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Ken K. Kour

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Posts posted by Ken K. Kour

  1. Posted · Report reply

    mymy... Papa Alpha looks so dirty, and forlorn... hopefully we can see her cleaned up and flying once again...

     

    but isnt Romeo Hotel Pretty? so clean aswell.. i have to admit im dissapointed with the VMY2007 banner though.. its so, understated? oh well.... saves money on painting/vinyls i suppose

  3. Posted · Report reply

    To Quote Dennis Bergkamp, a true legend of football (whos testimonial is being played today coincidentally...) Its okay to Move Backwards one step, as long as you take 2 or 3 steps forward next time, but when you take too many steps backwards, then you're in trouble... lets just hope MAS isnt compromising its future for its present.

  4. Posted · Edited by Ken K. Kour · Report reply

    im sure we all wish that we'd wake up one morning, go online and read the headlines saying any one of the following, although all of them would be nice :p

     

    MAS PROFITABLE!

    MAS TAKES OVER SQ :p hahaahhaah :rofl:

    MAS ORDERS 80 B787

    MAS ORDERS 30 B748

    MAS ORDERS BRIYANI FROM DUBAI!

     

    arh.. we can always dream... either that or read one of the Emirates ordering articles and replace Emirates iwth Malaysia Airlines :p bahahaha.. one can dream...

     

    but i think, hearing that MH is making profits again, and significant profits would be goodnews to me, before them ordering new AC, hearing them order now would just make you wonder how the heck they're gonna pay for them...

  5. Posted · Edited by Ken K. Kour · Report reply

    Im sure that EVENTUALLY Thai AK and Indo AK will get some, but definately only after the Malaysian Air Asia has completely gotten rid of the B733 in its fleet..

     

    But 100 AC is alot, even for one of AK's Size... But it does make sense considering they're aiming for China and India Soon, Who knows, we might have a Chinese Air Asia soon... :p

  6. Posted · Report reply

    I think what he means is a change of Publisher for the Going Places Magazine. So we might see some changes within the magazine, i highly highly doubt they would actually phase out the magazine.....

     

     

    Fairizuan, when you talk about the staff being trained from NB aircraft to WB aircraft you're talking exclusively about Cabin Crew correct?

     

     

    And also, this special colour scheme, any idea what AC it will/could be painted on? 777? 747? 737? A330? i suppose the A380 would have been a nice choice, but seeing we wontbe seeing on in MH colours for another year with all the delays....

     

    good to hear MH is advertising Visit Malaysia 2007 on its Aircraft..

     

     

    anyone think TF will do the same across AK aircraft>?

  7. Posted · Edited by Ken K. Kour · Report reply

    Airbus Wins $2.6 Billion Order From AirAsia for 40 A320 Planes

     

    July 19 (Bloomberg) -- Airbus SAS, trailing Boeing Co. in orders this year, won a contract valued at as much as $2.6 billion from AirAsia Bhd. for 40 single-aisle A320 planes.

     

    The contract includes options for an additional 30 aircraft, Toulouse, France-based Airbus said in a statement today at the Farnborough International Airshow. AirAsia, Southeast Asia's biggest discount carrier, is replacing its fleet of Boeing Co. 737s with the A320s. It already has 60 of the A320s.

     

    Toulouse, France-based Airbus is trying to keep its status at the top of the $60 billion-a-year commercial plane market. It announced at the air show earlier this week that it will build an all-new A350 XWB. Airbus received contracts for 117 planes in the first six months of the year, a quarter of the total received by Chicago-based Boeing.

     

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=con...id=awfSUsjJXwVE

     

     

    This means that Air Asia converted the options in its previous Order fo 60 Firm / 40 Options, so now the updated numbers look at 100 firm / 30 Options :drinks: :drinks: :drinks:

     

    huge amounts of planes there!

     

     

     

    Air Asia is really looking to dominate the market!

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Malaysia seeks more liberal aviation pact with China

    By Anna Maria Samsudin

    annamaria@nstp.com.my

     

    July 15 2006

     

    MALAYSIA aims to further liberalise the current aviation agreement with China as it seeks to woo more Chinese tourists, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said.

     

    This is hoped to boost flights between the two countries by a quarter, to around 100 flights a week within the next few years, from some 80 currently.

     

    Despite the promotions carried out by various agencies, he pointed out that Malaysia still lags behind Singapore and Thailand in the number of Chinese tourist arrivals.

     

    An improvement in Malaysia-China flight connectivity would probably be able to spur tourism activities between the two countries.

     

    "We already have a liberal aviation agreement with China. However, there is still room for improvement.

     

    "We hope to further liberalise the arrangement in the next round of talks, which will be held in Beijing in August," he told reporters after officiating at China Jilin Trade and Investment Promotion briefing in Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.

