flee

Australia has stricter consumer protection. It would be good if we get someone sue them for falling foul of Australian law. However, I don't think that D7 are so stupid as not to clear it with lawyers before advertising. Frankly most of the time, consumers are too naive and forget to read the T&C - they only see what they want to see, i.e. FOC seats. So it is not easy to succeed in a legal case. Yes, some of the more savvy Aussies have already said that D7 is god sent to them. For the price of a camping holiday in Australia, they can go overseas and enjoy paradise under the sun. So not everyone is displeased. Its about time consumers looked at the bottom line. AK/D7 are charging more for extras now because they know pax like to see low or FOC seat prices. So the important figure is the final amount you have to pay, not whether the seat is FOC or not.

Yes, the current D7 general all destination free seats promo is the first time it has done that. It has not joined the AK zero fare promos in the past due to limited supply of free tickets. Lately, even the launch of new destinations did not offer FOC seats - most of the time it is priced at RM 99, RM 129, or RM 199. Yes, D7 is not for everyone as it caters to a different market. Those who have complained about the current D7 gimmick are most likely not typical of the typical customer profile for D7. That is why it is strange that the Malaysian govt. is protecting MAS by not allowing D7 to fly into SYD. They both serve different market segments and competition is minimal. Some people will never fly D7 while others won't bother with MH. Lets see what happens next...

Yes, only flights into KUL had zero fares. I checked and found that OOL-KUL can be had for around RM 220 with 15 kg luggage and one meal. MEL-KUL was around RM 250. D7 are not known for their zero fare gimmicks and I think this marketing trick was the idea of AK. As it is, there were not that many tickets available. In any case D7 only has 10 destinations and much lower capacity. So it cannot compromise its yields too much.

Praying hard for u! Please post the pix, whatever the quality they may be! I was in HKG beginning to mid April and it was very hazy that I saw nothing when going up the Ngong Pin 360 cable car! So I was very glad that you managed to shoot the view from the cable car and shared it with us. Looking forward to the Dragonair livery!

AirAsia X may list in HK or US Shareholders will need to be consulted first PETALING JAYA: AirAsia X Sdn Bhd (AAX) is considering the possibility of listing on the Hong Kong or New York stock exchange, which are options being proposed by a couple of foreign investment banks pitching to secure the mandate for the long haul budget carrier’s initial public offering (IPO). Even so, no decision has been made on the listing venue of the IPO, which is being targeted for the second half of next year. “All the shareholders will need to be consulted on this issue, which has yet to be raised at board level. But the current foreign shareholders in AAX may be more inclined towards an overseas listing,” said a source close to the exercise. AirAsia X, which began its operations in November 2007, is 48% owned by parent company Aero Ventures Sdn Bhd (owned by Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan, Lim Kian Onn and former Air Canada chairman and CEO Robert Milton) while Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and AirAsia Bhd each has a 16% stake in the carrier. Japan’s Orix Group and Bahrain-based Manara Consortium each owns 10% in AAX. The IPO, said a source, is likely to value AAX at between US$500mil and US$600mil. It is believed that several foreign investment banks, namely Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Royal Bank of Scotland have been lobbying to get the IPO mandate, but none – local nor foreign advisers – has been appointed yet. The front runners, however, are said to be Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. One of the foreign investment banks, it is believed, had submitted a “constructive proposal” on a potential listing on a foreign exchange. “Several reasons support their recommendation for AAX to list abroad. One of them is that the company can fetch better valuation. It may be easier to raise money in these markets (Hong Kong or US) via a rights issue or other ways as they understand the business better. In Malaysia, there seems to be some psychological hang-up among certain government-linked funds that they ought to support the national carrier Malaysia Airlines instead. So, getting the institutional support in Malaysia is relatively more difficult,” he said. However, the source said the company would still be majority controlled by Malaysians and was currently in talks with a key government-linked fund to take up a strategic stake at a “low valuation” in a pre-IPO exercise. That AAX’s major shareholders could find it relatively easier to “sell” the LCC story to foreign investors can be gleaned from the foreign shareholding level of listed AirAsia Bhd. As at Feb 5 this year, it had a high foreign shareholding of some 49.8%. In fact, in December last year, it stood at just over 50%, which exceeded the 45% limit of foreign ownership of its shares as per the company’s Articles of Association. While shares held by foreigners within the prescribed limit are entitled to all rights and entitlements, those held by foreigners which have exceeded the limit are also similarly entitled except that they do not include voting rights. Furthermore, based on Bloomberg data, of the top 20 shareholders based on size of holdings (apart from Tune Air which is the single largest shareholder), the EPF is the only government-linked fund whose name appears on the list with a stake of 7.16% as at May 27. Source: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/10/business/6433994&sec=business

