Mohd. Helmi

I don't think we need to be so intrusive as having armed forces at the entrance gate and main road to KUL. One thing that I have noted at KUL is the lack of visible security presence. In SIN I see armed, rifle or some sort of big gun wearing policemen being very much visible, I don't know if they are Gurhka, NS Men or a combination of both (Mr. Ryan Soh you being the resident Singaporean here care to expand), but you see them around SIN a lot. It does bring is a sense of security, since they do look menacing. Sure, there's a lot of CCTV coverage at KUL, but that's not much of a deterrence compared to a bunch of guys in blue uniforms walking around with big guns.

Ryan, Your comment on MAS is not only specific to MAS itself, it applies to quite a lot of businesses in Malaysia. The best way to save MAS is not merely having plans on the corporate level, the best way is that it must come from up top in the government machinery and must come with political will. Malaysia needs to liberalize and embrace competition in so many sectors in quite a few parts of our economy. We have been prone to the tendencies of falling for calls for protectionism. For MAS to thrive it must compete, for it to compete it must face the harsh realities of competition and not be protected, it's no good molly coddling using tax payer money to perform bail outs, save the company each time it struggles. It must learn to swim or sink. The safety net of the government coming in to the rescue is precisely why it has become inefficient and complacent, unable to compete. Let market economics dictate if MAS is worthy of survival and perform as a business entity, not national pride. Sadly I don't see this happening in the foreseeable future, all the political parties active in Malaysia have protectionist - government intervening in the market tendencies.

Makes KLIA a scary place to be... bullets flying everywhere, people getting shot..

If we're really talking trade, this transaction will be considered an import to Malaysia on the books and will show up on our balance of payments. Malaysia is a major trading nation, with imports and exports worth more than double our GDP. A USD 1.2 bil, is not even 1% of our net imports, it really is as someone has pointed out, a blip. It'll be a lot if say we were Brunei or Cambodia... much smaller economies.

Where do you get this info? I'm assuming you work for MH? So, in that case, care to enlighten us on which was MH is swinging? 787 or A350's?

I'd like to share my worst civil aviation experience RBA flight to BNE, I got spat at. (It was a red eye flight in Y, arrival at BNE 3:00am local time, tried to get some sleep, accidentally moved my knees above to perch on the seat infront, seat pitch is horrid on those 767's, and the seats backs were really soft. Angry European woman in the seat infront woke up, turned around to tell me to stop moving, when she turned around a wad of drool/spit flew on to my neck. JAL flight to SYD, flight attendant spilled some HOT tea on my crotch! (no turbulence, just a clumsy flight attendant, I suffered what I think is the most incredible pain a guy can feel) It seems like my flights to Oz seem to have a curse... I'm sure some of you are more well traveled than me, so I suspect you've had worse experiences. Please do share. Oh.. Austrian left me stranded in VIE for 2 days and that was an after a 22hr flight from SYD back when they flew 0S1 via KUL.. but that's not an inflight experience, still horrible though since Austrian wouldn't put me up for the night this was after queuing up to to argue and rebook flights at the OS counter in VIE.

I don't know if drop down LCD's constitute as Ptv's. Aren't ptv's supposed to mean "personal television", thus meaning in-seat systems. Drop down systems are offered with MH's A330 in Y, by your definition, that would be PTV. Besides Delta, Air Canada has in seat ptv's on it's narrowbody fleet aswell, even the smaller sized E-jets too are included as part of their project XM. Didn't MH quote AC as part of their turn around model, BTP.