     

    He also said the Government is talking to an airline from China who is interested to operate KL International Airport (KLIA)- Xian route, previously served by MAS. The service is due to commence in October.

     

    "There are other airlines in China that have expressed their interest to fly into KLIA. We are still talking to them," he added.

     

    Copyright © The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad, Balai Berita 31, Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

     

    _________

     

    i think we need less talking and more action ;)

  10. Posted · Report reply

    MAS poised to soar again

     

    BY RITA BENOY BUSHON

     

    EPF has an 11% stake in Malaysia Airline (MAS) while Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd (PMB), a Khazanah-owned company, owns 69%. The national carrier has a fleet of 110 aircraft flying over 100 destinations compared with Singapore Airlines' 92, Thai Airways' 87 and Cathay Pacific's 97. The average age of MAS' fleet is 10.6 years.

     

    how can they say taht? 747s have been put into LTP, Domestic Routes have been slashed left and right, i highly highly doubt MH has 100+ international routes...)

     

    MAS was accorded five-star status in 2005 by Skytrax, a global aviation rating agency, placing it among the best airlines together with Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways. It also ranked among the top three for “best cabin crew†and won the Economy Class Service Excellence award for 2006. This is testament that MAS has strong brand equity.

     

    Operating in a global environment, however, MAS has to face the challenges of competing with the best in the world.

     

    The industry has been facing upheavals recently. Many operators that were unable to take this pressure had to rationalise. The industry has suffered financial losses since 2001 and up to 2005, the loss was to the tune of US$40bil globally. This is despite global passenger traffic growth of 7.2% and freight growth of 3.2% in 2005.

     

    Higher fuel price was the major contributor as it represents one-third of costs of most airlines. Another factor was competition from low-cost carriers or that not only added capacity but gave the traditional full service carriers a run for their money.

     

    Pricing strategies became aggressive and some full-service carriers had to slash prices below cost just to retain passengers. Many full service carriers also announced significant expansion plans, adding capacity over the next five years. All these factors could further cause prices to become more competitive going forward.

     

    MAS had been making losses for many years understatement of the year to me. Since the restructuring under the asset unbundling exercise in 2002, some profits were registered in financial year 2003 (FY03) and FY04. However, it registered losses again in FY05, attributed to increase in input costs, mainly escalating oil prices and staff costs that increased year-on-year (yoy) by 40% and 21% respectively. The losses were to the tune of RM1.26bil. This was despite a 10% increase in passenger traffic to 7.1 million passengers, increase in load factor to 71% and increase in yields measured by sen/revenue passenger per km.

     

    For the first quarter FY06, revenue was on the uptrend reaching RM3.03bil but the bottomline was still in the red amounting to RM321mil for the same reasons as FY05. Its operating costs increased 9% yoy to RM3.34bil attributed to the high fuel cost of RM1.1bil.

     

    Other costs such as aircraft hire and lease charges too increased as a result of higher interest rates. In addition, the new Financial Reporting Standards rule meant that depreciation charges escalated by 35% despite MAS having fewer assets.

     

    In December 2005, Idris Jala was brought in as managing director to turn MAS around. In February, he announced a business turnaround plan to return the company to profitability by 2008. The plan centred around two core areas, i.e. improving yields and managing costs.

     

    Measures implemented included tighter control of ticket inventory, excess baggage charge collection and increase of fuel surcharge. It implemented a mutual separation scheme to reduce its staff strength by about 6,500 by 2008 from 23,000 currently. Its focus is to raise productivity by employing high calibre personnel.

     

    The restructuring has gained momentum. Seven unprofitable routes have been terminated in 2006. It managed to get entry into the Sky Team alliance, one of the three main alliances globally. :blink: :blink: :nea: :blink: :rolleyes: It plans to focus on a few hubs and have connectivity to spokes using code-sharing alliances instead of a point-to-point system.

     

    For example, in Europe the focus would be on only four hubs instead of 10 destinations. It will also continue to operate 22 domestic trunk routes with AirAsia.

     

    To address concern on fuel price, it has engaged in hedging tools to make fuel cost a constant. MAS revealed that currently, 70% of its fuel requirement has been hedged at US$57/barrel. To improve yields, it recently increased fares for its very popular Singapore-KL route by 20% for its confirmed economy class which we see to be a good move because it has a de facto monopoly of this route with SIA.

     

    The numbers are expected to improve going forward as the cost-cutting and yield-enhancing programmes take effect. However, shareholders will have to wait for at least two years before any dividend can be paid.

     

     

     

    Copyright © 1995-2006 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)

    Managed by I.Star.

    ___________

     

     

    1, KL-Singapore route, all well and good when you increase prices to increase yields.. but its a completely different thing when you increase prices to the extent people turn to fly SQ, or take a bus...

