flee

MiG-29s to fly on for a while more KUANTAN: The MiG-29N jet fighters will not be grounded as initially planned but will be used for at least another five years. Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the earlier plan was to decommission the aircraft and sell them to Third World countries. However, after taking into consideration the current economic situation, the Government decided to shelve that plan, he said. ”We have decided to continue using 10 of the 16 MiG-29N jet fighters after sending them for repairs and upgrading,” he said. Six of the aircraft have already been decommissioned, Bernama reported. ”We will call in experts from Aerospace Technology System Corp to do the necessary repairs and overhaul of the engines so that it would be safe for them to fly again,” he told reporters during a visit to the Royal Malaysian Air Force base here on Tuesday. Zahid said the plan to purchase new “multi-role combat aircraft” had to be put on hold because of the unfavourable economic climate presently. He said the ministry’s decision also took into account the views of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who in his blog said he felt that the MiG jet fighters should be retained. ”Initially, our plan was to ground the jets and sell them to Third World countries. However, we must also study our financial position. ”Perhaps over the next five years, after the global economy shows signs of recovery, we may be able to proceed with the plan,” he said. Last June, the ministry had announced a plan to decommission the MiG jets because of costly maintainence and repairs which amounted to some RM260mil annually. They were supposed to be replaced by 18 newly-acquired Sukhoi jets. The MiG jet fighters came into service in April 1995 at a cost of RM1.3bil but required regular maintenance amounting RM10mil each, in addition to engine overhauls at a cost of RM7mil every year. Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/23/nation/20100223172648&sec=nation

And here is Business Traveller's take on the new seats: http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/exclusive-new-air-asiax-seating-for-london-kl-r The expanded LCCT is not as bad as before. But to really make it worthwhile travelling by D7, you have to wait for their zero fare sales. I believe there is one coming up soon as they open the new block of seats for booking (Nov 2010 to Jan 2011).

Yes, but it did make a very small RM 3+ million operating profit. At the rate things are going, fuel hedging gains and losses might fall under "profit or loss from ordinary activities" since fuel price fluctuations are now the norm rather than the exception. So maybe we need to revise our criteria when assessing the financials!

KC, thanks so much for offering your experience and knowledge on this. For a start I think we should put up a register of attendees so that we can see what kind of crowd will make it to SIN. That way, we have a better idea of what resources will be needed. List of Attendees: 1 Pieter C & Mai 3 Cornelis Boersma 4 5 6

OT: Put CF card in external card reader and connect it to computer. Format it on computer (use full format, not quick format) and then return it to the camera. Then use the camera to format the CF again. Very nice! I thought Saudi only send their 747s but it looks like 777s also get their TLC at SZB.

Main problem with SZB is that the surrounding area is fully developed and any air terminal services must be built on existing land. Also, if there is an aircraft emergency or air crash around the vicinity of the airport, ground casualties would be quite severe!

