JuliusWong

After a month plus of silence, the truth is unveiled. RBA is heading to becoming a regional carrier, like Malev Hungarian or Czech Airlines: 'RBA tweaking fleet to focus on short-haul traffic' Goh De No BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN Tuesday, October 11, 2011 ROYAL Brunei Airlines (RBA) is looking to add more short- to medium-range Airbus A320s to its fleet and break the lease for its long-range Boeing 777s as part of a strategy to focus on short-haul routes, a reliable aviation website yesterday said. Aviationweek.com, an information and services provider in the industry, quoted RBA executives as saying the airline is trying to persuade Singapore Airlines (SIA) to let RBA break the lease and return some of the 777s. Currently, RBA has on lease six Boeing 777s SIA, but since RBA is cutting routes to Auckland, Brisbane, Perth and Ho Chi Minh City on October 30, it will not need all the 777 jets, the report said. RBA in a statement released earlier this year, said that it was adding at least one extra Airbus 320 to its short-haul fleet in spring 2012 to ensure the airline can offer a more consistent schedule and level of service on the regional network. Aviationweek.com said RBA has no A320s on order, which means it is likely to be on the market for a lease. As for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, RBA will maintain its commitment to take delivery of the long-range fuel-efficient aircraft, the first of which is expected to arrive in 2013, the online report said. Citing database from aviation industry information provider Ascend, the online report said the RBA has five 787s on order. More info: http://www.bt.com.bn/business-national/2011/10/11/rba-tweaking-fleet-focus-short-haul-traffic

PrivatAir is based in Geneva and mostly do private flight for high roller and transatlantic services for Gulf Air, Swiss, Lufthansa and KLM. Often those who do not want to brush their shoulder with cattle (Y) class and have the $$ to burn. They use mainly Boeing aircraft. From B737-700 BBJ to B767-300ER. All flight are decked out in private suites or lie flat business seats. And lot of champagne flowing and on-demand services we can ever imagine of. Similarly, Open Skies B757, British Airways A318, Air France and Qatar Airways A319-100LR do the same service. BA 318 flies directly into London City airport near to city centre, cutting waiting time at Heathrow. Perhaps something MH can consider with their B738, fly into Sungai Besi Airport. Up a limo then in KL in no time.....glamorous flying....

A summary of future Malaysia Aviation scene: Passenger Malaysia Airlines- Full service premium airline- short, medium and long haul Sapphire Airlines- Full service airline- short, medium (regional) haul AirAsia- Low cost airline- short, medium (regional) haul AirAsia X- Low cost airline- long haul Fireflyz- intra West Malaysia- short haul MASWings- intra East Malaysia- short, medium haul Berjaya Air- short haul leisure airline [ Lion Air is yet to unveil what they are planning to do with Berjaya Air after buying a controlling stake] Cargo MASKargo- - regional to long haul Transmile Air- short to regional haul To be confirmed Unidentified new domestic airline flying between West and East Malaysia, to be set up by Sarawak folks.

Its B734 on steroid. Yes, the more paint you painted on, the heavier the aircraft gets. More fuel burn. The main reason why most airline are now going for Euro-white livery, less paint, cost effective. But needs more bath. Water is cheaper than fuel, to say at least. MH dropped its Hibiscus 9M-MPD for same reason. If I remember correctly IJ said the extra paint cost MH RM2 million a year to haul around....hm...forgot the real number and link to the story. IMO, I think MH should reconfigure Business class to 8 or 12 seats only as most airline do nowadays. And change Y seat pitch to at least 32". 32" is pretty much standard for most FSC. 30" is a no-no unless MH wants to fight it out with LCC again.

Okay am saving money now to be on the first flight. err...should I do booking now?? risky....hmmmm

I supposed they mean reconfiguring B738 Y class to better seat pitch, currently at 30' if I am not mistaken. I am putting my hope high on the new management in rolling out new revitalised fleet and inflight products. MH has been banged so many times by its competitors, now its time MH stands up again, to be par with SQ, CX, TG and GA. MH should take a leaf from GA. Whether we like it or not, the true transformation of GA is something MH should learn. I like their new advertisement campaign. Truly displaying Indonesian way of hospitality: Their corporate video is as amazing as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_wcDUd0J30

The 15 booked at Paris Air Show was Hong Kong Airlines.... Thai and China Airlines may stand a chance. Gulf Air no. Qatar Airways no. Cathay maybe. Emirates freighter only.

Guess you may need to book last flight out of KL and last flight out of Singapore would be safest bet.

Stored for scrapping most probably. Many B737 Jurassic, Classics and earlier generation of A320 are now stored awaiting scrapping. The continuous production lines of A320 and B737 has further push down the market of 2nd hand aircraft.

O.o....thats steep...Am sorry for your predicament. Am not sure why the fare is that expensive. Previously I did my trip over weekend as well. Flew to SIN Fri evening and back on Sun evening. Guess I was lucky then.

