KC Sim

If alliance membership is akin to marriages, then oneworld is a massive polygamous community with several of its members flirting and cosying up with members of other alliances. All these are very well documented in the CNN article posted above. My thoughts however are with the two designated members - SriLankan Airlines (UL) and Malaysia Airlines (MH). Both already are faced with strong competition from the major Gulf carriers including Qatar Airways (QR) but are now likely to feel the heat from within the oneworld alliance itself. With QR in oneworld, what value do UL and MH bring to the alliance mahjong table ... UL perhaps some connections into India and MH with some connections within East and West Malaysia. If there were hopes that either British Airways or Qantas Airways (MH's sponsor into oneworld) would use MH as a connecting carrier into Australia, QR might just have ruined the parties that were being planned. The most blatant polygamous oneworld member just has got to be one of the newest oneworld member - airBerlin (AB). After selling a portion of its shares to Etihad, it allowed itself to be drawn into a longterm strategic relationship with Skyteam's leaders Air France/KLM. This must have been a major entry in the Skyteam scorecard. QR has more planes on order than airlines such as MH has in its existing fleet ... MH as an imminent member of oneworld will have to seriously assess its role in the alliance or risk existing as a little girl carrying the wedding rings to the alliance wedding ceremonies. Poor UL which for several months must have been harbouring hopes of carrying oneworld passengers beyond Colombo into India is now left staring at the broken pieces on the floor ... QR can now do that more conveniently, thank you. KC Sim

AirAsia X has so far axed Christchurch, London, Paris, Delhi, Mumbai and Tehran ... time to re-brand as AirAsia Axe. KC Sim

Should have named it Harimau Air ... since the Sumatran Tiger and Malayan Tiger is a unifying factor. KC Sim

AirAsia's stocks are suffering from a serious bout of "Malindonitis" ... a very serious ailment that results from a cross-border infection transmitted by the Lion and a mythical creature known in Malaysia as the NADI. The only cure for this is if TF can trick the Lion and the NADI into accepting his proposal for a "collaboration" .... KC Sim

If he cannot stop NADI and Lion from establishing Malindo Airlines, he certainly will try to poison it from within under the pretext of a collaboration. Look how this worked when it collaborated with MAS ... gained rights to Sydney and chopped off Firefly's jet services. Although Pak Rusdi is a very quiet and unassuming man, I hope that deep inside, he is a very shrewd businessman who can smell a rat from a million miles. KC Sim

Both Finnair and SWISS have proven that a tag-on it not a workable model when one destination has a strong leisure segment and the other has a higher yield business traveller demand. I can see that sometime in the future, maybe Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) might return with a nonstop service between Copenhagen (or another Scandinavian city such as Stockholm) and Singapore. The booking lead time for leisure and business travellers is very different ... and after most of the leisure travellers get off the plane in Bangkok, the airline is faced with trying to fill up those empty seats. This result in low fares on the Bangkok-Singapore sector. Flights from Europe/Middle East to Bangkok and then continuing to Kuala Lumpur seems to be working because both have a higher leisure market ... but now with more carriers on this tag-on route (including Lufthansa, Egyptair, Royal Jordanian, Thai Airways International, Thai AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia), I wonder how long these airlines could sustain this. I hope (selfishly) that Iran Air gets traffic rights to market her spare capacity on the KUL-BKK-KUL sectors. KC Sim

AirAsia wants to collaborate with Malindo Airlines? I hope that Pak Rusdi open his eyes BIG ... read news reports and expert opinions on what happened in the Comprehensive Collaboration Framework (CCF) between AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines (including the curtailment of jet services by Firefly) ... and then decide if he needs Tony Fernandes as a partner. KC Sim

