flee

Yes, such is the local business scene (yes, cronyism is so bad!) that most local companies are treated with varying degrees of scepticism. It is as if to say that we don't believe business is possible without the grubby hands of politicians and royalty dipping their hands in!

Congratulations and best wishes to Silverfly. We need more airlines in Malaysia so that customers have more choice and better service at lower fares! With regards to aircraft choice, I think that the ATR72 is probably still be best aircraft to buy or lease for now since it has low operating costs and you don't have the pressure of selling so many seats to achieve a good load factor - something to bear in mind for an operator that has IPH as its hub. Once you have established the demand pattern you can look to having jets like the Bombardier C series, Airbus A319/320 or Boeing 737-800. However, I am not sure if you can carry a full pax load and take off safely from IPH. Look forward to seeing your website!

Is that a feature of D7's take offs? Spotters in STN note that D7's A343 take off roll is usually very long. Perhaps, it is a "green takeoff" to reduce fuel consumption. SQ's A380s have been trying these at LHR and apparently, it does save about 300 kgs worth of fuel on a takeoff run there!

I just did some googling and I think it is just a new name to Riau's operations. I guess it is some sort of joint venture between Silverfly Sdn Bhd and Riau. http://www.malaysia.com/news/2009/08/new-low-cost-carrier-silverfly-to-fly-ipoh-medan-route/

1 Pieter C & Mai 3 Cornelis Boersma 4 Liew Hon Kit 5 Tony 6 Wai Ping 7 flee 8 Come join the list

Looking forward to your pix again - really interesting Latin American traffic there! Yes, I think trijets are something different from the twins and quads. Unfortunately, I have only flown once or twice on SQ 727s, MH DC-10s and BA L-1011s. But I really enjoyed the L-1011 flights from LHR-KUL. Virtually empty and I can have all three seats to myself, with window views! Hmmm, to go from Singapore to Amsterdam and then to Quito - is the journey time longer or shorter than your previous trip? One thing for sure, it is definitely going to be less hassle as you don't need to tolerate US security checks.

Yes competition is good, even if you don't travel on AK or D7. I remember that the MH return to HKG were still over RM 1,000 before AK flew there. Now we have intense competition on the KUL-MEL route and pax of all the carriers benefit from lower fares compared to KUL-SYD. I guess with the Minister involed in a party crisis, little time is given to running the country. Meanwhile, I note that D7 is just increasing frequencies to its existing popular routes.

If the terminal signboards or electronic displays are well designed and positioned, it should be relatively easy to find the departure gates without AK staff needing to direct the pax as they are currently doing at the old LCCT.

INTERNATIONAL air passenger traffic grew 6.4 per cent in January compared with a year earlier, with Asia, Latin America and the Middle East lifting demand. Cargo demand also grew 28.3 per cent in January compared with the corresponding month in 2009, and was up 3 per cent from December, as businesses moved to restock inventories, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in a statement yesterday. "We are starting to see some encouraging signs in demand, albeit, with large differences among the regions," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA director-general. A recovery in passenger traffic was notable among Asian-Pacific carriers, which posted 6.5 per cent growth year-on-year. Compared with the lowest point reached in 2009, demand for these carriers has risen 31 per cent. In the Middle East, demand soared 23.6 per cent in January compared with January 2009, while in Latin America growth was also a robust 11 per cent. Carriers in North America and Europe recorded a more muted recovery with passenger traffic demand up just 2.1 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively. - Bernama

Well we can all say "good job" only because there were no mishaps. Does any one remember the Aeroflot captain who allowed his son to take over the controls of his plane? This incident is something all safety conscious people should look at gravely.

Yes, SIN tickets are in plentiful supply. KUL to SIN is RM 4 fare, translating to around RM 100 return.

Yes, the haze started coming back after the CNY holidays. Looks like people are all getting back to work and driving like crazy - fuel subsidies coming to an end soon! The A345 is such a beauty and its a shame that there are so few that are being operated. D7 should try to get two or three for their planned ULH routes to the US so that they can fly non-stop! Good job guys!

Sorry but with AirAsia you have to chase the fares and be flexible about when you travel! That is why not everyone can fly with them. Beggars can't be choosers! But not to worry, just wait for their next promo!

Is this fare inclusive of luggage, airport tax, etc.? I got RM 24 fares for early November (both ways) and this works out to about RM 210+ return, all inclusive. Still not too bad but RM 143 would be excellent if it is all inclusive!