     

    2, We joined skyteam?! really? when.. how does none of us know this? this is either poor research by the writer, or a massive massive hint for the future.. somehow i doubt its the latter...

     

    3, i doubt the numbers states in the beginning, about fleet size and routes served..

     

     

    Overall, i think this article is semi-biased, as none of MAS's bigger problems are mentioned, for example the number of routes out of its stated 100+ is actually returning a profit....

     

    but its still a good read... though i doubt MH will be soaring anytime soon, especially if this latest middle eastern conflict keeps going on... terrorism anyone? sure feels like it..

  15. Posted · Report reply

    Wednesday July 12, 2006

     

    PMB to pay MAS RM650m compensation

     

    BY YEOW POOI LING

     

    MAS commercial director Datuk Rashid Khan and Raja Nordiana Zainal Shah at the launch of the frequent flyer programme Enrich.

    KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) will receive RM650mil from Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd (PMB) as compensation for the proposed early termination of the two parties' agreement for domestic business unbundling.

     

    In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, MAS said the termination of the agreement was part of the rationalisation of the domestic airline services sector announced by the government earlier this year.

     

    As a result of the proposed termination, all arrangements under the agreement would cease, including the cash flow arrangements whereby PMB would reimburse MAS all costs associated with the domestic business, while MAS would pay PMB all the associated revenue that it earns domestically.

     

    PMB was initially required to give MAS 12 months' notice in writing to terminate the agreement but this was not possible since strict timelines were imposed on MAS and PMB for the completion of the rationalisation of the domestic airlines sector.

     

    The airline said the compensation would be used to finance expenses incurred, which included the cost to right-size its workforce involved in the domestic operations due to the termination.

     

    The proposed termination, subject to the approval of MAS’ shareholders and if necessary, shareholders of PMB, is expected to be completed by Aug 1.

     

    Separately, MAS expected its newly-enhanced Enrich frequent flyer programme to have two million subscribers by July 2007, double the present one million, said general manager of marketing and loyalty programme Raja Nordiana Zainal Shah.

     

    “It is a revenue-generating programme. Our Enrich partners alone generated some RM50mil in revenue last year. We hope to increase that to RM75mil in one year,†she told a press conference yesterday in conjunction with the launch of the new-look programme.

     

    Nordiana said the revenue numbers excluded the value of ticket sales from Enrich members.

     

    MAS manager of loyalty and frequent flyer programme Joanna Teh said Enrich members clocked in a total of 2.5 billion miles last year.

     

    Its current membership of one million is spread over 240 countries, with the strongest in Malaysia at about 60%, followed by Australia, Singapore, Britain and the US.

     

    Enrich has alliances in more than 4,000 locations worldwide, ranging from airlines, banks and credit cards, hotels and lifestyle partners.

     

    Teh said about RM500,000 was spent on the enhancement of the programme, with the bulk of it on modifying the system. The online system, launched in August 2004, now comes with Enrich miles calculator and partner locator.

     

    One of the enhancements in the programme is the introduction of the Enrich Silver membership, which focuses on economy-class travellers, while retaining the other memberships – Blue, Gold and Platinum. The new look of Enrich also comes with a new tagline – “Your ticket to a journey of luxury.â€

     

    In conjunction with the launch, MAS is conducting a promotional campaign for all new members to participate in a contest, which offers 10 pairs of first-class tickets to four selected destinations. The contest runs to Sept 14. Details can be found on MAS' Enrich website.

     

     

    Copyright © 1995-2006 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)

    Managed by I.Star.

     

     

    _________________________

     

     

     

    MAS gets RM650m for early end to deal

     

    July 12 2006

     

    MALAYSIA Airline System Bhd (MAS) has entered into an agreement with parent Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd (PMB) for an early end to the domestic business unbundling agreement (ADBU) sealed in July 2002.

     

    “PMB will pay MAS RM650 million as full and final compensation as a result of the proposed termination of the ADBU,†the national carrier told Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

     

    The proposed early termination is expected to be completed on August 1 2006.

     

    The termination came less than 12 months short of the actual date.

     

    MAS said the termination was in line with the rationalisation of the domestic airline services announced on March 27 this year.

     

    “The Government expects the rationalisation to take effect from August 1 2006 after the implementation of MAS’ (own) rationalisation of its domestic business and AirAsia Bhd having the ability to operate in all the domestic routes, which includes the provision of interlining and connectivity for all the non-trunk routes,†it added.

     

    The airline intends to utilise the compensation amount to pay for its expenses incurred or to be incurred arising from the proposed termination of the ADBU which include the cost to right-size its workforce involved in the domestic business.

     

    “The termination will not have any material effect on the group’s net assets, gearing, earnings for the financial year ending December 31 2006 as it will be adequately compensated for the termination of the ADBU,†said MAS.