Here is Azran's post in the AirAsia.com blog: Finally, New Seats for AirAsia X - including the World’s First lie-flat bed seats on a Low Cost Carrier! 16 Feb 2010 by [AirAsia Blogger] Azran Ever since the first new A330 aircraft delivery for AirAsia X came with the “non-reclining” black leather seats in November 2008, we knew this was going to be a big issue for us. Sure enough, the complaints started pouring in incessantly about these uncomfortable seats. We’ve been tackling this for almost a year and a half, and now, finally, we believe we have a much better seat solution for our long-haul guests. When we first ordered aircraft in 2007, the global aviation industry was very different. It was the boom time, and airlines were ordering new planes by the hundreds. Seat manufacturers were buzzing with more orders than they could fill. We were left with only one seat supplier who was willing to design seats for our aircraft, at a reasonable price, according to our required timeframe. We had no other choices. They pitched to us a new design called ‘fixed-back shell’ seats. The idea was that the seat would not recline backwards, but would achieve the same recline-angle by the seat bottom gliding forward and the seat back moving along to get its ‘recline’ angle. The advantage was supposed to be better personal space management, so that you’re not bothered when the person in front leans back (especially when you’ve got the meal tray down trying to eat or work on your laptop, or when you need to get out to the aisle). Lesson Learned. When the seats were manufactured, this design turned out to be very problematic, mainly because the cushion was too hard, the gliding mechanism too stiff, and edge of the seat bottom that was supposed to drop down to create ‘knee-space’ did not – which meant knees were banging on the seat in front. It was a disaster. Our team tried to go back to all the seat suppliers to get a better design. As fate would have it, the industry turned upside down by llate 2008, and new aircraft orders almost screeched to a halt. Suddenly, seat manufacturers had extra capacity. We finally got a much better design proposal from the best supplier in the business. Took our joint team one year to detail out the designs, put the seats through safety certification (a very rigorous process), and get them manufactured for delivery. New Economy Seat Back to Traditional Recline. 31" pitch for A330, 32" pitch for A340 We decided to move away from the traditional ‘black’ leather, and opted for a mix of red and grey, to brighten up and make the cabin less ‘optically constricted’. Brighter Cabin We also made a bold decision to scrap our ‘premium economy’ 38” pitch seats and replace them with full lie-flat bed business class seats. We felt the economics were very similar between 28 premium economy seats and 12 lie-flat bed seats, and therefore we might as well opt for the latter and up the quality of our product. Our Air Canada business class seats (on the A340s flying to London) gave us confidence that we could create a new airline product category – full lie-flat bed seats, for the price similar to other legacy carriers’ economy seat and a fraction of business class seat. After all, we felt people wanted most was a comfortable seat. The free-flowing champagne, five-star cuisine and lounge does not justify the thousands of dollars more charged in a normal business class fare. Oh yes, we’ve also added power socket on these premium seats! World's First lie-Flat Bed Seats on a Low Cost Carrier! Power Sockets! The first plane with the new seats has now started operations. If you’ve been on this plane, do let me know what you think of the seats. Other existing aircraft will all go through the seat change, and by June 2010, we should be able to complete all of our AirAsia X retrofit aircraft. Hopefully, we wont face any logistics and supply issues. In parallel, we’ve also decided to move away from in-seat in-flight entertainment systems (screens on every seat). Unfortunately, demand simply is not there to cover the massive cost of the system, the cost of Hollywood content, and the extra weight and complexity from the wiring. We think portable units are the way forward, and are now working on a new portable media solution that we hope to debut by mid-year. One thing we’ve learned is that we’ve always got to be on our toes. Sometimes we don’t get things right the first time, but we’ve got to change and adapt. Standing still is not an option for us. Thanks for all the constructive comments on our seats. We've listened. We've invested and revamped. Please bear with us during the transition period over the next few months.

ACI Airport Service Quality Awards 2009, Asia Pacific airports sweep top places in worldwide awards 1) Incheon (ICN) 2) Singapore (SIN) 3) Hong Kong (HKG) 4) Beijing (PEK) 5) Hyderabad (HYD) More here!

I think it is quite an amazing incident, especially for a plane that is taking off at its home base! Yes, the flight crew should have been immediately suspended pending full investigations. Hmmmm... KLM needs to review its SOP. Remember that "star" captain responsible for the Tenerife crash?

Yes most interesting spin. So MAS is in the business of developing routes for D7....

Dutch investigators have opened an inquiry after a KLM Boeing 737-300 took off from a taxiway at Amsterdam Schiphol yesterday. The aircraft, registered PH-BDP, was departing on a service to Warsaw when the incident occurred. Flight KL1369 was supposed to use runway 36C but instead took off from taxiway B which runs parallel on the eastern side. A spokeswoman for the Dutch Safety Board states that the incident is being classified as "serious" by the investigators. The aircraft continue to Warsaw and the crew was interviewed on return, she adds. KLM lists KL1369's scheduled departure time as 20:20 and the spokesman says the incident took place at 20:36. Amsterdam Schiphol would have been in darkness at this time. Meteorological data from the airport shows good visibility and weather conditions at the time. Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/02/12/338362/klm-737-takes-off-from-taxiway-at-amsterdam-schiphol.html

Its about as fair as using taxpayers' money to bail out MAS when it runs into trouble! If you are talking just about D7, I am not sure if what you say is 100% correct. For example, MH does not fly to Coolangatta, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Stanstead, etc. Those routes were pioneered by D7.