You mean MI is charging higher fees than other competitors? Yes, I agree. Usually I take Tiger or Jetstar. If not Aeroline bus since they have a station at Sunway Pyramid. Of the many airlines plying KUL-SIN vv., SQ and MI are usually the most expensive, touching RM 600- RM800 range. Third would be MH itself. However, sometimes MH fares can top RM400+ excluding fuel surcharge etc. The latter is expensive. AK get sold out fast but sometimes you do get a bit of cheap fare here and there in last minute. And they have nth number of flight per day. At least one to two flights leave LCCT every hour. However, bare in mind the fuel surcharge and luggage fee. Jetstar is cheap as well, with cheaper luggage fee compared to AK but the schedule wouldn't allow one to do one day trip, thats for me. Not sure for you. They like the number RM 89.95 or RM 129.95 etc....lolx! Tiger, fare is dirt cheap with quite a number of flight daily. The baggage fee is cheap as well. The only annoying thing is that the booking system, you must buy luggage for return trip. I managed to get RM 180 return last time. Did my booking a week before. There are some other third countries' airline such as Sri Lanka etc....not sure about their fare, never try before.... In my opinion, I would go for low cost carrier since it is just a short 30 minutes flight...but thats for me.

I will perhaps get flame for this, but I am gonna say it anyway: Those who say MH REALLY deserves 5 stars ranking are those who are living in the past. MH current hard products are NOWHERE NEAR 5 stars ranking! Only soft product save its grace. Ditto! Fullstop! Period!

Menang boleh menang, tapi dengan produk Kelas Pertama and Golden Club yang MH ada sekarang, mana boleh banding dengan CX, TG dan SQ?? Apa kriteria yang World Travel Awards guna? Kalau orang ramai tahu MH telah mengalahkan SQ, TG atau CX, pasti ada orang akan tanya soalan ini. Produk tiga syarikat penerbangan ini jauh lebih canggih and lebih inovatif berbanding dengan MH. MH punya berasal dari masa kuno.

I, for one, do think MH is four star if not three stars airline. Took a flight with them recently. Nothing remarkable at all. The IFE was out of order, even if it worked, the movie line up and choices are outdated. Meal portion was small, it just keeps shrinking and shrinking. Reading materials selection was not too great either. The only saving grace was the crew, they were all very jovial and happy. Inside me, I am worry for them. They are great employee and put forth brave faces even though the management is freaking screwed up. Hope with the new management, things will turn around for good.

Nice to see first A380 to be operated by China-based airline. However, before China Southern Airlines gets too ambitious, they need to fix their website!! The English level is definitely not world/ international standard. Same goes to China Eastern Airlines.

Lets see how long does this one last......Not really nice IMO, I still prefer the current (abandoned) one. So much more refreshing. If not the old one. The saying goes, "If its aint broken, don't fix it!".....

If MRT is to be built, it will take another nth number of billions on top of the cost now. Lets not forget cost overrun as well......in THE future.....

IMO, I think its more of TAM leaving Star Alliance to OneWorld. Star Alliance has been busy recruiting Avianca-TACA as well as Copa America to cover the loss should TAM leaves. LAN is at loggerhead with Avianca-TACA in Columbia, this is main reason why they bought over Aires Columbia. If this does happens, One World will be dominating South America, much like SkyTeam dominating East Asia market. Star Alliance are strong in Asia-Europe and Northern American routes. A big gap hole remains in India sub-continent to other regions.

Out of story: Reporting back from my flight with MH...MH 388 KUL-PVG B777-2H6ER 9M-MRO The aircraft looks very tired, with oil stained fingerprints over some overhead compartments, plastic is peeling off. 2-5-2 configuration looks dreadful, at least for me. 3-3-3 wud be better choice. Well the flight was fully packed. Long lines to toilet after meal. Crews were very very cheerful although the 'pax' were demanding in this flight. Downsides: My IFE was not working. even after two reset. My neighbour's as well. 29J and K...told the stewardess to report. Apparently some of the aircraft intercom were out of order as well. Its normal occurrences according to the staff. They gave me three big package of peanuts...hahas!! more peanuts... Judging from this, MH really need to hit the nail correct for their hard products, short, regional and long haul....soft products alone cannot your company long.....I don't think the new Y class and J class will be roll over to the B772ER...lets wait and see. Please please order B772ER replacement now~~~

I hope through this episode MH will wake up once and for all!! We had seen too many episodes of bailout, losses and changing CEOs.....Its time for a change!! a REAL change! It is also our time to show support for our ailing national airline, no matter what had happened, Not to their management, but to their staff who work tirelessly and great effort to bring Malaysian Hospitality to the World! A BIG KUDOS TO THEM, but not to the screwed up management.... I am flying MH tomorrow to Shanghai, first long haul/regional with MH! I really look forward to it! Excited to max!!

Looking at those pix is 'oragmsic'..ok in a good way!! United Airlines sounds like a dreadful airline to fly with. I read many trip reports, all stating UA is stingy in catering...hmmm.....

Seems like large number of airlines in Peru uses antonov...oldies!! love it!! Thanks for the pic! Peruvian back in the air?? Thought it was grounded? Sad to see all those Cielos DC-10 languishing, nothing to do.

This sucks big time~~ I haven't got the chance to try their new B738 yet....

Actually I like names: Big Top, Megatop, Celestar, Mega Ark, Jubilee when they are being used.....miss those names! IMO, I hate Scoot~~ can't relate it to anything~~~ Scoot apa??

Nice info, Albert!! Always amazed on how you get all the info. 10 abreast sitting on B777?? Not for me...actually am not into LCC..lolx!