Excellent news ... this development closely mirrors that by Finnair. Like Finnair, SWISS used to operate a one-stop service to Singapore with a stop in Bangkok. Both carriers terminated services to Singapore but continued to serve Bangkok. And SWISS now is also following Finnair in returning to Singapore with higher frequency (Finnair had four services before the suspension but returned with daily service and SWISS was operating 6 times weekly but now returns with daily service) and a non-stop service that is clearly targeting higher-yield business travellers. Now if I may dream ... when SWISS was celebrating its service to San Francisco, it painted an A340 in "Flower Power" special livery. How about a special livery for Singapore? With strong presence of top banks in both Singapore and Switzerland, there is definitely a healthy demand for premium airline capacity and SWISS' return to Singapore underscores that. This also strengthens Star Alliance's presence in Singapore to nine carriers which include Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International, ANA, Asiana Airlines, SWISS, Lufthansa, United Airlines, Air China and Turkish Airlines. KC Sim

Absolutely ... but then again, it could be worse if it is name Indolaysia Airlines. I wish the name Batik Air had been reserved for this venture ... as both nations are known for their gorgeous batik. KC Sim

I recently transited Dubai twice when travelling from Bangkok to Houston and back ... On the trip to Houston, I was quite keen to see Dubai Airport and eagerly stepped into the terminal ... first impression ... it was glittery and huge. But after a short while, I became bored because there really is not very much to see and do after about half an hour. Lots of seats near to all the boarding gates but these are away from the shopping sections and all you see are people trudging to their boarding gates. A last minute change of gate just before boarding resulted in a 20 minute brisk walk but for the elderly, this was probably much longer. The shops did not offer prices that are anywhere close to being branded attractive ... in the 1990s and earlier, one could clearly see prices were good but today, it is no different from other airports anywhere in the world. For sure, there were items that one could not possibly find anywhere else in the world, like the brass camel that is probably about 70% lifesize. You might have a little difficulty bringing that onboard your flight. On the return leg, I re-visited the transit area and found myself bored beyond words quickly and ended up parking myself on one of the seats near my boarding gates - surrounded much of the time by families with screaming kids who ended up travelling on the same flight to Bangkok. If I had to pay for my own passage, I too would avoid travelling via Dubai and certainly would not want to be onboard EK's 10 abreast B777s. KC

Air China is reported to have announced termination of flights CA971/CA972 between Beijing and Kuala Lumpur from 9 October 2012. What equipment does it operate now and are these its only flights into KUL? Does Air China operate to any other Malaysian cities? Most importantly, is this information accurate. Perhaps someone in Malaysia has more definite information about this. KC Sim

Up to the 1990s, passengers tend to dress up for their flights ... but today, the trend seems to be gyrating towards dressing down. I sometimes have my concern when it comes to an emergency evacuation from the airplane, with the crash site strewn with burning debris ... - how would all those skimpily dressed humans go down the slide without suffering from abrasion ... and land safely at the bottom - how would those wearing flip flops be able to safely find their foothold in the debris strewn site and run away from the aircraft - and for those showing off massive clevage, you could imagine the bouncing boing-boing that goes on as they go down the slide - the only advantage is the number of guys with out-stretched hands ready to cushion the boiing-boings as they reach the bottom of the slide And I also wonder how one could walk around with T-shirts that contain expletives or proclaim their sexual desires or related subjects. It may be ok going to the disco with it ... but walking around in most places in these might not be appropriate. Whatever it is, people-watching at airports is almost as interesting as airplane spotting. KC Sim