Yikes... They started the conversation like that, I hope you've written to customs, newspapers, public services, KLIA, did you get their name? Anyways, thanks for sharing your Malaysian customs story. I've actually had a bitter experience in Singapore with immigration, when I used to live in SG. Long story short, I arrived from Sydney, and at immigration the malay immigration lady was giving me a treatment along the lines Malaysian customs gave you. These are the words we exchanged.... I said "Hello" replied, "Where did you come from?" "Sydney". I put my passport on the counter. she grabbed my passport to scan the biodata page, She asked for the immigration card, So I gave it to her, but then told her, I'm not transiting or visiting SG, told her that I live in SG. Gave her my SG ID. All this time she asked in English, and I reciprocated by replies in English. Then she made a sly comment, about "cakaplah melayu, orang melayu dah tak boleh cakap melayu ke.. " once noticing I was Malay. I really bit my tongue when she said this. Actually felt annoyed, stunned and suprised, didn't expect I'd get this in Singapore. She then looked at her terminal then she realised that I had a Visa that allowed me to stay in Singapore, asked why I had given the immigration card to her, it wasn't needed in my case, she's keyed in the information wrongly, blaming me for her error. (hey.. she asked for the damn thing, I just filled out in case it was asked for) It's a little different from your story.. What bugs me was that I was actually told off for not using Malay, I'd use Malay if she had started the conversation in Malay! Selamat datang ke Singapura indeed (do they still have the selamat datang signs + welcome in the other languages at Changi?) A friend of mine had bad immigration story at LHR. Immigration officer looks at my friends passport "Krishnan, this doesn't seem like a Malaysian name" My friend being the witty guy that he is points at the officers name badge and says " Well Singh, doesn't sound very English to me". hahaa... replies sternly "don't you be cocky with me". All these experiences pales in comparison to my highschool friend who really got harrased at JFK.. very very long story.. But the short end of it was that He's 20 something, His name Usama (a fairly typical Arab name I think) and He's Saudi, so those combinations probably gave the Americans the creeps. Ahh... they joys of dealing with the civil service around the world.... There are bad apples everywhere, personally I've never had a bad experienced with the ground staff at KLIA, guess I've been lucky. Even those girls in that dress like flight attendants with those "may I help you" signs, we're all very polite, not to mention hot.

I totally agree. SIN, the airport, the government policies, it not only provides the logical choice, But I have a feeling will most likely get any sort of 9W mini hub base set up for Australian flights, I've noted the hurdles for KUL, if only we can get our act together, sayang lah.. KLIA i think has lots of potential. Anyways, Changi really works as a mini hub for so many other airlines. I know.. I've used QF there... Hey ryan... atleast give us Malaysians something to hope for, we know the light doesn't shine very bright for KLIA to be a hub of any stature and size, we're realistic, who would really want to use KLIA as a minihub anyways? Jetstar?? I doubt it. But there is still hope... err... rather wishful thinking..

Using the greater circle map basing the range from KUL, and quoting jani's 737-800 range of 5665km for the aircraft, the aircraft seems to have growth areas of China and India covered. Not to mention a large part of Oz. Nice! it looks like the perfect plane for them.

Makes me wonder about the widebody replacement now... Wondering which way MH will swing..

I don't know if you guys are following the discussion on a.net with regards to the unidentified customer and speculation that it's MH. But Quoting Hamlet69 (Reply 111): AFAIK, orders are: 737-800 777-300ER 787-9 Quoting Hamlet69 (Reply 83): And if you want a taste - how about this: The customer responsible for the 787's probably isn't done yet, which is most likely why it is a UFO. Quoting Hamlet69 (Reply 108): Since I already mentioned that the latest update is only two customers Dammit.. wish I worked for Boeing...

] Yeah, it is a brill idea. I think KUL has a running chance. BRU managed to get 9W and BRU like KUL are sandwiched between 2 very large airports, to the north and south. I'm sure other issues will be more important, like 5th freedom rights from Malaysia, govt. to govt. negotiations, MH would probably be lobbying the government to stop 9W, whining about competition. Also wasn't there a little contraversy sometime ago about Malaysia not letting AirIndia Express to fly to KUL, something along those lines?

