reyneo

As far as i know, the plan has been and still is, to consolidate all passenger traffic at changi. In fact, ever since Berjaya Air moved from Seletar to Changi in 2010, there have been no more scheduled commercial flights into seletar. XPS is now used for business/private aviation purposes and for MRO activities at the Seletar Aerospace Park. http://www.seletarairport.com/about/vision/

I hate to burst his bubble, but Changi just announced the opening of its 3rd runway by 2020, the addition of a 5th Mega terminal by the middle of the next decade, and has started long term planning for a forth runway likely to be parallel to the current 3. Changi to serve only long haul while senai does short? Changi needs to partner senai or it'll loose out? Sorry, no offence but this guy is just delusional... twin airports do not operate in 2 separate countries, and changi has enough land to expand to more than twice its current size & capacity.

I was cycling along the Changi park connector that runs parallel to Changi Airport a few weeks ago when I saw an A320 with a tiger tail and Mandala tittles parked at a remote stand near the edge of Terminal 1 & 2. I didn't have a camera with me, but did some searching and found this picture: (Source: http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/207846/) The aircraft in question is 9V-TRC, one of Tiger Singapore's newest A320 (MSN4918). Not sure if its still parked there, but it could mean that Mandala might start operations pretty soon. Some reports have it at either April or Feb 2012 (IMO April is more likely since you need time to sell tickets and IIRC Mandala still doesnt have its AOC activated yet).

Jetstar never promoted its 1 stop service from Singapore to Japan, simply because it was never intended as a SIN-KIX service via TPE. Its clearly 2 separate services serving 2 separate markets (SIN-TPE and TPE-KIX) and priced accordingly to those markets. And its no surprise that Jetstar is adding more flights out of Japan... its yields and inflight sales are extremely good for an LCC! I flew KIX-TPE on 3K last year and the flight was almost 100% full, but it was filled with Japanese and Taiwanese travellers and almost all alighted at TPE. In fact only 5 or 6 out of the nearly 180 pax continued on the flight to Singapore. Similarly, TPE-SIN is also doing very well despite it being flown by 6 carriers, each with multiple daily frequencies. Anyway, theres a good reason why Jetstar's prices on SIN-XXX-KIX cost so much... because its charged as 2 separate sectors and the KIX-TPE sector costs ALOT more than the SIN-TPE one, even though its only half the distance. Theres simply no LCC competition on Japan-Taiwan flights and even though Jetstar charges what I consider to be high fares for those sectors, its still almost half of what JAL or EVA/ANA are charging, and deemed to be very cheap to the Japanese. Fares on 3K for (Regular/ Special sales): SIN-TPE (~1900miles) SGD190 / SGD120 TPE-KIX (~1000miles) SGD250/ SGD170 The Jetstar brand is already relatively well known in Japan and Jetstar Intl and Asia is simply building up International services out of Japan before the launch of Jetstar Japan, giving a strong domestic and international network immediately when it launches. It already flies from KIX to SYD, CNS, MEL, TPE, MNL (+ 1stops to SIN/DRW/AKL/CHC) and from NRT to SYD, CNS, MEL, MNL (+ 1stops to SIN/DRW/AKL/CHC), this compared to Peach or Skymark that only flies domestically or Air Asia Japan that will start with only domestic flights + 1 Intl HND-KUL flight by D7.

I guess the main benefit to both carriers is that they'll both get to reduce overlapping flights and increase ticket prices, hence gaining better yields (unfortunately, at the expense of Malaysian flyers). IMO there are 3 types of travellers that would react differently to increased prices: Type 1) Since AK & MH are both so expensive, I might as well pay that extra RM50 for MH. Type 2) Both AK & MH have increased their prices proportionately, AK is still cheaper, so I should still fly AK. Type 3) My travel is non-essential (Holiday, leisure, VFR), so I wont fly at all if its expensive. The number of Type 3 travellers will definitely drop in the coming months, but the increased tickets prices paid by both Type 1 & Type 2 flyers will probably more than make up for the lack of Type 3s - translating into reduced expenses and better profits for BOTH AK & MH. Routes that the 2 airlines currently have a duopoly will be most affected; basically all domestic routes and some of the intra-asia flights with no competition. Routes with competition like KUL-SIN/HKG/CGK/BKK, Australia-KUL-Europe, etc would likely see little or no change in prices thanks to the other airlines. For all we know, in the not-so-distant future, a KUL-PEN ticket could cost more than a KUL-SIN/BKK one and the prices of a KUL-BKI seat on AK/MH could be higher than those for their KUL-TPE seats!

