JuliusWong

Skyscam 2024 Best Airport list is published. KLIA slipped further from 67th in 2023 to 71st in 2024. World’s best airports in 2024 ranking: Hamad International Airport Singapore Changi Airport Incheon International Airport Haneda Airport Narita International Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Dubai International Airport Munich International Airport Zurich International Airport Istanbul International Airport Source: https://www.worldairportawards.com/worlds-top-100-airports-2024/

Well, that was shortlived.......no thanks for the on-going conflict in Middle East.

Potentially face issue during winter doing westbound flight just like what happened when they had their B777-200ER. B787-8/9 would be able to do the route effortlessly, but that would require a new fleet introduction. Hence why MH is dribbling to add another 3 A359 towards end of the decade. A330neo is a beast of an aircraft, a far cry from its first and second generation, we shall see how it performs once MH resumes operation to both routes.

Yes, politically correct answer. The planned Euro routes are Paris and Amsterdam, which are slated to return in 2025/2026. MH is partnering with Manchester United for brand awareness purpose since Man U is one of the most well-known football club. Unlike SQ brand which can sell itself, MH needs a "larger" brand to sell their own brand.

The Google Translate is pretty accurate: "China News Service, Kuala Lumpur, April 11 (Reporter Chen Yue) Malaysian airline Batik Air issued a statement on the 11th saying that it acted in accordance with "standard security protocols" when investigating a passenger's lost items on a flight on the 9th of this month, "but the airline did not target specific nationality." Batik Air said in a statement that on the company's OD714 flight from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur on the 9th, a passenger reported that he had lost important items. When the plane landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the crew immediately contacted the Airport Auxiliary Police to come to assist. Batik Air stated that the auxiliary police subsequently "searched all passengers" and the crew members found the lost credit card in the hidden area of the passenger seat. The statement did not answer all the questions raised in the video one by one, but said it would remain vigilant to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers. The statement also pointed out that the incident of missing items led to a "case within a case." When the credit card was found, it was discovered that it did not belong to the passenger who reported it missing. Currently, the Malaysian police have detained the passenger who reported the missing item for further investigation."

From July 5, 2024, AirAsia X will resume Changsha, Hunan with 4x weekly flight. https://newsroom.airasia.com/news/airasia-x-resumes-services-to-changsha-reconnecting-kuala-lumpur-with-the-capital-and-largest-city-of-hunan-province#gsc.tab=0 Changsha marks AAX’s sixth direct route to China, complementing AirAsia Malaysia’s (flight code AK) extensive network of 12 destinations within Greater China including Guangzhou Kunming Guilin Nanning Quanzhou Shantou Shenzhen Wuhan Taipei Kaohsiung Macao Hong Kong AirAsia X's (flight code D7) current six direct routes from Kuala Lumpur: Beijing Chengdu Hangzhou Shanghai Xi'an Changsha (commencing July 25, 2024) Missing from route network (AirAsia Malaysia and AirAsia X Malaysia used to fly to these destinations before COVID 19 pandemic): Chongqing (AK) Guiyang (AK) Haikou (AK) Lanzhou (AK) Tianjin (D7)