I'll have to give it to MH, their constant regurgitation of being 5 stars have really sunk in. They won't let you forget their beloved skytrax 5 star ranking, it seems like you won't let us forget it too. Anyways, with regards to your comment Kingfisher, another 5 star airline flies an all Airbus fleet, no Boeing Aircraft at all. Not to mention Airbus being flown and ordered by the other 5 star airlines SQ, QR, OZ, CX. So really, I don't think being a 5 star airline and flying Airbus aircraft are mutually exclusive events. Nice set up. 100 aircraft, so it would be down from their current 111-ish aircraft? I think an additional 10 787, would make your proposition pretty sweet, or if available as compensation for A380 delay, 10 A350's (considering AAX seems interested in them, would love the 787's more for greater diversity at KUL). Anyways, this begs another question, has MH ever indicated interest with the 787s?

Isn't this what Jet Airways is planning to do? Use PVG for transpacific west coast flights, hubbing there like what they're currently doing with BRU in Europe for their East Coast ops, they're apparently planning to serve SFO, LAX, YVR from PVG. A quick google look up.. http://www.domain-b.com/aero/airlines/20080107_shanghai.html http://airliners1.wordpress.com/2008/03/20...chinese-cities/ Back in my uni days I have friends who used MH to travel from the states and connect to India at KUL, I think in light of recent developments, MH might loose quite a few India bound passengers, so nice one jet air! This is an especially pressing matter since the low yield student market is what MH seem to be aiming for lately.. haha.. SQ seems to be realigning to stuff the low yield and aiming for the higher end market, this should give ample opportunity for MH to go for broke with their FSVC low cost spiel and take up the slack from SQ's realignment.

It's a shame isn't it. Liberalized commercial freedoms actually benefit the country, seems like just another excuse for protectionism.

You'd expect a change like this would be followed up by a press release. Imagine the horror of someone who was expecting a snekbox and getting a hot meal, Joe public have expectations for MH to meet, the well publicized and much disgusted snekbox is one of them, maybe by this measure, MH would be going beyond expectations?

Ok where do I begin, Well, I'm definately not comparing MH to OS, you really can't because MH is not selling Y passangers food like OS, it hasn't gotten to that stage and I'm happy that it is so. What I was trying to illustrate was that there has been a substantial decline in frills in more matured aviation markets, where there has been greater liberalization for longer periods within these markets and true free market competition has taken root in the skies. It's interesting you note our region, the middle east and the indian sub continent as places bucking the "rot" (to quote BC tam) and introducing more frills, these regions are all examples where competition to their national airlines and liberalization of the skies has been a relatively new phenomenon. For MH to implement snack box, is a very bold move and in comparison to other national airlines which have been facing LCC competition longer, MH's product isn't too bad, following other experiences I think it suggests the inevitable (I know you disagree, just my opinion). I never said MH's passengers should be happy because of the levels of frills offered else where (I gave OS as just an example and not the reason why MH's passengers should be happy), I gave QF as another example where they only served me muesli and a soft drink, could have flown LCC-ish DJ for more value for money. Anyways, what MH is doing is not revolutionary, if snackboxes gives MH a few extra $$, then surely that's what they should be doing, it is a business after all (well supposed to be). Also, clearly by your reply, it's a safe assumption to say MH's passengers aren't happy. All that I am saying is that I am OK with it. It is a bold move, but certainly not without precedent in the airline business. Oh, and let's see in 5-10 years where Indonesia is heading, the aviation sector there is getting crowded, it has only recently been liberalized, it was home to just a handful of carriers a decade ago. And don't quote me on this, but I do remember reading that when the transition economies of Eastern Europe first opened up to the free market, liberalized their airline sector, SkyEurope did once upon a time offered free meals, now with the plethora of other carriers such as Wizz and such, I guess through the pressures of greater competition, they don't.