It would be good if we could all meet up and have dinner on the Friday or Saturday night. I suggest that we should bring our own food/picnic to Changi Beach on Saturday so that we have uninterrupted spotting! And don't forget to bring your sunblock!

They are probably used as weights to stop the plane from tipping at the tail.

SEPANG: Long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X Sdn Bhd is planning an initial public offering (IPO) in the second half of 2011, subject to market conditions. However, where it will be listed and the size of the IPO have not been determined. AirAsia Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said AirAsia X would restructure itself to become a stand-alone airline. “There have been talks on whether AirAsia X will be merged with AirAsia. We studied the best scenario and decided to let AirAsia X become a stand-alone company and be more focused on its business. “This move will allow both AirAsia and AirAsia X to pursue a clearer and more focused business strategy,” he said at a briefing here yesterday. Under the restructuring, AirAsia X will take over employment of its own pilots, cabin crew and ground staff. The announcement is expected to alleviate AirAsia’s concerns that the company is funding the growth of the privately-owned AirAsia X. Fernandes said investors were concerned over speculation that AirAsia and AirAsia X would be merged and wanted to make it clear that AirAsia would not be funding AirAsia X. “There has been an overhang on AirAsia and whether it is going to take on the financing of the aggressive expansion of AirAsia X. AirAsia will not be funding AirAsia X. It will be funded separately though an IPO,” he said. AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman Rani said an airline required capital to grow, hence it needed to raise money instead of remaining as a private entity. He said funds raised from the IPO would be used to fund its fleet expansion. Fernandes said the carrier was “starting the process” and there was not much detail yet. AirAsia X has yet to appoint any advisors or investment bankers. “We need to delivery profits this year to show investors our track record,” Azran said, adding that AirAsia X started at end-2007. AirAsia X posted revenues of RM720mil and RM231mil for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2009 and 2008 respectively. Net profit last year was RM87mil and the airline is targeting a net profit margin of some 7% this year. Azran said the carrier intended to double its revenue this year and was hopeful of hitting RM2bil in 2011. AirAsia X has recently completed its RM100mil rights issue to reduce its debt. Its gearing stands at 260% currently. Fernandes said AirAsia would still support AirAsia X and might profit-share on some routes although AirAsia would focus on destinations below four hours of flight time. Azran said AirAsia X had received approval from authorities to fly to Tokyo but was still awaiting approval from Japanese authorities. He added that the airline was evaluating the possibility of flying to a destination in continental Europe early next year as well as restarting some Middle East routes. Asked when AirAsia would begin to fly to the United States, Azran said: “I don’t think US market is realistic this year but next year maybe.” Fernandes said AirAsia X and AirAsia combined could eventually be as large as Singapore Airlines. “If you look at Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, they do not have the connections that AirAsia provides (to AirAsia X),” he said. AirAsia X currently operates a fleet of eight aircraft – six A330s and 2 A430s. It will be taking delivery of three more A330s by the end of the year. It has also ordered 17 more A330s and 10 A350s to be delivered from next year till 2020. Fernandes said AirAsia’s gearing was necessary to fund expansion. AirAsia has a net gearing ratio of 2.25 and is looking to slow down aircraft delivery to maintain its gearing level and transfer the debts of its Thai and Indonesian operations back to the respective countries. “If I had listened to analysts and had five planes a year, Tiger (Airways) would crush us by now. But now, I can slow down our growth because we have reached a size where no one can touch us,” he said. While AirAsia X is pursuing the strategy of becoming a stand-alone airline, it will continue to use the AirAsia brand as part of its 30-year brand licence agreement and the airasia.com website for a single ticketing of AirAsia and AirAsia X. Meanwhile, AirAsia X is offering free seats to all its destinations for the first time. The free seats offer is in commemoration of AirAsia X’s move into its next growth phase with 2 million guests carried to date since its inception in November 2007. The booking period is for today (June 9) and tomorrow for the travel period from Oct 11 until Nov 14 this year. An aviation analyst from a local brokerage said it was good to hear that AirAsia would not fund AirAsia X’s expansion at its own expense. “However, it is too early now to come out with the fair value for AirAsia X. We just have to wait for further announcement,” he said. Another industry analyst agreed that it was good to know AirAsia X expansion was going to be via the market but he said more details were needed for valuation. “We do not know the exact shareholding structure apart from the 15% held by its parent company with the option to increase. We also do not know the percentage of its shares to be floated but we do anticipate great news from this IPO if it materialised,” he said, adding that the current financial result for AirAsia X also remained to be seen. Source: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/9/business/6427192&sec=business