Yes, Qatar Airways is a keen partner to Malaysia Airlines and is keen to share revenue through the code sharing and partnership. Now that Qatar Airways is being blocked from increasing their flight into Australia, Malaysia Airlines partnership is even more important to them. Hence why Malaysia Airlines is keen in returning to Brisbane. We should be seeing an AU/NZ market build-up once the A330neo delivery starts in the last quarter of this year. Yes, Christoph Mueller chose the easy way out by chopping off the European network (except for London Heathrow) by signing up the lopsided deal with EK. There were many other airlines who were keen to work with Malaysia Airlines, especially Qatar Airways being in the same alliance. He even wanted to sacrifice MH's LHR slots to EK. If it wasn't for Malaysia gomen intervention, we wouldn't even have MH1/2/3/4 nowadays and the A350 fleet will be made redundant. When we say airline alliance, it depends the scope of the agreement. Malaysia Airlines feeds Emirates pax from across Malaysia, South East Asia and Australia/ New Zealand as both Emirates and Etihad simply could not fully utilize their UAE-Australia open skies 168 weekly flight allocation. Emirates behaves like a master to leech off their partners and keep all the revenue and pax to themselves, case in point MH has largely downsized the deal and chose to partner in wider scale with Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways. Another good example would be Qantas. It has also scaled down their joint-venture with EK considerably and move their Asia back to Singapore, after a few years in Dubai. The issue now is Jetstar Asia has now been forced to Terminal 4 in SIN, because the Singapore gomen and Changi has taken offense QF moved their operation base to Dubai previously. Jetstar/ Qantas/ Emirates used to have a huge operation in SIN, much bigger than KUL, after the Jetstar drama and QF's own self-afflicted drama the current operation is a shadow of the past. This is all the dark politics that so-called squeaky clean Singapore gomen plays that a lot of locals don't see. Unlike Emirates, Qatar Airways see Malaysia Airlines as an equal partner with 50/50 partnerships. Emirates took total advantage of Malaysia Airlines's downfall for its own benefit. And no. Emirates is not the only airline that were willing to work with Malaysia Airlines. You may refer to my reply to Izanee's post. Malaysia Airlines needed to abandon its European route as they simply could not cover the operation cost. The flights were almost always full but the cost was more than what the revenue could cover. Moreover, they were retiring the B777 fleet after double disasters MH17 and MH370 with no new fleet capable of doing those routes with consistent profit. Fare dumping by the big ME3 made the situation even worse. Better to cancel those routes than dumping more money into bottomless pit. As for rebuilding European network, AMS and CDG are planned for return in 2025/2026 onwards. A330neo would be able to do both destinations comfortably. Captain Izham has stated they are looking to return to Brisbane with A330neos. With the resumption, Malaysia Airlines will be the only Malaysia-based airline to connect Malaysia with all five major int'l airports in Australia: PER, BNE, SYD, MEL and ADL. Malaysia Airlines is also looking to add another three more A350s by end of the decade.

Glad to see MH-QR partnership going from strength to strength. Qatar Airways are all for mutual benefits for both parties unlike Emirates who prefers to leech on their so-called partners. MH seems to abandon/ does not publicise their EK partnership, only JL partnership remains. 9:35 AM KUL - 11:55 AM DOH B77W QR 845 2:55 PM KUL - 5:15 PM DOH A359 MH 164 8:25 PM KUL - 10.45 PM DOH B77W QR 853 9:00 PM KUL - 11:30 PM DOH A359 MH 160

Not sure why Malaysia can't seem to be unable to make HCM work. Maybe it is the other way round. That's quite a drop from daily flight to 4x weekly. Batik Air Malaysia pulled out of the route totally. I guess AirAsia is now dominating the route. Malaysia Airlines 3x daily, AirAsia 5x daily, Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet both 1x daily. 10x flight a day is quite a lot.

Batik Air has added one B737-800NG and one B737max 8 over the past few days. B737-8U3 MSN 41794 / LN 4761 9M-LDG Batik Air Malaysia delivery 6 Apr 2024 ex-PK-BGG with Batik Air Indonesia B737-8 MSN 42829 / LN 6430 9M-LRW Batik Air Malaysia delivery 05-07apr24 TUS-ANC-NRT-KUL ex-N133SL with Norwegian Air Sweden AOC Source: https://www.skyliner-aviation.de/regdb.main?LC=nav4&page=4

Did you buy any chance notice the accent or how they speak? I think MH has moved the call centre back to Malaysia, not longer outsourced to Fiji. There was a RFP last year in setting up English speaking call centre in Malaysia, not sure if it was followed through.