     

    Copyright © The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad, Balai Berita 31, Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

    ____________________

     

     

     

     

     

    MAS enhances its Enrich-ing programme

     

    By Zuraimi Abdullah

    zuraimi@nstp.com.my

     

    July 12 2006

     

    MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) expects members of its Enrich frequent flyer programme to double to two million by July next year from close to one million now.

     

    The national carrier also expects revenue from the programme to grow at least 50 per cent now that it has been given a new look.

     

    MAS general manager of corporate marketing and loyalty programme Raja Nordiana Zainal Shah, however, declined to say how much revenue Enrich generates annually or its contribution to MAS’ group turnover, but that it receives subtantial revenue from member partners, which comprise other airlines, banks, credit card issuers, hotels and lifestyle retailers.

     

    “We make about RM50 million a year from these partners alone, excluding money we receive directly from customers who buy tickets. With the enhanced Enrich, we hope to generate at least 50 per cent more revenue,†Raja Nordiana said before the relaunch of the programme by MAS commercial director Datuk Rashid Khan in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

     

    “This means that we could get RM75 million in revenue from our partners alone,†she added.

     

    Raja Nordiana said members of MAS’ enhanced Enrich programme will now be able to earn Enrich points from different classes of fares and when they patronise the products and services of the 4,000 partner hotels, credit card companies, car rental providers and lifestyle retailers.

     

    Another significant enhancement to Enrich is the introduction of the Silver tier, bridging the gap between the existing Blue and Gold memberships.

     

    Platinum — normally reserved for the creme de la creme of high flyers, captains of industry and dignitaries — remains the highest tier. what i would do for one of those :lol:

     

    Today, Enrich’s members are spread over 240 countries, with 60 per cent of them based in Malaysia and 14 per cent in Australia.

     

    Raja Nordiana said membership numbers have been growing at an average of 23 per cent per year, well above the industry’s average of 18 per cent.

     

    Enrich was introduced in 1999 after the split from Passages, the shared Asian frequent flyer programme made up of MAS, Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines. :nea:

     

    Copyright © The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad, Balai Berita 31, Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

    ___________

     

     

    IPB Image

     

    Enrich Silver is an Elite tier that brings you to a whole new world of delightful privileges. Being an Enrich Silver member means being pampered with everything special - special treatments, special services, special offers, and you can also start accumulating your Elite tier bonuses. Advance to Enrich Silver, and instantly gain access to a wealth of greater privileges.

     

    * Elite Tier Bonus

    Earn Elite Tier Bonus when you fly First Class or Golden Club Class on Malaysia Airlines. Elite Tier Bonus is based on 25% of the Class of Service Bonus a member earns on a qualified flight.

     

     

    * Priority Boarding

    Enjoy Priority Boarding which allows you to pre-board the aircraft at the same time as First Class and Golden Club passengers, even when you’re flying Economy Class.

     

    * Priority Check-in

    Priority Check-In allows you to check-in for your flight at any available Golden Club Class counter even if you’re flying Economy Class.

     

    * Telephone Check-in

    Check-in by telephone and we will prepare your boarding pass for collection at the Golden Club check-in counter 30 minutes before your flight departs if you’re not carrying any luggage (1 hour with luggage) at selected airports.

     

    * Priority Reservation Wailist

    With Priority Waitlist, even if the flight that you requested is fully booked, you will be automatically upgraded to a higher priority on the waitlist.

     

    * Priority Airport Standby

    If you arrive at the airport without a booking, you only have to register at the standby counter and you will be given priority in the standby list.

     

    * Excess Baggage Allowance

    A 5 kg excess baggage allowance will be awarded to you when you travel.

     

    * Access to Golden Lounge Privillege Programme

    Enjoy access to the Golden Lounge by subscribing to the Golden Lounge Privilege Programme, which is exclusive to Enrich Silver members only.

     

     

     

    To attain and maintain Enrich Silver, all you have to do is earn 25,000 Elite Miles or 20 Elite Sectors within a calendar year.

     

     

    :drinks:

  20. Posted · Report reply

    can i just add, that no matter who seems to be favouring who....

     

    we cannot deny the faults in ourselves, or in this case, our favourite airline..

     

    i love Malaysia Airlines... Ask imran.. But it hurts to see how badly they're doing, and sometimes.. i just dont undersatnd the decisions they make... but in all hope i pray that mr. idris jala is doing the best for the company..

     

    but i do have to admit that the a330 is not exactly up to par with EK on any level apart from maybe cabin crew service.. but we all need to accept the truth andnot let emotion go into it right?

  24. Posted · Report reply

    actually, radzi, i have a question...

     

     

    just say that the alternate airfield for diversions from BKK was PEN, or Langkawi, or KLIA, would all airlines go there? and from that i mean just say El Al that flies to Bangkok, would it actually fly to malaysia? seeing we as malaysians cant go there etc etc, is that a factor?

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