Interesting to see how the Malaysian media has spun this announcement. They have blown the MH win for best Y class to huge proportions but failed to highlight that they actually slipped to 10th in the overall airline of the year rankings.

Indian authorities recover FDR from crashed Air India Express 737 Indian authorities have found the flight data recorder of the Air India Express Boeing 737-800 that crashed at Mangalore International Airport on 22 May. The FDR was handed to the air safety team of India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) today and will be taken to the DGCA headquarters in New Delhi, says the civil aviation ministry. "[it] will be subjected to further tests for decoding and made available to the investigators," it adds. An Air India spokesman says the FDR is "intact". Investigators found the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder on 23 May, a day after the aircraft crashed and burst into flames when it overran the runway while landing at the airport in southern India. The crash killed 158 people on board the aircraft, while eight survived. Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/05/25/342357/indian-authorities-recover-fdr-from-crashed-air-india-express.html

Unconfirmed reports suggests that the aircraft's reggo is VT-AXV. Here is Chaity's shot of the plane:

Are you sure - any statistics to back this up? I think B738s and A322s are workhorses of most short-medium range routes and the likelihood of them crashing is greater due to the amount of aircraft and flights operated.

Last year MH was 9th: http://www.worldairlineawards.com/main/aoy-2009-release.htm I think it will be tough for them to move up until they refurbish their cabins. There is only so much the cabin staff can do... And yes, they do need to polish up their customer service too. They also need their new B738s, A333s and A388s urgently!