Well, Boeing did not worked hard enough to get Najib Bossku's deal into realisation. They could have done a better job and lobbying but they chose not to do so since it was a "minor" deal (provisional order was for eight B787s). Boeing could have fought hard to sell 30 B787s to MH to replace the whole 21 A330 fleet. Additionally, back then Capt Izham stated they could not proceed with the order since they could not determine its wide-body plane requirements vs. future network expansion and they had enough fleet to fly the network back then. Simply say: they do not have cash to be throwing around buying something for something unknown. The MAS Recovery Plan, initiated by Khazanah Nasional after the privatization, calls for network re-designation to focus on Asia-Pacific, that is what Malaysia Airlines is focusing on now, making B787 purchase even highly unlikely as A330neo can do the job just as good as B787 in regional route. That being said Boeing doesn't need MH order, and prefer not to have an additional eight B787 to build now, since their house is in a mess now. The MH B787 provisional deal was signed in 2017, and lapsed in 2018. I don't think they will even arrive by now, after the dotted line is signed. B787 in Malaysia Airlines's livery looks so beautiful though.

I believe the procurement of more Airbus (French/German) products compared to Boeing (US) products are closely linked to what and how much investment both players brings into Malaysia. Airbus and the French are more than willing to share their OEM suppliers contract with our local manufacturers providing job opportunities to the locals. The French is also willing to give more concessions/discount or bundle the purchase agreement with other commodities/leverages to win the RFP. For example, in this case, in MH's case Airbus took back the A380s, this took off the behemoth burden on MAG's balance sheet. In the past, Airbus has done the same deal with TG's A340 family purchase. I believe Thaksin, the Thai PM at that time, traded in few tons of shrimp and some other commodities in exchange for the ten A340s. Whether they were operated successfully is another story. In addition, AirAsia's fleet conversion from Boeing to Airbus back in the early 00's allows Airbus to gain a stronger foothold in South East Asia. Malaysia became Airbus's springboard to conquer the region and Boeing is almost obliterated from most of the airline fleet, be it premium or low cost, and is currently the mainstay in LCC market in the region. With MH and AK Group Airbus fleet, and the TUDM buying A400M, I believe they have bundled a lot of deals behind the scene, crossing both commercial and non-civil. Not forgetting AirAsia faced near collapse few times due to financial issue, but suddenly they were doing alright again. Behind the scene, Airbus and Malaysia gomen could have arm twisted each other on who should take up the bill, MH might have caught in between the cross fire. That reminds me of the ill-fated MH-AK share swap agreement in 2012, to date it still leave a bitter taste in many. What a farce by Tony, and everyone sembah him like a God. Good grief.

Some of AK flights are now allowing +7kg additional hand carry allowance, but the routes are very limited. If I am in the revenue team in AK, I would capitalise on this and make it permanent offer for all routes. Set a limit on how many pax can purchase the additional hand carry per flight. Additional revenue for the company. Dumb weigh luggage is strictly enforced for flight ex-KUL and ex-DMK. Most other stations depends on your luck. Some of the staff are rude AF though.

Yes, same bullshit attitude, you x suka, u blh belah. True enough, they all belah, or have blh. The newbies are causing some damages to B737NG fleet, require grounding. HR's age old response: "Can always hire new people, who cares experienced ones leave. Good riddance!" If all those 180+ do leave, we will see an impact in three to four months. Good luck MAG!

Grapevine: MAG facing pressure to retain current employees, close to 180 co-pilots are planning/ hinting to resign. MAG lost close to 200 pilots for the past three years. AirAsia Malaysia AirAsia X the same amount as well. While a lot of airlines, even AK/D7 are upping their allowances, multiple rating allowance and other benefits, MH seems to be static. Yoska De Jong, MH's sort of celebrity pilot icon has left MH a few days ago, joining EK soon. Behind the scene, there are considerable amount of cabin crew also leaving to CX as they concluded recent of recruitment in KL. I believe many airlines are now facing pressure with talent recruitment. CX has thrown out sign-on bonus of HKD12,500 for new joiner, of course with terms and conditions. A lot of expat pilots also left EK, returning to the US or their home country. With close to 14,800 new aircraft order in backlog, budget airlines and smaller national carrier from lower SES countries will definitely face immense pressure to hold onto their current employees. Those airline HR dept would need to be innovate and creative if they don't want to lose out to their competitors. That being said, I highly doubt MAG HR give two shits.