Well, I disagree, I see this as the direction of regional air travel, once upon a time, I'm sure hot meals were served regionally in the states, Europe, Australia, you know, during the romantic glory days of aviation. But with the advent of LCCs, airlines all had to adapt to the competition, LCCs are new to this region, but their impact is surely being made. Like I said in my earlier post, I can foresee more of this happening in down the years. As for consumer behaviors, I'm a Malaysian and I don't mind it. You're taking it out of context, sure it's included in the ticket price, but I was making a comparison to other carriers, taking my experience with OS as an example, where they made me pay for my food (taking my wallet out a giving them Euros) on a regional European flight , a 1hr flight that cost me much much more than what MH charges you to KCH. Yes, I know it's been discussed to death, I'm just pointing out my personal opinion with regards to the matter, I personally don't mind it being introduced. I'm not a government servant, I don't know about the other dude though. In fact, I've abandoned MH for international flights for a some time, I try to fly Star Alliance airlines because I'm a Silver M&M member. I usually found their fares, TG/SQ being more competitive than MH. Last time I flew MH was when I was living in Singapore, only then did I find were their flight more competitive price wise, ex SIN. I am a newbie but I've been flying since the 80's, many many things have changed since then, I just hope dissenting personal opinions are allowed here.

Thank you for educating me with 101's. I never commented on the MAS publicity spiel and spin on the snack box, which i have long agreed with everyone here, its ridiculous, a load of bull, but who really believes PR spin and can't see what it actually is? I think Joe public notices that MAS is money pinching, cutting back on the frills no matter how great the advertising of Malaysian Hospitality, of the abbreviations of FSVC nonsense. I'm commenting on the product itself, the snack box and not MH's spin. I personally don't have a problem with the snack box (shocking ehh..), I've flown other carriers around the world that's done the same or worse, so when MAS does it, I don't particularly mind.

Please do, because I don't like the implications of your request. Is it so hard to believe that 2 people might seem to think that snack boxes are not so bad?

I agree with you. What's all the fuss about? As long as I'm not served a snack box on an intercontinental flight, I don't mind it on regional and intra ASEAN. I flew Austrian Airlines within Europe and I had to actually pay for my meal because I was only flying Y, Austrian only gave us freebies from the F&B cart when we had to turn around back to VIE since we couldn't land due to the weather. Flying Qantas from SYD to BNE I was given only a muesli bar, and a soft drink. Flying across America, LAX to JFK the only free food in Y you get is salted nuts and such, you have to pay for food and thats a long transcontinental flight. So really I don't see why people are making such a big deal when MAS introduces a snack box, especially in view of developments around the world, at least they're not charging me. I could probably foresee many more airlines doing the same sort of thing around the region sooner than later.

It is a shame, but I don't think it's fair for you to tie securty issues along with pax. Malaysians prefer to travel via SIN for an entirely different variety of reasons. I would prefer to go via SIN than I would KUL simply because i find it a nicer airport (its a subjective argument anyways), SIN is also an award winning airport (granted so is KLIA for its category), but most importantly IMO, besides being award winning SIN is a bigger airport thus offering better frequencies, not to mention also the hub of many airlines, SQ, QF/BA , GA has a big presence. For any airport to to be great it needs a strong home or focus airline. Think about it, this has been the case throughout the world, LH have FRA, KLM have AMS, BA/VS have LHR, DL/AA/BA has JFK, SQ/QF have SIN, TG/LH/BA/CA have BKK. MH is not actually as strong as we all would like our flag carrier to be and I wonder how much MH has contributed to KLIA's growth over the last couple of years, I suspect not much, AK would have contributed more to growth, captured more of KLIA's market share and probably eroded MH's share, AK has been on the expansion. So in my view, for their to be any real climbing dent in those yearly airport figures, MH needs to buck up, or else I can forsee KLIA being a big budget airport, a Stansted Airport compared to Heathrow and Gatwick to the north and south of us. M.H.

My first post. Isn't Kuching already connected to Jakarta by Batavia via a one stop in Pontianak? Remembered seeing their banner at check-in when I was in KCH. MH