HAMBURG, GERMANY - 20TH MAY 2010 Asiana Airlines today picked up the prestige Airline of the Year award at the 2010 Skytrax World Airline Awards, that took place in Hamburg. Asiana Airlines was named winner of the Airline of the Year 2010 title, ahead of Singapore Airlines (2nd) and Qatar Airways in 3rd place. Some 40 different airlines from around the world assembled to receive their accolades, which were handed out by Skytrax Chairman, Mr Edward Plaisted. The award winners are selected by the airline industry's most important audience, it's customers. More than 17.9 million air travellers from over 100 different Nationalities took part in the 10 month survey, between July 2009 and April 2010. The awards are respected and recognised around the world for being the only truly global, independent passenger survey of airline standards. Commenting on the Airline of the Year 2010 award received by Asiana Airlines, Mr Plaisted said: "this is a fantastic achievement for Asiana Airlines to be named winner of this top Airline of the Year Award, and Asiana Airlines are clearly meeting and exceeding their customer's expectations. This award represents a true recognition of the front-line product and service that Asiana Airlines is delivering to it's customers, and the award slogan of 'The Passenger's Choice' underlines the fact that Asiana Airlines are succeeding in satisfying the hardest critics - their users." Asiana Airlines President and CEO, Mr Young-Doo Yoon, said : "We would like to express our most heartfelt appreciation to our customers who voted us for Skytrax 2010 Airline of the Year Award. Asiana Airlines is extremely honored to be recognized as the world’s top airline by our customers and to be awarded our industry’s highly esteemed accolade from Skytrax. To be the winner of the 2010 Airline of the Year Award is even more special and holds greater meaning, as it is 'The Passenger's Choice'." The final top 10 ranking in the Awards were: 1. Asiana Airlines 2. Singapore Airlines 3. Qatar Airways 4. Cathay Pacific 5. Air New Zealand 6. Etihad Airways 7. Qantas Airways 8. Emirates 9. Thai Airways 10. Malaysia Airlines THE 2010 AWARDS SUMMARY IS LISTED BELOW: Airline of the Year WINNER: Asiana Airlines Best Low-Cost Airline Worldwide WINNER: Air Asia Most Improved Airline WINNER: Garuda Indonesia Best Regional Airline WINNER: Dragonair Best Leisure / Charter Airline WINNER: Thomson Airways Best Cabin Staff WINNER: Singapore Airlines Best Inflight Entertainment WINNER: Emirates Best Airport Services WINNER: Thai Airways Best Economy Class WINNER: Malaysia Airlines Best Premium Economy Class WINNER: Qantas Best Business Class WINNER: Qatar Airways Best First Class WINNER: Etihad Airways Best Airline : Transatlantic WINNER: Virgin Atlantic Best Airline : Transpacific WINNER: Cathay Pacific Best Airline : Africa WINNER: South African Airways Best Airline : Asia WINNER: Asiana Airlines Best Airline : Australia/Pacific WINNER: Air New Zealand Best Airline : C America/Caribbean WINNER: TACA Airlines Best Airline : China WINNER: Hainan Airlines Best Airline : Eastern Europe WINNER: Malev Hiungarian Airlines Best Airline : Europe WINNER: Lufthansa Best Airline : India/Central Asia WINNER: Kingfisher Airlines Best Airline : Middle East WINNER: Qatar Airways Best Airline : North America WINNER: Air Canada Best Airline : Northern Europe WINNER: Finnair Best Airline : South America WINNER: LAN Airlines Best Airline : South East Asia WINNER: Singapore Airlines Best Airline : Southern Europe WINNER: Turkish Airlines Best Airline : Western Europe WINNER: Lufthansa Best Airline Alliance WINNER: Oneworld Alliance Best Airline Lounge - Business Class WINNER: Virgin Atlantic Best Airline Lounge - First Class WINNER: Thai Airways Best Airline Seat - Business Class WINNER: Singapore Airlines Best Airline Seat - Economy Class WINNER: Kingfisher Airlines Best Airline Seat - First Class WINNER: Etihad Airways Best Airline Seat - Premium Economy Class WINNER: Qantas Airways Best Low-Cost Airline Africa WINNER: Kulula Best Low-Cost Airline Asia WINNER: Air Asia Best Low-Cost Airline Australia/Pacific WINNER: Virgin Blue Best Low-Cost Airline Europe WINNER: Air Berlin Best Low-Cost Airline India WINNER: IndiGo Best Low-Cost Airline Middle East WINNER: Air Arabia Best Low-Cost Airline North America WINNER: Virgin America Best Low-Cost Airline South America WINNER: GOL Best Onboard Catering - Business Class WINNER: Qatar Airways Best Onboard Catering - Economy Class WINNER: Turkish Airlines Best Onboard Catering - First Class WINNER: Etihad Airways Staff Service Excellence Award - Africa WINNER: South African Airways Staff Service Excellence Award - Asia WINNER: Malaysia Airlines Staff Service Excellence Award - Australia/Pacific WINNER: Air New Zealand Staff Service Excellence Award - C America/Caribbean WINNER: TACA Airlines Staff Service Excellence Award - China WINNER: Hainan Airlines Staff Service Excellence Award - Europe WINNER: Swiss Int'l Airlines Staff Service Excellence Award - India/Central Asia WINNER: Kingfisher Airlines Staff Service Excellence Award - Middle East WINNER: Qatar Airways Staff Service Excellence Award - North America WINNER: WestJet Staff Service Excellence Award - South America WINNER: LAN Airlines ABOUT THE AWARDS The World Airline Awards were established 1999, and based on the annual World Airline Survey. The 2009/2010 Survey included over 200 airlines, from the largest international airlines to domestic carriers, throughout the world. The survey demographics are underlined by more than 100 different nationality of air travellers taking part. The survey measures over 38 different items of customer satisfaction for each airline's product and service standards. Assessing the typical customer experience across Airport and Onboard environments - from check-in to boarding, while onboard the customers rate seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, food and beverages, inflight entertainment and many aspects of staff service.