There must be lots more ... and if you want to PEE, head out to Bolshoye Savino Airport in the Russian Federation. Or if you need to pee and do something bigger, head out to Laghouat Airport in Algeria ... there is a LOO there. Or if you prefer to go to the LAV, you must fly into Lalomalava Airport in Samoa. Thank goodness there are more places in the world to pee. If you are MAD with or about someone, that person probably resides in Madrid. If you are always OUT of luck, you must be staying near Bousso Airport in Chad. There might just be an overwhelming prevalence of women versus men near Shenyang Airport (SHE). He does not get an airport because he is short of one letter. But the gods in Sri Lanka near Hingurakgoda are fair to the menfolks with HIM. Belize and Bahamas are not far apart ... and we must be grateful that Santa Cruz in Belize (STU) is not right next to Paradise Island Airport in the Bahamas (PID). Having them next to one another would be really STUPID. The folks living near Boire Field Airport (near Boston) must be glad that there is no volcano nearby ... because the airport's code is ASH. But Iceland isn't far away .... damn. It must be easy to impress the folks living near Willow Airport in Anchorage ... tell them anything and they go WOW. Is it any suprrise that the followers of Bin Laden were active in Afghanistan ... and tried to erase their tracks in Bamiyan by blasting the Buddha sculptures to smitterings? Bamiyan Airport is BIN. More on Algeria ... you want to SKI or TEE off a round of golf, they have airports just for that - Skikda Airport and Tbessa Airport respectively. Still in Algeria, just when you think Malaysia is the biggest producer of tin ... you should know that TIN probably was found near Tindouf Airport. Angola is a fascinating place ... if all the flights are delayed in NOV, you should know that it is DUE to the BUG. NOV is Huambo Airport, DUE is Dundo Airport and BUG is Gen V Deslandes Airport ... all in Angola, a fascinating crazy bugger of a place. Why? Because, at the top of every company is an Angolan .... because CEO (Waco Kungo Airport) is also in Angola. Is there an airport where planes ARR but do not depart? Where would they find enough ramp space ... to find out, head out to Alto Rio Senguerr Airport in Argentina. Maybe the push the planes off the mountains. Somewhere in Australia ... there are people who have not moved beyond using VCDs .... they live near Victoria River Downs Airports. But they need not remain stuck in this technological black hole for long .... DVD has not been taken up yet. Still in Australia ... some people live near a very ODD airport ... named Oodnadata Airport. Wonder what makes it odd. Even more odd are the folks with the most unbalanced diet in the world ... living near Penneshaw Airport (PEA) in Australia. And to think I always pick out and discard the peas in my meals. Wonder where all those PEAs come from ... the POD of course ... Podor Airport in Senegal. And if HEL is where you expect to find Santa Claus, guess where his ELF comes from ... El Fasher Airport in Sudan. Wonder how the ELF got used to the cold in Finland. There is only one piece of clothing to wear near Barreras Airport in Brazil ... you got it, it is the BRA. Wonder if there are men there. What would they wear? When your pray at the PEW in church, have you ever wondered where this originated ... Peshawar Airport in Pakistan. Don't expect anything to be solved when you live near Howard Air Force Base in Panama ... all the folks can say is HOW? Then again, some folks in Panama are caught in a time warp and there is no Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Only day they know is TUE near Tupile Airport. Now you know why the folks are confused and asking HOW? For those who do not like RAW food, Japan is not the only place you want to avoid ... you should also not go to Arawa Airport in Papua New Guinea. But you must go to Papua New Guinea if you are suffering from attention deficiency. There at Haivaro Airport, everybody will HIT on you. So what happens when I have attention deficiency but don't like raw food? That is it for now ... there are lots more airport codes that tell a great story. KC Sim (SKC ... which happens to be Suki Airport in Papua New Guinea)

Yet another dubious decision by Alan Joyce ... the B787-9 would have been a saviour to Qantas and it could not have them early enough. At least, this was what Alan Joyce was alluding to just earlier this year. Perhaps this will be the perfect excuse to turn more routes over to Jetstar Airways ... Those lost B787-9 positions will quickly be snapped up by other airlines awaiting them ... and provide some relief to Boeing and perhaps sparing it further compensation payouts. Qantas is in deep trouble ... and I suspect it does not know what it is getting into by tying up with Emirates. Perhaps it is time for Virgin Australia to begin singing "I still call Australia home." KC Sim

I have been to North Korea in September 2003 and strongly recommend anyone who is interested to go and see this amazing destination for yourself, not even to mention the excitement of flying onboard Air Koryo. I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang and back on the IL-62 (P-881) of Air Koryo and absolutely loved it. The high-pitch whine of its engines sound absolutely Russian and great! Due to the low utilisation of the fleet, the aircraft are in tip-top condition and are extremely clean. As a destination for a holiday, there is no equal. I love those gigantic socialist propaganda posters ... and the super over-sized monuments. Across the country, there are super-highways ... but very few cars. One thing for sure, it is an extremely clean country as nothing that can be re-used and recycled is thrown away. Food was excellent and I believe this is perhaps even more authentic than most of the Korean food we see in modern eateries. If you have any interest, do so before anything changes ... I get the impression that the nation is at the very doorstep of imminent change. And there is a company - Juche Travel Services - that has organised aviation tours!!! Check them out at www.juchetravelservices.com and they also have a facebook presence. KC Sim

