Pall

The government will be very careful this time issuing any regulatory approvals given the number of failures lately, i.e Rayani, Suasa, Silverfly and the rest of league. Having said that, the local airline industry is already saturated with 3 big players namely AK, MH and OD. All of them are growing at a different pace and will surely attempt to experiment new routes. Why need another one. Sarawak has a lot of other internal priorities to be worried about namely basic infrastructure within the rural areas. Having a state owned airline is surely an egoistic decision and will not make any economical sense at all. If you the state have got something good to offer, business travelers and tourist will find their own way there.

The sarcasm here really made my day. You guys are awesome. :rofl:

Well put it his way, airlines will definitely make an effort to fly into a destination which is economically viable and can provide sustainable breakeven numbers or able to feed onto their network. Its simple economics, yet the Sarawak State Govt fail to recognize this and blame other local airlines (MH, AK and OD) for not offering direct services. We should applaud AK for experimenting some destinations out of KCH which have failed, at least they tried. It just cannot work hence why AK axed them. This has got nothing to do with MAHB, airlines have their pax "algorithm" to know how many pax are moving or connecting from one place to another to decide if its more profitable to operate direct services or rather create feeder service from another hub. This is the case for Sarawak. The State Tourism Board, local economic affairs dept and all of the other relevant stakeholders should promote their destination well first only then convince the likes of MAHB and lobby airlines to create direct routes once the numbers make sense. Creating their own "Sarawak Airline" seems like the easy way out which is indeed a financial suicide as mentioned here before. As the saying goes, "If you want to become a millionaire, you need to be a billionaire first and start your own airline".

Maswings don't really have the right equipment to compete on sectors head on with operators who fly jets. The aging ATRs are always plagued with technical defects and uncomfortable rides in not so nice weather. Especially in Borneo where the weather can be quite challenging. Its about time Maswings switch to regional/narrowbody jets in case they want to explore sectors beyond whats in their PSO agreement. Unlike FY who are have the Subang advantage, Maswings don't.

MASwings is a PSO carrier now, operating non-commercial basis except for BKI-LAC-BKI and TWU-TRK-TWU. Hence routes that they operate at the mercy of MAVCOM/MOT/CAAM. They are more of an entity created to service specific target of passengers where it is not commercially viable to ensure connectivity between those subsidized ports. Besides, AK have increased their frequency to SDK to cater the loss of capacity from MW's pullout. Infact capacity has grown between BKI-SDK, BKI-TWU and BKI-MYY served by other operators (including newly launched BKI-TWU by Malindo). Don't see any negative impact from this. Makes me wonder where was all those reporters when this decision was announced back in late 2018 . Everyone knew this would be coming.

Having crew based in BKI is certainly the most logical plan for MH, besides they already have Maswings operating out of BKI on behalf of the group. Upgauge that unit to become a LCC operating jets to North Asia would solve the gap.

I heard OD is testing the waters for BKI-ICN sector on charter basis, it might end up being a scheduled one soon if the numbers work correctly in their way. However its sad that MH is not taking advantage of the Korean invasion.

Nothing new, weather. Perhaps runway 33 has better conditions for a successful landing, i.e better visibility, winds and so on.

There were at least 3 AK's diverted to JHB on the 1/12. AK5643 from MYY, AK5747 from TWU and AK135 from HKG.

Speaking on LCC vs FSC, current state of affairs in the aspects of passenger experience with MH is at all time low. It feels a lot better to fly on an LCC vs MH especially on the their narrowbody. For example, I've noticed lately if you were to purchase 2 or more tickets on a same booking number/PNR, assuming you do not pay for advance seat selection (from RM15), upon web check-in 48hrs prior, the likelihood of pax being displaced to be seated far apart is about 75% based on the last dozen of flights I've taken with MH. Although the flight is empty/low load, seats will be purposely blocked for selection during online web check-in, changes can only be done at the check-in counter 24hrs before. This can make the travel experience be less pleasant especially for couples travelling together or a group. This is far worse off than AirAsia which offer up to 14 days advance web check-in, and if you check in early with AK, you will be seated next to each other for the same booking number ala first come first serve basis. Even Malindo will show all available seats online and selection is based on first come first serve basis during web check-in, seats will never be purposely blocked. One of the many reasons I'm avoiding MH these days when possible. Do MH need experts to solve simple no brainier issues like this?

But we've got a much more leaner government now. Not sure if the new Sugar Daddy will continue feeding this loss making entity.

