flee

Yes, D7 tends to introduce new routes at RM 99 or RM 129. If you add 15 kg luggage and one meal, the total will be RM 300 return. Before the days of AirAsia, that will not even be enough to buy a KUL-KCH ticket on MH!

A Katekavia Antonov AN-24, registration RA-46524 performing flight KTK-9357 from Krasnoyarsk to Igarka (Russia) with 11 passengers and 4 crew, was on a final ILS approach to Igarka's runway 12 in night conditions, light rain, low cloud, reduced visibility and thunderstorm activity in the area, when the airplane impacted ground about 700 meters (2300 feet) short of the runway at around 01:40L (17:40Z Aug 2nd). The airplane broke up and burst into flames. Russia's Ministry of Emergency stated, that three crew (both flight crew and one flight attendant) and one passenger survived the crash with serious injuries contradicting initial reports that everybody on board perished. More here: http://avherald.com/h?article=42f1b7df&opt=1

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 (Bernama) -- AirAsia X, the Malaysian based long haul, low-fare airline Monday announced its latest international route, Kuala Lumpur to Seoul, South Korea. In a statement Monday, AirAsia X said it would fly direct to Incheon International Airport from Kuala Lumpur, starting from November 1, with direct daily flights. AirAsia X will be offering fares from RM99 for the travel period from Nov 1, 2010 to August 11, 2011. This new destination could not have come at a better time, as it will coincide with major school holidays and year end festivities, said AirAsia X Chief Executive Officer, Azran Osman-Rani. He said the airline was confident the new route will encourage new travel demands and stimulate tourism growth. "We estimate that more than 60 per cent of AirAsia X passengers to and from Seoul will be first time visitors, which will contribute significantly to tourism growth," Azran Osman-Rani added.

Well AirAsia X will fly all routes over 4 hours. That is why KUL-TPE is operated by A333 but BKI-TPE is on the A320.

Boeing Co. said second-quarter earnings declined 21 percent on fewer plane deliveries, and reduced its projection for profitability at its defense unit on slower U.S. military spending. Net income fell to $787 million, or $1.06 a share, the world’s biggest aerospace company said in a statement today. Boeing maintained its forecast for earnings for this year. Airlines are placing more orders as they recover from the recession more quickly than expected, while militaries are under budget pressure, said Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney. The Chicago-based company trimmed its forecast for the operating margin of its defense unit, which accounts for more than half of revenue, by half a percentage point to 9.5 percent in 2010. “You’re seeing segments of the defense business show some serious weakness,” said Kenneth Herbert, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. “For many years, the defense business was a nice floor on valuations, but if that’s going to weaken further relative to expectations, that’s a concern for investors.” Boeing will make up airliner shipments in the second half of the year to hand over as many as 465 jets and still may double full-year profit to as much as $3.80 a share, Chief Financial Officer James Bell said on a conference call. The company raised its annual forecast for the commercial unit’s margin by 1 percentage point to as much as 8.5 percent. Shares Drop Boeing, second to Airbus SAS in commercial aircraft and to Lockheed Martin Corp. in defense contracting, fell $1.30, or 1.9 percent, to $67.32 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares has risen 24 percent this year. Sales fell 9.2 percent to $15.6 billion in the second quarter, missing analysts’ $16.2 billion average estimate compiled by Bloomberg. Earnings beat the $1.01-a-share average estimate of 20 analysts. The defense segment’s operating margin decreased 1.2 percentage points to 8.9 percent as sales fell in every area except military aircraft. That outpaced the decline in the commercial-jet division, where operating margin fell 0.5 percentage point to 9.2 percent. The total backlog declined 1 percent from the end of March to $312 billion, as the defense unit’s deliveries exceeded new orders. 777 Output Boeing, which gets the bulk of its payments upon delivery, shipped 8.8 percent fewer planes in the period amid a production gap between a new and old jumbo-jet model and delays due to defective seats from a supplier. The company also began cutting output of the 777, a plan put in place last year when orders collapsed during the recession. Commercial production is set to accelerate starting next year because airlines are clamoring for new jets amid a pick-up in air-travel demand that Boeing said last week had spurred it to lift the internal orders forecast twice this year. The company also plans to begin delivering the latest 747 model and the new 787 Dreamliner by the beginning of 2011. “We were expecting lighter revenue given the lower commercial-aircraft deliveries,” said Peter Arment, a Gleacher & Co. analyst in Greenwich, Connecticut, who recommends buying the stock. “The production ramp continues unabated and that ultimately is going to drive the earnings momentum at Boeing.” Delivery Targets Boeing had planned to hand over the first 787 to Japan’s All Nippon Airways by December, which would have been more than 2 1/2 years late, and to ship the first 747-8 to Cargolux Airlines International SA by then as well, more than a year behind schedule. McNerney repeated comments from earlier this month that both those goals may now slip into January, adding that the 747-8 bears a higher risk for a delay. “On the 747-8, there are a couple of workmanship issues and a design issue or two that we’re working through,” McNerney said. The 787’s possible hindrances have to do with documentation for certification from the Federal Aviation Administration and longer down-time between tests while engineers change telemetry instrumentation, he said. In 2011, sales will exceed this year’s projection of as much as $66 billion and operating cash flow will be more than $5 billion, recovering from zero this year, Boeing reiterated. This year’s surge in orders -- already higher than all of last year -- will be “modestly less” than the record three- year run-up in purchases through 2007, McNerney said. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-28/boeing-posts-21-drop-in-second-quarter-profit-after-delivering-fewer-jets.html