But at the same time they do not allow foreign airlines to add additional flight or up-gauge flight to and from China, especially the Tier 1 cities. MH and other airlines are better off concentrating their resources in India or some other destinations. That being said India is difficult to deal with as well.

China government is playing dirty politics now via CAAC. They are permitting their own airlines,. be it CN3 or minor airlines to mount flights from various secondary cities to KUL, PEN and BKI, but not from big airports like PKX, PEK, PVG and CAN. Notice how they introduced a slew of new flights into Malaysia and Singapore from Tier 2 cities and below, but not from Tier 1, some of them unseen before COVID era. Singapore Airlines is now suffering from this recent move, as they are now forced to cancel Chengdu and Chongqing at the last minute notice "after failing to get approval from authorities there to continue flying to the two cities". Both destinations were only resumed last year November 2023. This is despite China recently granted Singapore passholder 30-days visa free visit and Singapore government waived visa requirement for China passport holders.

Heading to Amal by Malaysia Airlines to do Haj and Umrah flight permanently.

Lessor slots have all been taken up by various airlines if you look at the Airbus Order and Delivery monthly Excel file in details.

It is actually on Airbus as well. The current A330 production rate is at 2 per month and Airbus has not hint on increasing the production rate anytime soon despite having another 170+ on order, they did so for A350s. Airbus is compounded by supply chain issue at the moment. Out of the 40 that we have mentioned, 20 production slots have been allocated for since the order has been signed and confirmed. The other 20 will be to be assigned for delivery at later date even if the order is signed and confirmed today. Delta, AirAsia X and few other airlines are also in queue to receive their airframes too. Out of the 15 A330-300 which are all leased, MH will buy over two now and retain eight more via new lease, making a fleet of 10. Five will be returned to lessors.

Agree, rightfully so, but Airbus won't be able to deliver 40 A330-900neo by 2030. Therefore we shall see 10 A330-300 lingering around for some time. Additionally, 40 A330neo seems to be a lot of capacity to add, not sure if Malaysia Airlines current route network will be able to support it. If they are adding more. If they have planned to expand substantially in Asia Pacific and Australia/NZ region in the next six years that would be great.

I am not sure if MH can take advantage of the slot availability since D7 has quit the market. They should really do so since the flight is usually packed all year round, heavy demand from India at both J and Y. SQ and NZ mount at least three/four daily flights and applied for strategic alliance immunity from NZ government. Given the same alliance in Australia, the Australia Competition Commission will prohibit the alliance. 8:50 AM Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) Travel time: 9 hr 35 min 10:25 PM Auckland Airport (AKL) Air New Zealand Economy Boeing 787 NZ 281 6:40 PM Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) Travel time: 9 hr 35 min Overnight 8:15 AM+1 Auckland Airport (AKL) Air New Zealand Economy Boeing 777 NZ 283 10:45 PM Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) Travel time: 9 hr 35 min 12:20 PM+1 Auckland Airport (AKL) Singapore Airlines Economy Airbus A350 SQ 285

They are scheduled to receive eight B737 MAX 8 this year. I am optimistic they can do at least five. That would mean MH will need to source for additional B737-800NG from the used markets. 9M-MLK and 9M-MLL are not sufficient to cover FY's expansion this year.

According to CAAM FB page, Berjaya Air has completed its first Seletar, Singapore to Redang Island flight with ATR 72-500 9M-JOJ.