flee

Just completed a couple of 2+ hr flights on these new seats and they are horrible for me. Comfort was so so only in the upright seat position and even then, the headrest did not fully support the back of my head. At a slight recline, lumbar support is non existent and I could not find a comfortable seating posture. So I gave up and sat upright instead. IFE was like what the others here described and the "Your Flight" feature was not operating. I really think that this seat is borderline acceptable on 2 hr flights but if flights exceed 3 hrs, it will be quite a torture, especially if it is a full flight and there is no vacant seat beside you.

So maybe that is why we are seeing some small orders coming through lately. Airlines who need new planes urgently may be able to get A330Neos faster than the A350/B787.

It is interesting to note that Airbus has now made some moves to making the A330 Neo into a shorter range, lower thrust version (previously called "regional") to make it attractive to airlines as a B757/767 replacement.

AirAsia X Q1 passenger traffic up 50pc to 504,476, ASK surges to 71pc https://www.malaymail.com/news/money/2023/04/28/airasia-x-q1-passenger-traffic-up-50pc-to-504476-ask-surges-to-71pc/66850

I suspect any A359 reconfiguration would involve the removal of the quasi first class cabin and enlarging the J cabin. They may standardise on the A339's J seats so that it is a more consistent product.

I have wondered why MH does not use FY more effectively - why not setup FY as their LCC arm, like TR is to SQ? MH would then not be saddled with the task of providing cheap fares. They can operate a FSC international network with some trunk domestic routes. They can use A339/359/A35K for the medium and long haul routes and 737 Max 10 or A321 for their domestic flights. By giving different market segments to FY and MH, they can both specialise and become the best in their categories. Hybrid models don't seem to work that well (although there are exceptions like ANZ).

Sarawak class... Seriously, this lalang politician does not know what he is talking about. It is coming from an ill written PR ...

It not only looks like a B757 but it will eventually replace it in the freighter role as airlines retire them. More pax A321 are reaching 20 years old and be the feedstock for P2F conversions.

9M-BZA RAYA AIRWAYS AIRBUS A321-231(P2F) https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/airbus-a321-200-9m-bza-raya-airways/rm8nk3

Thanks for the detailed evaluation of both types of seats, Timothy. As I have said in another thread, I don't really hold great hopes for the 737 Max cabin if it is going to be the same seats. All these new seats are designed to reduce size and weight to enable better operating economics for the airline, not pax comfort.

Interesting addition - a B738 that was formerly with Garuda and is in two class configuration... Also interesting to see the full Batik Air livery again, after all the whites....

Yes, that is the ongoing restucturing they are doing - Capital A is supposed to be just a holding company. The business units are separate - AK and D7 should merge and become the airline group. As D7 has the Bursa listing, it is the company to fold AK into even though AK is the bigger and more profitable entity.

They used to own Expedia before they disposed of it - AA Super App confirmed that it was a mistake for them to sell their interest in Expedia (which is a much better OTA). Prior to this fiasco, I read that many pax who bought tickets through OTAs were denied boarding. They were told to sort out their tickets with the agent they bought the tickets from. I have never been keen on OTAs and I usually prefer to buy my tickets directly from the airlines themselves. Some very good deals (also thru their loyalty programmes) can be had if you monitor their promotions.

Airasia Super App has become a parasite app. Looks like they are trying to sell other airline tickets because they are not able to mount their own services.

That is why we ask - the info is a rehash of the Avolon PR and I am not sure if that MoU has been formalised. The Airbus order and delivery spreadsheet does not reflect the situation. So....

I think they are also using the A332s (saw one heading to HKG the other day) - pre Covid, they did operate them to those destinations. They are also using A359s to Japan and Australia off and on.

I think MH won't be that worse off by extending their A333 leases if they can't get new aircraft in a timely manner. They just need to refurbish the cabins to bring them in line with the new A339 and A359 cabins. With the lower lease rates of A333s and still competitive fuel burn for shorter sectors, MH can make a decent economic case for retaining some of their newer and lower cycle A333s.

Maybe they are eyeing the Aeroflot slots - probably better as the planes are not built yet. With the situation as it is now, I doubt any new build western aircraft will head to Russia for a long time to come.

I am not sure - MAG usually make announcements about orders that are MoUs, not firm orders. They take a long time to firm up the order. Does anyone know if the MoU for the A339s have been firmed up?

Wasn't the SZB cargo terminal supposed to close a long time ago? They should move all the cargo operations to KUL.

They are still operating out of SZB - e.g. this morning, their usual morning flight from SZB-CGK. A quick look at FR24 records show that they ferry the aircraft from SZB to load them up at KUL. The aircraft fly in and out of both SZB and KUL at the moment.

Raya Airways has been slowly moving to KUL. They now have a fourth B767-200 freighter. https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/boeing-767-200-9m-rxd-raya-airways/eyl113

Is it so difficult for MoT to understand that the ATRs operate a lot of cycles, being short haul aircraft? The airframe cannot last very long as the cycles run out.

Well environmentalists failed to move heavy industry to greener technologies. They are now targetting aviation hard and ICAO and IATA are buckling to their propaganda. Even if all aviation were to cease today, it will only save 2.5% of total carbon emissions. As you rightly pointed out, there are so many other measures the heavy polluters could take but are not doing so. Aviation is a high profile industry and to score a victory here is good publicity for environmentalists.

It will be interesting to see what MASWings will become after FY has taken over in Borneo. Will it only operate RAS flights?