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) (3786) is looking at possibly parking the two A330-200 freighters due for delivery next year in air cargo arm Malaysia Airlines Cargo Sdn Bhd's (MASkargo) balance sheet. The move would bolster MASkargo's financial situation in the way of tax deductions and other benefits. "We are looking at that quite closely. Whether it's in MAS or MASkargo, it doesn't matter as, operationally, it's exactly the same. It's more a financial standpoint. At the moment, we haven't finalised, but there is a possibility," MAS managing director and chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur. One of the main hurdles to such an arrangement would be to secure financiers for the two planes should they be taken over by MASkargo. "Financiers are used to financing MAS. So if you talk about MASkargo, they'll go like, 'Who's that?'. So that's some of the hurdles there," Tengku Azmil said. The freighters are scheduled to be delivered towards the end of next year. "We haven't finalised the financing process for those yet. So it (the decision on balance sheet to include the freighters) will happen before their financing is called," Tengku Azmil added. MAS also has an option to take on another two A330-200F under its agreement with Airbus. A decision on the option will have to be made by August next year. Tengku Azmil said the long-term outlook for cargo in Asia is good, adding that he expects increasing cargo flows within Asia and between Asia and other points in Europe, the US, Australia and Africa. "We do see cargo as a good market to be in and, in a sense, buying the aircraft is our commitment to the business." MASkargo provides freighter services to Penang, Dubai, Basel, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Shanghai, Taipei, Osaka, Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, Malpensa and Guangzhou. It owns two Boeing 747-400F and leases four Boeing 747-200 freighter aircraft. It also offers passenger belly space capacity, through parent MAS, to over 100 destinations across six continents. Source: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/pjsm2/Article/index_html#ixzz0vQe2kQry