They should actually go after excess hand carry baggage instead. Been noticing MH not being strict on this especially for domestic sectors. Observed passengers been carrying more than the stipulated hand carry allowances.

I believe they want to attract the same group of guys who left MAB to Malindo last year for the same reason, i.e “6 months FO then command”. 1year on and command is no where in sight for them in Malindo. MAB seems to playing the similar trick to get this guys back to fill up massive FO shortages. Few would fall for this trick to MABs benefit.

Its not an MH thing where government pays high price for government staff / government funded flight tickets. They even pay AK and OD full fare when there is a need to ferry people from one place to another. I've seen tickets for medical patients transferred from east malaysia to HKL via AK costing beyond RM2k for return fares, fully paid by govt of course.

Always notice AirAsia guys make it most of the time during marginal weather. When they report landing was at absolute minimum while the rest diverted, seems obvious its either they push it below minima or they are damn good.

Even AF and LH cannot make it work for FRA and CDG.

Just for info, MAS is top heavy. Those big fat earners are bleeding the company dry. Not the vocal union members who work the most and paid the least. There is a reason why union members bark the most when so-called changes are proposed. Its bread and butter to them, while the carefree big fat top heavy management people most of the time will be thinking of what new German car to buy. Its not fair to just criticise the unions all the time. These union members served MAS all their life, while those you-know-who joins the show for few years, milk it dry and leave the company to rot.

Is it the Capt or FO made the call? Though I understand its still being investigated and media is more to Capt.

Info from Berita Harian. http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/Nelayandakwalihatpesawatterbangrendah/Article/ Nelayan dakwa lihat pesawat terbang rendah 2014/03/10 Kuala Lumpur: Dua nelayan di Kelantan mendakwa melihat sebuah pesawat terbang rendah, kira-kira lapan batu nautika dari Pantai Kuala Besar, Kota Bharu, awal pagi Sabtu lalu. Azid Ibrahim, 55, berkata dalam kejadian jam 1.30 pagi itu, dia sedang memancing bersama seorang rakan apabila jelas dapat melihat pesawat terbabit terbang di bawah awan, tidak seperti biasa. “Kami pelik kerana biasanya, pesawat tak terbang serendah itu. Kami takut ia terhempas, tapi pesawat terbabit terus terbang rendah menuju arah utara,” katanya ketika dihubungi, semalam. Azid berkata, dia menonton televisyen kelmarin dan terkejut apabila mengetahui kehilangan pesawat MH370 bersama 227 penumpang dan 12 kru sebelum rakan yang bersamanya ke laut, bercerita kisah mereka melihat sebuah pesawat terbang rendah kepada penduduk lain. “Pagi tadi (semalam), beberapa anggota polis datang ke rumah mengambil keterangan bagi membantu siasatan kehilangan pesawat itu. Saya kemudian diminta ke balai polis untuk buat laporan selain menunjukkan lokasi terakhir melihat pesawat terbabit,” kata bapa lima anak itu yang membuat laporan di Balai Polis Pengkalan Chepa. Ditanya sama sama ada melihat asap atau api dari pesawat itu, Azid berkata, mereka tidak melihat tanda menunjukkan pesawat berkenaan mengalami masalah. -berita harian

Documentary of MH A380 will be shown tomorrow on TV3's Majalah Tiga at 9pm/15th Dec. Short glimpse on youtube:-

Some arrival shots...

Not sure if this is a valid info from http://data.flight24.com/flights/mh370/ Airplanes flying flight MH370 / MAS370 last days: * MH370 was flown on 2011-06-22 by 9M-MKD (A333) * MH370 was flown on 2011-06-21 by 9M-MKA (A333) * MH370 was flown on 2011-06-20 by 9M-MKA (A333) * MH370 was flown on 2011-06-19 by 9M-MKI (A333) * MH370 was flown on 2011-06-17 by 9M-MKA (A333) * MH370 was flown on 2011-06-13 by 9M-MKF (A333) * MH370 was flown on 2011-06-12 by 9M-MKA (A333) * MH370 was flown on 2011-06-10 by 9M-MKI (A333) * MH370 was flown on 2011-06-07 by 9M-MKI (A333) * MH370 was flown on 2011-06-06 by 9M-MKI (A333) * MH370 was flown on 2011-06-05 by 9M-MKF (A333)

It's not even a simulator. I would rather call it some sort of a "flying video game". Go to LEX and you will know what i mean.

Its not a downgrade. The B738 is currently being deployed 5X weekly effective September 1, 2010 in addition to the daily evening A330 runs.

Further details required? Anyone? Regards.