I love the good-natured humour here! This is what makes Mwings forum so engaging! Keep it up folks! KC Sim

Coming in from Hong Kong and Penang on 13 August 2012 is this gorgeous B747-8F of Cathay Pacific Cargo. Cathay Pacific really knows how to do special liveries beautifully ... I absolutely loved "Spirit of Hong Kong" and "Hong Kong Trader" is really classy! KC Sim

And thanks to the HKG-PEN-SIN-HKG routing of CX78/79, spotters in Singapore will also be seeing the CX Cargo B747-8F. Great that the deployment of the B747-8F on this route is kicked off by Hong Kong Trader ... here's how it looked arriving in Singapore on 13 August 2012. KC Sim

I have been a big fan of Firefly and hope that without the distinguished TF, Firefly is able to grow in whichever way its management and MAS see fit. I would certainly love to see Embraer E175s and E190s in Firefly service. These planes are very comfortable, very nifty and very efficient. If props are still needed, then perhaps ATR-600s and/or Dash 8 Q400s ... but whatever happens, I pray that Firefly does not acquire CRJs - flew these several times in Europe and they are absolutely the most horrible planes to fly in. Firefly certainly deserves to operate jets and please keep up with the great meals onboard. KC Sim

Looking at how well Emirates is doing out of KUL makes me wonder if MAS has made a horrific mistake of withdrawing from Dubai. Although the airline continues to show a loss, one should really take comfort that the loss is shrinking. Set against the current economic backdrop, I personally think it is a very credible performance. As more A380s and B737-800s replace older aircraft that are less fuel-efficient and has lower passenger appeal, hopefully the loadings and yield will improve in the coming quarters. 2013 is probably a most crucial year for MAS (and her competitors). SIA has already fired the first salvo by announcing the launch of upgraded product in first, business and even economy class in the second half of 2013 - and her competitors will really have to ensure they are not left too far behind. KC Sim

I was told that the wing of a Malaysia Airlines B777 made contact with a China Eastern Airlines Airbus A340-600 at Shanghai Pudong Airport today. I could not find any news of it anywhere ... did this really happen? KC Sim

With Airbus A320s being considered the workhorse of low cost carriers (LCCs) by many passengers, perhaps SilkAir was also keen to move away from operating an exclusively A319/A320 fleet. I for one have hoped for such a fleet roll-over and I am glad to see it finally happen. KC Sim

Perhaps he just wanted to rehearse the procedure for opening the door "in the unlikely event of an emergency landing". Perhaps his girlfriend was wearing make-up inspired by the cabin crew of AirAsia and he turned around and thought he saw "someone" who emerged from among the banana trees ... Can anyone establish whether the plane was beginning to taxy on the ramp, or was it on the taxyway or on the runway as news reports seem to suggest? I realise that many reporters could not distinguish the difference between these locations and any time that the plane is moving, they consider the plane being on the runway. Whatever happens, thank goodness the flight was safe. KC Sim

Hi Kris, It was really wonderful meeting you in Anchorage. I wish the weather was as great when I was there last week ... but I am still thrilled with how the pictures turned out. Hopefully over the next weeks, I will have some time to process the pictures and post them here. Anchorage as a spotting location is up there somewhere among the best in the world. For freighter-fans, this is pure heaven and I had my fill of freighters but remain hungry for more. Michael and I are looking at end-September 2013 for a return to Anchorage. KC Sim

That used to be 9V-JEB of Jett8 Airlines Cargo which has since been de-commissioned. It has been acquired by Changi Airport and used as a firefighting equipment. KC Sim