Malaysia Airlines is finalising the financiers and the priority is for the Boeing 737-800 that is coming in this October National carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) (3786) has shortlisted six candidates to finance its 22 new aircraft to be delivered from October this year until 2012. "We issued the request for proposals (RFPs) and received an overwhelming response of 60 (proposals). We are very pleased with the response, especially when you think about what the market was like last year and the year before," MAS group managing director and chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin told Business Times in Kuala Lumpur. He attributed the interest to the airline's strong balance sheet and good cash balance. In its first quarter ended March 31 2010, MAS had a cash horde of almost RM3.2 billion. The RFPs sent out were for 14 Boeing 737-800 and eight Airbus 330-300. The Airbus delivery will begin from April next year. "We are in the process of finalising the financiers. The priority is for the Boeing 737-800 that is coming in this October," Tengku Azmil said. He said MAS aims to firm up the financiers for the first Boeing plane by month-end, but did not rule out the possibility that negotiations could come down to the wire. "It is common to be negotiating (for financing rates) until the last day of delivery. It happens to many airlines, and has happened to us before. So I don't discount that from happening," said Tengku Azmil. MAS is looking to a mix of financing options for the planes. Although securing the best rate is a key factor in MAS' choice of a financier, the latter's expertise in a certain financing structure is also an important consideration, Tengku Azmil said. Four financing options commonly used by airlines are operating leases, tax lease structures, export credit agency (ECA)-backed structures (which involve government guarantees) and commercial debt. An operating lease involves the sale and leaseback of the aircraft, while a tax lease structure lets the airline own the plane at reduced costs. In keeping with MAS' strategy to lease one-third of its fleet at all times, it will opt for operating leases to fund the new planes coming in from October. When asked if Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd (PMB) would be one of the lessors among the six financiers, Tengku Azmil declined to comment. "We don't exclude local (lessors), but the Europeans tend to dominate the aircraft-leasing market and whether PMB can be competitive against all those who join becomes the question," he said. Under the Widespread Asset Unbundling agreement between MAS and PMB, PMB has first right of refusal for operating leases if it can match the best rate offered to MAS. Tengku Azmil added that ECA-backed structures are a financing option used for some aircraft when an airline has a large number of orders, while tax lease structures, which are complex in nature, can provide good financing rates. For instance, the 17 ATRs MAS owns are fully financed through a mix of financing structures: nine on Japanese operating leases, five through ECA-backed term loans, and three through Islamic financing. Source: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/pjsm1/Article/index_html#ixzz0vQagaJOM

Last time I went to Farnborough was in 1990 and we had the famous SU-27s and MiG-29s doing their cobra stunts. D7 is going to Paris next year - so maybe it is time to visit the Paris Air Show again. Last time I was there, a MiG-29 crashed!

Looks like BKI is going to be the MH's B738 international hub as it tries to improve East Malaysia's connections to the world. Previously it was not economic to operate international flights using wide bodies due to lower demand. So the B738 gives MH something they never had before - a good way to expand the MH network.

I think AK is more aggressive in flight cancellations this year so that load factor is higher. Load factor numbers may not tell the whole story!

More South Koreans To Visit Malaysia With AirAsia X Daily Flights SEOUL, July 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will receive more tourists from South Korea when budget long haul airline AirAsia X operates daily Seoul-Kuala Lumpur flights starting November. Tourism Malaysia deputy director Said Zulkifli Said Ahmad said flights between Incheon International Airport (IIA) and KL International Airport (KLIA) will be launched in Seoul on Aug 2. He said the Kuala Lumpur-Seoul daily flights would increase South Korean tourist arrivals to Malaysia to 300,000 compared to 250,000 last year. "Tourism Malaysia will campaign hard as South Koreans usually travel during the winter months of November until February," he told Malaysian reporters at his Seoul office in Hansung Building here Friday. Korean tourists who comprise mostly golfers, environmentalists and scuba divers love to visit Malaysia as the country has a lot of destinations to offer. "They love Sabah for the many golf courses, rich marine life and the protected environment." Tourism Malaysia is promoting the country via Korea Travel Fair (KOTFA), Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme, Malaysian Food Festival and Busan Travel Fair. Said Zulkifli said about 500 South Korean families had joined the MM2H programme. Some 90,000 Malaysians visited South Korea annually. Malaysians captivated by TV series 'Winter Sonata' and 'Autumn In My Heart' usually visit Seoul Tower and shop at Itae Won, Dong Dae Mun and Nam Dae Mun. He said Malaysia could market TV series to Korea now that the novel `Nyawa di Hujung Pedang' had been translated into Korean language. The novel written by Ahmad Murad Nasaruddin was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin during his visit to South Korea which ended yesterday.