^^ Its only been a few months since FY 'became an LCC' and started jet operations and its expansion has been almost exclusively domestic so far. I think with time, we could see a whole Qantas-Jetstar thing working for MH-FY. FY needs to expand more internationally to compete with AK and MH needs to cut low-yield or unprofitable routes (give them to FY!) and work more on its premium product. Qantas has shown that this can work; a GLC can run an LCC, they can even compete on some of the routes to capture different type of travelers, because at the end of the day, whether its MH or FY that gets the pax, the money still stays within the group. I'm totally against an MH-AK co-op. The lack of competition would basically mean higher fares and less seats. It could also lead to the demise of MH as we know it. While the exchange of shares isn't as severe as a takeover, one should look at Ryan Air & Air Lingus in Ireland (pretty much a mirror of MH & AK, where the budget carrier is way larger and doing much better than the ailing nation semi-full service carrier). Ryan Air tried a take-over bid some years back... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5408780.stm

Confirmed I thought Jetstar was eyeing Mandala at one point, a little sad that its going to Tiger... Mandala's business model was a little closer to 3K than TR IMO. They were LCC-esque but targeting business contracts and flying from main terminals instead of budget ones. Oh well, now that Tiger has effectively 'bought Indonesian air rights' so to speak, i guess its safe to say that tiger (maybe via mandala) will finally launch the DPS/SUB/MES-SIN flights that they've been lobbying so long for and possibly increase SIN-CGK as well?

MH's new A333 in her new colors... (C/N 1209) source Not a big fan of the new livery, plain & boring imo...

Its no secret that the AirAsia group charges fees on top of tax in SIN. Airport tax is SGD28, and Jetstar charges exactly that. But in Singapore, nobody really cares, because a law has been passed some years back that forced all airlines to only advertise all-inclusive fares. Meaning AK has not been doing any "Free Seats" sale in Singapore for a long long time (because if they did, they would have to absorb airport tax and allow pax to book flights for $0 all in!). What they do advertise now, is "KL/Kuching/Jakarta from SGD31!", while on the next page, you see Jetstar advertising "KL from SGD15, Penang from SGD28!"... since you now know that both airlines cannot lie about their price, who would you book with? *Just fyi, in their promos, jetstar absorbs SG airport tax from its $15 fares, so its actually making a loss per flight just on airport tax alone! Its not "just by a few ringgit". Moving from an LCCT to a regular terminal does not result in JUST an increase of airport tax to pax. The cost of rental of check-in counters, of airline office space, of baggage carousel and gate space (even without aerobridge) would increase too. All these increases add up and will have to be passed on to pax, increasing the raw ticket price, even by 'just a few RM', potentially decreases AK's revenue by 'just a few million RM', making some routes that were just breaking even or making small profits, no longer viable. Also, let me give it to you from a budget traveler/backpackers point of view. Let say my air ticket used to cost RM10 + RM25 airport tax = RM35, but overnight your ticket now costs RM15 + RM51 airport tax = RM66. Thats almost a 100% increase! I would think twice about making a short 1 or 2 day getaway because of the huge percentage increase of my air ticket. The effect would be lesser on longer routes of course; with a higher fare, the percentage increase would be smaller. So this is likely to affect 1+hr short haul flights more than the ones to MFM, TPE, etc... I'm sure if they charged EXACTLY the same price for rental of EVERYTHING, charged the same airport tax and can provide more than just the 3 gates of A11-A13 for AK, TF would be delighted to move. Spanking new terminal plus easy connections, for the same price, who wouldn't want it? But theres obviously no way that MAHB can do that if they want to cover their own costs of building and operating the new T1. And if MAHB does decide to offer AK some 'special rates', I'm sure MH and other airlines would cry foul (and they should!). Although, just wondering how many gates does AK use at BKI T2? Never been there, so I'm not sure, do they only base 3 planes there? If not, do the other gates at T1 (which have aerobridges) support boarding of aircraft by stairs? Because while the shortage of check-in counters may be total crap, I was wondering if 3 gates would be enough for AK? I'm not the biggest fan of AK (I feel that AK isn't very cheap anymore and that they increases their prices because, well, they can. I prefer 3K for their T1/MTB, better fares & service.), and I do think that TF threatening to cut routes is indeed very childish (abit Ryanair-ish if you will), but you have to admit, some of his concerns are valid.

I just checked the AK's website... there's no official 'fee' for this, so I guess it should be just a slight increase in ticket price, BUT i think this would have been offset by not having to pay for the extra RM25 airport tax at LCCT, as well as the terrible currency conversion rate that Singapore Banks charge its customers for transactions in RM. So ultimately, a fly-through could be potentially cheaper than booking 2 separate legs anyway! Sounds like a win-win for both pax and AK/D7... If only they had this service last month when I flew to ICN... For pax like me, who always travel with only hand luggage, baggage transfer is meaningless... and immigration at M'sia for Singaporeans is (although annoying) still very fast... the main draw for this service is Guaranteed Connections! Every time I travel on D7 via KUL, I'm always reluctant to book a SIN-KUL flight because I'm afraid that if that flight gets delayed/cancelled/tiger-ified/etc, my entire vacation goes down the drain... So eg. in my ICN trip, I ended up taking a bus to KL, flew D7 KUL-ICN-KUL, then only on the return leg, flew TR KUL-SIN (TR had better connecting times & prices than AK) since getting stuck at KL on the way back wouldnt be as bad... (worst case senario: i miss my KUL-SIN flight, i either try to get on the next one, or pay RM30 for a bus/train back instead...)