Normal room at Crowne Plaza was going at S$ 221+++ until last month. This month it has gone up to S$ 253+++. Not sure if it is possible to have four people in a room and remain undetected!

Thanks for the KUL coverage, kianhong!

I think Wai Ping must have snagged lots of BKI-KUL seats - not many left! KUL-BKI return is RM 40+ with 15 kg luggage KUL-SGN return is RM 170+ with 15 kg luggage and one meal Worthwhile savings if you don't mind spending hours waiting for that overworked server to complete your booking!

Three new A333's will be delivered this year - XXF is June, XXG July and XXH Nov. They start New Delhi in August and they have already said they are launching Seoul and Japan this year. Do they still have enough aircraft to cover Tehran, even if this was true? This announcement sounds more like FUD by the Minister to cover his inability to approve Sydney for them.

Nikkei Asia Prizes Awarded To 3 Individuals: http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20100519D19EE841.htm

I guess AK has decided to have the planes ETOPS capable but only certify them when they have routes that require them. This way, there will be no down time modifying them retrospectively.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 (Bernama)-- AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes was awarded the prestigious Nikkei Asia Prize in Tokyo today for his contribution to the growth of Asia. The award, by leading Japanese newspaper publisher Nikkei Inc, recognises Tony's role in democratising travel in Asia, said AirAsia in a statement. According to Nikkei Inc, under his leadership, AirAsia revolutionised the air travel industry in the region by pioneering the discount carrier phenomenon. As a result, air travel became widely accessible to people from all walks of life, boosting travel in the region, it added. AirAsia said the award is a timely recognition for AirAsia, which is hoping to start Malaysia-Japan flights this year. AirAsia plans to make Kuala Lumpur the premier gateway to ASEAN for Japanese tourists. It is also hoping to offer low-fare flights to Japan to the 600-million strong ASEAN population. "We're here to link more communities and to grow travel and tourism in Asia. We look forward to providing more links between the ASEAN region and the rest of Asia, including Japan. "Links between countries play an integral part in strengthening Asia economically, socially and politically, and we are committed to helping achieve this," added Tony. Tony is the only airline executive to have received the award. He is also the first Malaysian individual to be given the award since the launch of the annual Nikkei Asia Prizes in 1996.

AHX was delivered to AK yesterday and is on its ferry flight back to KUL. Is this going to be ETOPs capable as well?

I think it was mentioned at the time MH ordered the A333s. They are returning the leased planes and MKR is one of them. This plane first flew in 1995 and is returned to ILFC who has now found a new customer for it.

The A380 has been saving MH's bacon and they still tell the govt. that it is a liability and need protection on the KUL-SYD route? If so, they should perhaps cancel the order and then it will no longer be a burden!

AirAsia X (D7) does not do zero fare gimmicks. But RM 600+ return to Melbourne is a pretty decent deal!