BUDGET carrier AirAsia Bhd (5099) released preliminary operating statistics for itself as well its two Indonesian and Thai affiliates yesterday, in a move seen to not only bolster investor confidence but also provide more clarity on the airline, and its affiliates. This is the first time, the airline has given out such detailed operating statistics, even to analysts, before the release of its quarterly results. Its second quarter of 2010 results should be out by the end of August. Analysts have been privy to preliminary operating statistics prior to its quarterly announcements for some years now, but this is the first time that Indonesia and Thailand statistics have been included. It is also the first time the report has been released to the media. The move comes following the promise for more clarity on its operations and the AirAsia group's plan to list three of its affiliates, long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X, Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia separately. According to the preliminary statistics, AirAsia carried 10.6 per cent more people in the second quarter of 2010, compared with a year ago. Load factor, grew to 77 per cent from 75 per cent in the previous corresponding quarter, despite a 7.5 per cent increase in capacity. The all important yield performance, which is considered sensitive information to the stock exchange, however was not disclosed. On Indonesia AirAsia, the statistics showed that the subsidiary carried about 10 per cent more passengers during the second quarter of 2010 compared with 2009. Load factor maintained at 75 per cent though, as capacity grew in tandem with the number of passengers the airline carried. Thai AirAsia carried 11 per cent more passengers and, managed to grow load factor to 75 per cent for the quarter, compared with 70 per cent in the second quarter of 2009. The month of June was the only time the carrier saw a decline in passenger numbers for the quarter, with a 5 per cent decline in passenger traffic. Thai AirAsia also cut capacity by 6.1 per cent during the month compared with 2009. "Their reputation took quite a hit in 2008, with the fuel hedging issue, so I think it's their way of addressing those issues as well as trying to allay some of the confusion which has been surrounding AirAsia and its affiliates," an analyst who declined to be named said. The public can look forward to more such releases, as AirAsia plans to make it a permanent fixture in the airlines' corporate calendar. Source: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/paas1/Article/index_html#ixzz0v8Yg6K7A

KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will offer two additional direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney and three new flights from Kuala Lumpur to Brisbane effective Oct 31, 2010. The two new flights to Sydney will depart Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9.00am and arrive at 7.55pm. Collectively, MAS would offer 14 weekly flights to Sydney, said the airline in a statement Friday. Customers will also enjoy five weekly flights to Brisbane except for Tuesday and Thursday. The three additional flights will depart Kuala Lumpur every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 9.40am and arrive in Brisbane at 7.55pm. Tickets are now available for purchase at www.malaysiaairlines.com Malaysia Airlines Senior General Manager Commercial Strategy Dr Amin Khan said,"We are delighted to boost our services to Australia. Both Brisbane and Sydney have shown growth with an average load factor of 73 per cent, four per cent higher than last year." Apart from Sydney and Brisbane, Malaysia Airlines also connects to Melbourne 14 times weekly, Perth 10 times weekly and Adelaide four times a week. -- BERNAMA

The problem with AirAsia is that they are very open with the ideas that they are exploring - so many of them do not come to fruition. I think that they are running into huge obstacles in Vietnam - VietJet AirAsia was supposed to be running by now but protectionism in that country is stalling the venture. Similarly in Malaysia, protectionism is still strong and bureaucracy is delaying the completion of the new permanent LCCT. Meanwhile, AirAsia's new planes are still arriving and they need to deploy them somewhere since there is no more room at LCCT and the Thai and Indonesia AirAsia operations can only absorb so many aircraft. New operations hubs need to be found. Australia is a good possibility - and it does make sense too. It will help AirAsia deploy their new A320s that will be arriving in the next few years. It can also serve as a connection point for AirAsia X's flights to the South Pacifc. Later on, AirAsia can operate flights to NZ and neighbouring countries as well, since it will be an Australian airline. Because protectionism and bureaucracy, AirAsia needs to think on its feet if it was to expand to gain the economies of scale. Operating in Australia is just another possibility for expansion. Lets wait and see what happens...