A little surprised I must say. Never flown with them... but I was always under the impression that mandala was the best Indonesian carrier, at least before Garuda went on their major 360 makeover... I always thought mandala were a bit more 'premium' than the bunch of LCC-esque indo carriers... Someone posted a rumor on a.net that Jetstar or Tiger might buy them out... and I agree, I think theres a very real possibility of QF or TR taking over the 49% stake from Indigo? Jetstar Indonesia or Tiger Indonesia or who knows, Firefly Indonesia? At this point, its just pure speculations, no evidence whatsoever yet.

Thanks for the replies! Especially to Robin for the local insights. I'm aware that VND900k+ is probably a promo fare on Vietnam Airlines, but that same price for Jetstar is most definitely 'Standard Fare'. (For SGN-HAN, Taxes + Surcharge for JetStar is only about VND130k.) I just find it a little odd that my domestic BL SGN-HAN/HPH flight would cost more than my 3K SIN-SGN flight for which I only paid VND800k! (In fact SIN-SGN would've cost just VND650k if I had been able to confirm my trip a few days earlier!) Well, reliable or not, I'm looking for the cheapest fare, flight delays or cancellations are part and parcel of flying, as long as I can get to my destination safely and within a reasonable amount of time, I'm generally okay with it. My experiences with Jetstar Asia & Australia have been very pleasant, and even when one of my flights got cancelled, they offered to put me on a full service carrier departing a few hours later free of charge with free Meals, Alcohol & baggage, even though I only paid A$40 for the promo tickets! I'm hoping Jetstar Pacific wouldn't be too different from its Parent/siblings? IMO, Jetstar could be taking advantage of the fact that its the only LCC in Vietnam and hence pricing itself only slightly cheaper than Vietnam Airlines. (Then again, it could very well be Vietnam Airlines lowering its fares to match Jetstar instead...) Maybe if Vietjet AirAsia was in the picture, ticket prices might be kept in check? Anyway, while I'm at it, I was wondering if Robin or anybody else can offer some info on Halong Bay tours... I know that there are countless tour operators that run 3D2N or 2D1N tours from Hanoi. But since I may be flying to Hai Phong (which is closer to Halong City anyway), do you guys know if there are any tour operators that have Halong Bay Tours from Hai Phong or from Halong City itself? Would those be cheaper? I was thinking of maybe doing Hai Phong -> Halong Bay Tour -> Halong City -> Hanoi, so it'd be great if tours could depart from Halong City or Hai Phong instead. Also, price-wise, for a package like the one here, is US$130 a good price? Or is that just inflated internet tourist prices? Does anyone know of any tour operators that they'd recommend? Thanks again! =D

I noticed we have some members who are from Vietnam, so I'd thought I'd ask for help here... I'm planning to visit Vietnam in late March and was wondering what is the cheapest fare on average for SGN-HAN or SGN-HPH? I looked at Jetstar Pacific and got VND918,500 for Hai Phong and VND973,500 for Hanoi... These seem to be standard priced fares (I looked at dates a few months later, and its still the same price). Does Jetstar Pacific have Friday Fare Frenzy (like 3K and JQ)? Or any other form of regular sales? I also looked at Vietnam's other two airlines, Vietnam Airlines & Air Mekong... Vietnam Airlines charges only about VND50,000+ more than Jetstar & comes with meals n baggage, while Air Mekong charges ridiculously high fares of almost VND1,500,000! I was hoping for fares of VND600,000 or below (without checked luggage, meals, etc since I don't need them), any chance Jetstar or Air Mekong would have lower fares or promotions closer to my travel date? (Or are there any other Vietnamese airlines I dont know about?) Any help would be much appreciated, thanks! =]

^^ A regular config A330-300 with minimal cargo SHOULD be able to do Eastern Europe all year round (A332 definitely can!), but we need to bare in mind that D7 configures their A330s with a lot more seats than traditional carriers. Since the 350s wont be delivered until 2016 (or later actually, given the expected delays of A350 program), they have a few options here: 1) Lease more A343s! 2) Deploy their A333s but carry no cargo and block off a few rows of seats to operate with less pax. 3) Order/Lease/Convert their A333s into A332HGWs! I'm actually very curious about their flight to CHC, a fake booking for KUL-CHC shows it operating non-stop on the A333 (based on seatmap)... Sure, its not as far as Europe, but 5399mi + headwinds + reserve probably means the flight will have some weight penalties.

Thanks for the info! I didn't know you could look at the seat they assign you and cancel the check-in if u r not happy with it. For my next flight, I'll try to do the check-in a few times, and hopefully in one of the attempts, I'll get the seats I want. =]