TPE is also 9X weekly. So these routes are performing whereas those that are not are chopped. Azran did mention that they want to do double daily on STN but will only be able to do so if they manage to find another A343 to lease at a cheap rate.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Bernama) -- AirAsia is offering one-way tickets from as low as RM9 across its extensive network in conjunction with its 'Big Sale' promotion. The sale runs for one week from March 3 to March 7 for the travel period from Sept 25, 2010 to Feb 13, 2011 via its website www.airasia.com or mobile.airasia.com, the airline said in a statement today. Travellers, it said can get the low-fare bargains from as low as RM9 one-way to Johor Baharu, Kota Baharu, Langkawi, Penang and Kuala Terengganu. For international routes, it is offering as low as RM29 for one-way travel, with Australian routes such as Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth available from RM149. In addition, other bargains include RM131 for travel to Hong Kong and RM699 to London. The airline is also concurrently running "March Mardness" campaign online within the same booking period of March 3 to March 7 for guests to enjoy immediate travel between March 23 and May 31.

This is getting to be a disease! Pilots aren't what they used to be! Aeroflot A320 takes off from Oslo taxiway Norwegian investigators have opened an inquiry after an Aeroflot Airbus A320 bound for Moscow Sheremetyevo took off from a taxiway at Oslo Gardermoen yesterday. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/02/26/338869/aeroflot-a320-takes-off-from-oslo-taxiway.html

The financial report made interesting reading. The additional pax carried also paid lower fares than in 2008 (partly explained by the removal of fuel surcharges and admin fees). For 2010, we can see average fares rising over what was charged in 2009 because they have increased baggage charges as well as introduced the convenience fee for payments. We are also beginning to see more contributions from the Thai and Indonesia AirAsia operations as they move more of their flights to the higher capacity and more fuel efficient A320s.

I think only March bookings are open. I saw a fare of 900 baht one way.

We can be a cynical lot here, but then we know what our govt. is perfectly capable of!

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Bhd announced a pre-tax profit of RM639.317mil for the year ended Dec 31, 2009, a turnaround from a pre-tax loss of RM869.198mil in 2008. In contrast to the aviation industry gloom, AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said the budget airlines’ revenue for the year was higher by 11.5% to RM3.179bil against RM2.851bil previously. In a statement, AirAsia said its passenger growth registered a healthy 21% increase to 14.2 million in the Malaysian operations. The combined Malaysian, Thailand and Indonesian operations carried 24% more passengers, totalling 22.7 million, it said. Fernandes said: “We have successfully grown our market share in every market we served, opened up four new bases (Penang, Bandung, Phuket and Surabaya), launched new routes and amassed RM748mil cash in the balance sheet as a bulwark against any contingencies that may arise.” Full report here: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/25/business/20100225204953&sec=business Reuters report in Business Times: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20100225191155/Article/index_html Financial Report: http://announcements.bursamalaysia.com/EDMS/edmsweb.nsf/all/55EA9620B28F9A9D482576D5003B1A48/$File/AirAsia_Bursa%20Announcement_Q4%202009_FINAL.pdf

SUBANG, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- Subang SkyPark Sdn Bhd expects two more airlines, one from Indonesia and the other from Thailand, to fly into the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport this year. Its chief operating officer Janardhanan Gopala Krishnan said the two airlines were in the process of getting the necessary approvals from the relevant ministries and authorities. "The airline from Thailand has almost completed the process while for the Indonesian airline, discussions are still ongoing," he said during a media tour of the SkyPark Terminal at the airport here Thursday. Subang SkyPark is the commercial operator of the SkyPark Terminal. Currently, the airport is home to Berjaya Air and Firefly flights. Janardhanan said total passenger movement at the airport was projected to double this year from 1.3 million last year. This was due to increase flight frequencies and destination expansion as Berjaya Air and Firefly will be getting additional aircraft this year, he said. At the moment, the airport accommodates an average of 60 flights per day, comprising local and regional arrivals and departures. "We already see the passenger number increasing from 2008 when we first started the project to December last year, up by five-fold," Janardhanan said. He said for this year, the immediate focus was to improve some of the service offerings at the terminal. The company is upgrading the check-in counters, ticketing offices, food and beverage outlets, retail stores, valet parking service, amenities such as broadband Wi-Fi, and public convenience. The company will kickstart development of the hangar complex and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility for commercial and corporate aircraft, Janardhanan said. He said that work is also scheduled to start on the Commercial Nexus for leisure destinations in the third quarter. Subang SkyPark is involved in the RM300 million redevelopment plan for the Subang airport, with RM40 million for phase one to refurbish the terminal. Phase two will be for the MRO facility costing RM110 million while the development of the Commercial Nexus costing RM150 million is earmarked for phase three. Source: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsbusiness.php?id=477955

ZA004 Joins Flight-Test Program Boeing media release here: http://787flighttest.com/za004-joins-flight-test-program/

Funny they don't seem to mention the high cost of maintenance for the F/A-18s. Looks like Russian fighters cost less to buy but more to maintain. If so, why is the govt. still looking to purchase more Russian fighters? Perhaps, they have forgotten to do their Total Cost of Ownership analysis?

Getting ready for the World Cup, I guess!