded that it is just unfair to make such statement in Malaysia and outside the country.

Azran claims that the airline managed to bring in more tourist as he cite example had we not flown to Australia in 2009, would the tourist arrivals from Australia surged by 25% since the incumbent did not add capacity during that period?

• Azran Osman Rani is chief executive officer of AAX