Etihad Airways will deploy its newly delivered Airbus A330-200 Freighter on routes to Africa and China from its Abu Dhabi base from September. The airline, which is launch customer for the A330-200F, received the first of two Rolls-Royce Trent 700-powered aircraft it has on order during the Farnborough air show. Chief executive James Hogan says Etihad may order additional A330-200Fs further down the line as Etihad's cargo division evolves. A rebound in the Asia-Pacific freight market has helped the airline lift its freight volume in the first half of 2010 by 12%. The airline also has a Boeing 777F on order as part of a larger deal for passenger versions of the twinjet. Image from planespotters.net by Allan Huse:

Malaysia-based AirAsia is evaluating whether to launch a domestic operation in Australia. Azran Osman-Rani, the CEO of AirAsia's long-haul carrier Asia X, made the announcement on the sidelines of the Australia Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit in Sydney. AirAsia's launch of an Australian base would depend on one of the existing mass-market carriers moving up-market and the remaining carriers rationalising capacity and increasing fares, Azran says. "The way it is now, if you've got three players competing aggressively for the mass market segment that's all the industry can take," Azran says. Although he does not explicitly name Virgin Blue, the latter has made clear its intention to increase its corporate market share and continue to move away from its low-cost roots. Virgin Blue moving up-market would leave Tiger Airways and the Qantas Group's Jetstar Airways as the only domestic carriers targeting Australia's mass market. Under Azran's reckoning, Virgin Blue leaving the market would create room for AirAsia. "If the market dynamic changed and suddenly there is space and existing players start to rationalise fights and increase fares, it will be very tempting," he says of AirAsia launching a domestic Australian operation. An AirAsia operation in Australian would easily have a lower cost base than Tiger and could offer cheaper fares consistently, says Azran. He adds the carrier would use Airbus A320s and would be majority foreign-owned. The Australian market is unique for permitting majority foreign-owned carriers to operate domestically. Australia is also attractive to AirAsia for its transparent regulations, says Azran. "It's a lot easier to operate here than it is trying to get into markets like Vietnam," he says. AirAsia has partnered with Vietnam's VietJet to create a low-cost carrier in Vietnam. But Vietnamese regulators have objected to the carrier using AirAsia's name. Vietnamese regulators also took issue with Jetstar group's Jetstar Pacific carrier using Jetstar branding. Earlier this month Vietnam released two Jetstar Pacific executives who since December had been barred from leaving the country while regulators investigated the carrier's fuel-hedging losses. AirAsia has subsidiaries in Indonesia and Thailand in addition to its partnership in Vietnam. Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/07/28/345422/airasia-evaluating-domestic-australian-operation.html

Here you go: http://www.farnborough.com/Site/Content/Farnborough2010/General/Getting-There.aspx

The RM 2b is for the permanent LCCT, not the railway.

They are operating some 737-200 and 727-200 freighters at the moment. Don't know the exact numbers though! Please check out the Subang spotting thread - it has some pix of Transmile aircraft. This page has Transmile B727 pix: http://www.malaysianwings.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=13994&st=180

Weihong, Very nice photos for a "beginner"! Fortunately at Farnborough, the public are allowed on the tarmac and it is very close to the runway and you have good take off and landing shooting opportunities. Hope you enjoyed the wonderful Rolls Royce Merlin engines of the Spitfires and Lancaster. Here are the last two pix you posted that did not "come out":

Yes, I think that the video is caught it some time warp! The background music included the "Singapore Girl" jingle which only came on SQ's commercials and marketing material after the MSA split. Yes it certainly brought back memories and I was lucky enough to fly MSA's 731 in 1969 although I never managed to get on the F-27's, Comet 4C's nor B707's. When MSA split up, SQ took all the B707's and some B737s leaving MH with the remainder of the short haul aircraft.

It is a good video Li Ren, glad you enjoyed it. ZRH is so spotter friendly, unlike our bulis infested KLIA!

Spot anything familiar in this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4naGcRQAmbk Links: Standard Def High Def ?hd=1

Boeing F-15 fires missile from internal bay for first time At the Farnborough Airshow today Boeing announced that earlier this month the 40-year-old Boeing F-15 has fired (photo below) an air-to-air missile for the first time from an internal weapons bay, demonstrating a critical new capability invented for the stealthy F-15 Silent Eagle. In a flight test on 14 July, the F-15E1 testbed fired the missile from a newly integrated conformal weapons bay that was modified from a conformal fuel tank, Boeing vice-president and general manager of Global Strike Systems Shelley Lavender. Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aircraft-pictures/2010/07/farn10-boeing-f-15-fires-missi.html

What a big difference from the old and amateurish one! Good job! From http://airlineroute.net/2010/06/14/y6-jun10/: