flee

Frankly, I cannot see arrogant MH being able to join any alliance. It keeps saying it is different and unique. So if it wants to carry on with that attitude, it should be just that - different and unique on its own. No need for any alliances.

THE Transport Ministry will work on a formula to enable both AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines to develop and grow commercially. However, it stopped short of saying that it will come up with a national aviation policy. "We will only work on policy changes based on need," recently appointed Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said when asked on whether his ministry would look to develop such a policy. He was officiating at a two-day "Pillars of Aviation" conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, entitled "Bridging the Gap Between Emerging Markets". Kong said the expansion of the local aviation industry provides room for both airlines to grow. In his speech, he said the government is aware that strengthening the aviation industry is key to the development of business and commercial sectors. "Our g overnment will always proactively ensure that the aviation industry in Malaysia maintains its agility and flexibility to respond to any changing circumstances in order to continuously grow and prosper," Kong added. Meanwhile, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) senior general manager of operation services Datuk Azmi Murad told participants that it targets the current low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) to breach the 16 million passenger mark by year-end. The LCCT was extended in March 2009 to accommodate 15 million passengers a year. The new permanent LCCT, which has a design capacity of 30 million passengers annually, is due to be ready by early 2012. Azmi said with June coming to a close, MAHB saw 18.9 per cent growth in passenger volume in the first six months of the year for all 39 of its airports in Malaysia. The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) performed slightly better at 20 per cent growth compared to last year's. Azmi said the growth was largely contributed by regional legacy carriers and the low-cost airlines. MAHB is also working on enabling seamless transfers of passengers and baggage from the main terminal in KLIA and the current LCCT, and vice-versa. The move is expected to allow passengers to check in themselves and their baggage at the terminal of arrival. "We are fine-tuning things now, but should be able to start offering it by the end of the year," Azmi said. The initiative is part of MAHB's move to ease travel for some 500 passengers on average a day, who move from the main terminal and LCCT. Source: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/pkong-2/Article/#ixzz0sD18WFOu

Now, you can say I shoot all sorts of birds...

This regular KUL visitor also comes into SIN:

Not sure why though - the vagaries of the Net I guess. It is not always 100%! Here are a couple more. This bird from BR: And another neighbour visiting:

Don't worry too much about A.Net - Uncle Norman has lots of stories about that. But you will get the hang of what they are looking for sooner or later. Important thing is to continue shooting and polishing your editing techniques and skills. Here's one for Iggy: And from our ASEAN neighbours in the Philippines comes this Cebu Pacific Airbus:

Hahaha! Don't kid yourself, KC! You are more of a grandmaster than I am because you simply rattle off more frames through your dedication! I am a lazy spotter who only chooses to go out if I can be assured of a "safe shoot", i.e. shoots that will get some results and not coming back empty handed. I can never get lucky shots. Only hardcore spotters like you can get lucky cos you make your own luck!

Yeah Hon Kit, what was I photographing?

Not as surprising as it sounds - cos MH has invested a lot in MRO facilities. If RR Trent 700 EPs are specified, it may involve a lot of other costs as well as staff retraining. This may also indicate that MH might not use the A333s for too long - they may see this as a stop gap to renew a tired old fleet pending a permanent replacement later on.

The morning light was not great. I believe that this was the plane that carried Hon Kit to SIN:

It is always nice to meet MWingers and you are no exception! One of these days, I may get off my lazy butt and join you, chaity and the others in Sepang town! Traffic was stop-start in SIN on Saturday. Its no wonder we needed some traffic control: All these expert eyes are trained on the skies: We were lucky our hurriedly recruited photographer (thank you sir, sorry we did not ask for your name) who only made one shot did a good one! The colours are wonderfully rich and warm, much like everyone who came - rich with experiences and warm with friendships.

When this big mama came in, I was not aware it had fake stuff. I thought only China had loads of these!

For KUL spotters, the A380 will remain a rare bird until the MH aircraft comes into service. This is SQ's second A380, 9V-SKB: The apple of KC's eye, the MD-11F trijet from FedEx in the warm glow of a fine Changi evening:

KUL-HDY will be reintroduced in August and Tehran is advertised on their website as coming soon.

Cikgu, please head over here: http://www.malaysianwings.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=4108&st=1860

Just got back home and I had a lot of catching up to do. With the World Cup matches recorded, I got a backlog of matches. Watching F1 European GP too! Busy busy busy! Thanks guys, for the very quick reports that were posted. It was a fantastic spotting session and we sure drew quite a bit of curious looks from the regular beach goers. Its great to have met so many of you and thanks for posting up the names - I am never good at names! Cornelis, so sorry that you got sunk by red tape. It would have been great if we had you here as well. Maybe we can join you again when you eventually come in August. Pieter is now hanging out at KLIA waiting for his 2 am flight back. I am sure he will share his stories (and pix) when he gets home. Kianhong and Raymond - it was good to meet the two of you too. Now I can put faces to the pix that I see posted! Hon Kit, I think all of us who were there in the morning got your Fireflyz bird too... Sri Ramani, strange that we missed the whole group of guys who left the convenience store to walk back to the car park! Were we that intense in discussion? KC - finally I get the chance to meet you. Just like chaity, you are another one of my heroes! Thanks for all your help and guidance here (as well as being my personal navigator to Changi Beach). I am sure that made a good deal of difference for all those who are spotting in SIN for the first time. Waiping and Pieter - the two of you came from some distance and I hope you got what you came for. Waiping, do remember that when you spot in SIN, one battery pack is definitely NOT ENOUGH! To all the people I have met in SIN, it was a pleasure seeing all you guys pursuing a worthwhile and interesting past time. To all those who I did not get to chat with, my apologies - shooting the planes was more important! No bulis and those magnificent flying machines against the blue skies definitely made it worth the drive down to SIN and back. To all who could not make it this year, hope you can come to next year's anniversary spotting session!

Here we go kianhong

The new seats have 31" pitch. Those who are below 1.75m tall should be OK in the new seats (whereas in the past, you need to be below 1.7m tall. Those above that height are advised to get the lie flat seats.

Perhaps AF wants whatever slots at CDG reserved for it and not dished out to airlines like MH - much in the same manner that MH wants the KUL-SYD slots for itself and D7 can't have them.

Vietnam Airlines expects it will have to wait until 2015 to receive its first Boeing 787 after switching its 16-aircraft order from the -8 to the stretched -9 due to unexpected performance limitations on the original model. The government-owned flag carrier first ordered four 787-8s in 2005 for delivery from 2009. In 2007 Vietnam Airlines ordered four more 787-8s and Vietnam Aircraft Leasing ordered eight 787-8s on behalf of the carrier. Vietnam Airlines CEO Pham Ngoc Minh says its 787 deliveries have since been delayed six times by Boeing and the carrier has had to switch to the -9 because the -8s no longer meet the carrier's performance requirements. Minh explains the -8s are now too heavy to economically operate long-haul routes from Vietnam to Europe and North America. "The -8 doesn't meet the performance guarantee as they told me," Minh told Flightglobal on the sidelines of this week's SkyTeam meeting in New York. "We found the -8 is a heavy -8; it's not the original -8 they committed to." The bigger 787-9, which follows the 787-8 in development, is now scheduled to enter service at the end of 2013. But Minh says Boeing is only offering Vietnam Airlines -9 slots from 2015. He says Vietnam is trying to speak to Boeing about moving up to earlier 787-9 slots but so far it has been difficult to get a firm plan from the manufacturer. "They've delayed six times already. I don't know how many more times they will delay," he says. For now Boeing still lists all 16 787s ordered by Vietnam Airlines and Vietnam Aircraft Leasing as -8s. It is not clear why Boeing has not formally changed the order to -9s but the manufacturer could be waiting to conclude a re-negotiated deal with its Vietnamese customers that may also include new Boeing 777s. Minh says waiting until 2015 "is not our requirement" and "in the interim we continue to negotiate with Boeing". He adds Vietnam Airlines is now looking to expand its Boeing 777-200 and Airbus A330 fleets to fill the gap caused by the extensive delivery delays to its 787s. Vietnam Airlines also has 10 A350-900s on order but Minh says these are not scheduled to be delivered from 2014, or only slightly ahead of the carrier's first 787-9. Minh says Vietnam currently operates 20 widebodies - 10 777-200s and 10 A330s - but its fleet plan includes at least 40 widebody aircraft by 2015. Vietnam requires the 20 additional widebodies over the next five years - plus another 15 to 20 widebodies in the 2015-2020 timeframe - to meet an ambitious expansion plan that will see the carrier launch new routes to Australia, Europe and North America. "With manufacturers it's sometimes difficult for me to push them, especially for next-generation because for next-generation they have certain difficulties. But the market is there and we have an ambitious plan," Minh says. "We can't wait. We have to add more A330s and maybe more 777s until the time we can replace all of it." He adds Vietnam Airlines plans to use its 787-9s and A350-900s on similar missions but the carrier needs to acquire both types because neither manufacturer has enough slots to meet the carrier's requirement for 55 to 60 widebodies by 2020. Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/06/24/343611/vietnam-airlines-switches-787-order-to-9s.html

No. 1 oredi! Well done Kian Hong!

BERLIN, June 23 (Bernama) -- German aviation circles are abuzz with news of possible cancellation of an order placed by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) with aircraft manufacturer Airbus for the super-jumbo passenger aircraft A380. The various government agencies associated with the aviation sector are closely monitoring the signals coming from Malaysia. Germany has a stake in the European aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, which is part of the EADS Group. The possibility of an order for A380 aircraft being cancelled is causing a great deal of nervousness particularly at a time when the aircraft manufacturer is anxious not to lose any business in a global market that is increasingly characterised by deep economic uncertainties and a downturn in demand. There are also fears that MAS' cancellation of the order could prompt other airlines to also do the same. According to aviation circles in Germany, MAS has been quietly but firmly venting its frustrations to Airbus over the delay in delivering the big bird. German media has been quoting Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin, MAS managing director and chief executive officer, as saying that “we are very unhappy”. Indeed, Azmil has reportedly warned the aircraft manufacturer that the airline would not tolerate any further delay. This message is interpreted by the Germans as a “clear warning” to Airbus that in the event of further delay, MAS would use its right to cancel the order. Should MAS resort to exercise this right, this would be the first time that the A380 passenger aircraft is not being accepted by a customer. The development of the freight aircraft was stopped after FedEx and UPS said they were not interested in the acquisition of that aircraft. MAS has placed an order with Airbus for six aircraft of the A380 type. MAS has waited for four years for the delivery of their first wide-bodied Airbus. As an old customer, MAS was given price discounts which Airbus has not been disclosing. However, some German aviation experts say that it “must have been discounts of up to one third of the price”. The list price for a A380 is US$340 million a piece. Airbus had encountered major technical and other problems in the development and construction of the world’s biggest passenger aircraft, as a result of which, all the customers received their aircraft after a delay of several years. In the meantime, the problems have been resolved and Airbus has begun delivering the aircraft. The aircraft manufacturer has processing orders on a “first-come-first-serve” basis. The German airline, Lufthansa, recently received its first A380 aircraft after having to wait for some years. The aircraft is being deployed on the long-haul Frankfurt-Tokyo route. The sequence in which Malaysia placed its order was after those of other airlines. It was promised delivery of the aircraft in January 2011 but Airbus announced that it would be delaying delivery to the third quarter of the year. But even this delivery timeframe does not appear realistic now. The aircraft manufacturer is reportedly planning to deliver the first A380 aircraft in the second quarter of 2012. Airbus has apologised to MAS for the delayed delivery. irbus, which has been delivering the aircraft since 2007, has earned praise in the past for its reliability. It will be delivering at least 20 wide-bodied A380 aircraft this year to customer airlines. Production of the aircraft has been sold out until 2015.

MAS can do without A380s Analysts say they can be replaced with aircraft of other makes PETALING JAYA: The possibility of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) cancelling its A380s order from Airbus SAS is unlikely to hurt the national carrier as much as it will hurt the European planemaker. This was because MAS had options to place orders for planes of other makes to make up for the impending loss of the six A380s, said analysts. An analyst said that although the other aircraft might not be able to fly 15,400km non-stop or having a capacity as large as the A380s, there were other replacements such as the Boeing’s Dreamliner to fill up the gap. MAS, however, said it was not looking at aircraft make if it were to replace the A380s. On Monday, MAS said it might consider cancelling the six A380s it ordered following repeated delays in delivery by French aircraft maker Airbus SAS. Managing director/chief executive officer Tengku Azmil Zahruddin said there were plenty of aircraft available in the market. He added that hypothetically MAS could consider Boeing’s 777-300 in place of the A380, if it were to cancel the order. Airbus was initially scheduled to start delivering the A380s in January 2007 but has postponed it to January 2011 following delays in its programme. It was again deferred to August 2011. MAS is expecting to receive the first of six A380s in the first half of 2012. Based on the 2008 catalogue price, an A380 costs between US$317mil and US$337.5mil. An analyst said the impending cancellation from MAS, which was worth US$1.9bil, would add to the problems at Airbus. Airbus has been facing huge issues related to production of the A380 aircraft. It had earlier paid RM329mil compensation to MAS for the delay. “We are sorry about the delays (which are a knock-on effect of missing 2009 delivery target), but we are confident that we will meet the revised delivery schedule,” said Airbus media relations vice-president Stefan Schaffrath. “The thoughts of cancelling the A380s order were mainly due to Airbus’ uncertainties in delivery of the aircraft as scheduled in 2012 vis-à-vis the third delay,” Kenanga Research said, adding that the cancellation could also lead to disruptions in MAS’ expansion plan and cost efficiency. “Nevertheless, the management may leverage on its current fleet should it cancel the A380s order, while looking for replacements. “We are neutral on the news at this moment as there is no final decision to cancel the order. In our opinion, the management is currently being prudent in making such a decision to ensure its expansion plan is still intact,” Kenanga Research said. An analyst said MAS might not want to be left behind by other regional carriers and continue with its order. He said both Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways had ordered the A380s. Singapore Airlines has 19 firm orders for the A380s and currently has 10 aircraft in operation. Thai Airways ordered six aircraft. However, he said MAS also had to think about the load factor for the superjumbo jets. While MAS is contemplating replacing the A380s with B777-300s or A350s, AmResearch Sdn Bhd noted that placing fresh orders now meant that MAS had a longer queue to join for new aircraft deliveries. “Indications are that the earliest delivery for an A350 as an example – should MAS place an order now – would be in 2019,” it said. AmResearch said the B777-300s would give MAS more flexibility than A380s. Its smaller seat capacity allows easier load factor management, while frequency can be toned down during low season. “Additionally, B777s are about 20% cheaper than A380s – based on list price, meaning potentially lower capex layout,” it added. On the downside, however, higher frequencies required during high-traffic season would put MAS at a disadvantage, given higher airport charges and flight crew overnight expenses. Airbus, the world’s biggest maker of commercial aircraft, started deliveries of the A380 model in 2007 after running about two years late because of difficulties with cabin wiring. While there might be a series of delays, Airbus said no airlines had cancelled their orders of A380 so far. However, logistics companies such as FedEx and UPS have cancelled orders for A380 freighters. So far this year, Airbus has already delivered seven A380s – three to Emirates Airline, two to Air France, one to Lufthansa and one to Qantas Airways. Source: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/23/business/6524385&sec=business

Just a couple of "tips" for those visiting Singapore. 1 It may be advisable to purchase a prepaid SIM card when you arrive in Singapore from convenince stores like 7 Eleven. This will enable you text and to make phone calls at local rates and it will make it cheaper for our Singapore friends to contact you too. This card from Singtel costs S$ 8 and has S$ 10 loaded value: http://info.singtel.com/personal/communication/mobile/prepaid-plans/plans-top-up/hi-card 2 Do sign up for a free (512 Kbps) Wireless@Sg metropolitan Wifi account so that you can access the Internet at public hotspots. Info: http://www.infocomm123.sg/wireless_at_sg

Nice colourful and arty pix of XXB while in Chengdu hanger: Big image here: http://www.airliners.net/photo/AirAsia-X/Airbus-A330-343E/1728367/L/