Ahmad M

I wonder if MAS will ever employ one?

English is the standard language for international aviation but there are a few countries that allow communication in their own language with the best example being China. They communicate almost exclusively in Chinese and it actually is one of the major challenges when flying within their airspace as situational awareness is reduced.

On medium haul routes the A330s use much less fuel than the 777. It's not the plane that is crappy but the interior cabin. The decision not to upgrade the cabin together with the 747 and 777 was probably MH's greatest mistake in the last few years.

Are you saying that flying MH's A330 and 734 planes as tempting fate? How about all those pilots and cabin crew who fly on those planes everyday? As far as I know these people are very professional and won't purposely accept an aircraft they know to be unsafe. It is not just the age of the planes you know as there are many more factors that affect this situation. There are other airlines with newer shinier planes but if they keep on flying with crew with maximum hours ( sometimes even above that ), minimum training, taking unnecessary risks etc than I'd rather fly in those old and ancient A330 and 734's.

There will be no problem with MH's A330-300s as they are using a different kind of pitot tubes. The three remaining A330-200 was using the same pitot tubes as the unfortunate AF447 but fortunately a modification was done not long ago and is now the same unit as the -300s. The affected pitot's are from Thales if I'm not mistaken.

Much shorter conversion course if it's the Airbus.

It also affects all MH's crew returning from duty and going towards their transport waiting area. From the relative comfort of the terminal now they have to endure the noise and smoke pollution of the outside area while tugging their bags and possibly fatigue from their long duty. Truly one of the stupidest action by MAHB ever.

The Chinese have built rockets and sent people into space so assembling an aircraft shouldn't be too much of a problem, methinks.

That must be the fuel leak incident that occured on the flt to AMS. They diverted to FRA.

Somebody get Samuel L Jackson.

Time to order replacement for the aging A330 fleet I reckoned.

Macau.

It's been a challenging year for the cabin crew of MH considering all they went through so winning the award us truly a great achievement. Hopefully they will be properly rewarded by the management.

The A330's are brand new, totally different matter altogether!

The B747 is actually the easiest plane to land, it is known among pilots that the aircraft practically lands itself. The A330 or B737... that'll be another story.

For Q4. The A330 definitely, they have the best makan places during nightstops ( other than the local nighstops, that is ). The lamb kebab/satay in PEK and PVG, the briyani and mandi rice in DXB, the authentic Indian food in DEL.... I'm feeling hungry now just typing about it.

If you have a chance go to the bowels of KLIA ( bottom level ), you wouldn't be wrong if you think it's a whole different country down there.

Runway 32R is also sometimes used for landing normally when requested by MH's 737. This is when they are parked at the B gates at the MTB.

So quick to call people incompetent without knowing the whole story and just to show the level of knowledge there are no such things as "security marshall" onboard MH planes. Maybe the crew could have done better but we should hold judgement before all the facts are known.

Yes KLIA was planned as you mentioned and you would think the ATC will be equipped accordingly but unfortunately in this case it hasn't. For years I've heard about the controllers asking for fund to upgrade their equipment but somehow it is not forthcoming and when it's given it is simply not enough. One example is that their radar is not capable of showing where the storm cells are and often radar vectors are given that needed correction from pilots thus using unnecessary RT time. So I would think it would be wise to upgrade the ATC before we burden them with more airports to handle.

Lumpur Control and Approach is located at SZB in the building opposite the old terminal 2 and they control all traffic around KLIA, SZB and Simpang.

It has been said this project will be funded using private funds and the rakyat's money will not be affected. How about the roads that will have to built, the extra controllers to be paid, and many more. Will these be privately funded as well? Airways, SID's, STAR's will also have to be realigned, redesigned and completely reworked and this will not come free either. How about the effect of having 2 international airport so close too each other? As it is the current ATC is already strained during peak hour operations. Another thing if this project becomes a reality, it seems that the site is pretty set but what about the environment impact study? How about the people that will be affected by the new planned airport and it's traffic? If this was Europe or Japan there will be people (local residents) on the streets demonstrating about possible carbon and noise pollution etc but here hardly a squeek. As a last note I'm inclined to agree that a new terminal is sorely needed to cater for AK's expansion plan but surely a solution can be found within the grand KLIA masterplan. The KLIA East@Labu just doesn't seem right to me on so many levels. It will be intersting to see how this one will progress.

Does this mean MAS can have their own airport if they are unsatisfied with KLIA and MAHB?

I think the key word here is "additives".