Yes, some of the expectations of the pax can be considered weird, like wanting blood out of stone! I think D7 learnt their lesson - so the new seat reconfiguration on their aircraft now exclude PTVs on seat backs. They mentioned that the uptake is only 30%, so why put them on 100% of the seats. Easier to just carry the portable units as they cost less both in terms of RM and weight.

Another report on this: AirAsia buying 30% of VietJet By Leithen Francis AirAsia is buying 30% of Vietnamese start-up VietJet, which means the Malaysian low-cost carrier appears to have finally succeeded in its long-held ambition to enter the Vietnamese market. "The ministry of transportation of Vietnam approved the [30%] share acquisition on 9 February", says AirAsia. The Vietnamese start-up will be positioned as a low-cost carrier and will be branded VietJet AirAsia and tap AirAsia's expertise to market low-cost flights, it says. "VietJet is finalising details regarding routes, frequencies and launch of flights," says AirAsia, adding that the Vietnamese joint-venture will operate domestically and internationally. VietJet has been trying to launch for at least two years but has kept delaying, citing the downturn in the aviation market. In 2008 it signed a letter-of-intent with GE Commercial Aviation Services for two Boeing 737-700s but later cancelled the deal. AirAsia, meanwhile, has been trying for years to enter the Vietnamese market in an effort to fulfil the ambitions of AirAsia's founder Tony Fernandes who wants the carrier to be in every major ASEAN market. Besides Malaysia, it already has airlines in Indonesia and Thailand. In 2007, AirAsia announced it would be establishing an airline in Vietnam in partnership with the country's national shipbuilding company Vinashin. It held a high-profile press event in which Vietnam's prime minister was present. Any new airline in Vietnam needs prime ministerial approval. But AirAsia's joint-venture with Vinashin failed to get approval as the government tried to limit the number of air operator certificates issued. This was to protect Vietnam Airlines and, to a lesser extent, Qantas Airways' Vietnamese joint-venture Jetstar Pacific. Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/02/11/338286/airasia-buying-30-of-vietjet.html

Yes, I think that if the AirAsia branding is used on all these airlines, the "virtual regional airline" will look very impressive. If you are in Changi, you might think that that is AirAsia's home airport since so many flights arrive and depart from there. To the uninitiated, the subtle differences in the flags on the noses of the aircraft don't mean much to them. It looks like HKG and TPE are also receiving increasing numbers of AirAsia flights. With VietJet AirAsia, the AirAsia Web will be cast wider and flights to Japan on the A320 will be viable too. So it will add another dimension and AirAsia is truly an ASEAN airline.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- AirAsia's long haul affiliate, AirAsia X, will increase its frequency to Hangzhou, the gateway of Shanghai, with direct daily flights starting March 28, 2010. "The response has been extremely good as we are running past 80 per cent load factor for the Hangzhou-Kuala Lumpur routes," said AirAsia Regional Head of Commercial Kathleen Tan. In a statement Wednesday, she said the airline always positioned Hangzhou as its eastern gateway into the Yangtze Delta region as it took only 75 minutes to Shanghai by bullet train. Hangzhou is one of the most popular tourist attractions in China, famed for its West Lake, Longjing Tea Fields and Six Harmonies Pagoda. The AirAsia X flight to Hangzhou is serviced by Airbus A330-300 with 383 economy seats including 28 premium seats. AirAsia X will depart from Kuala Lumpur at 8.10am and arrive in Hangzhou at 1.10pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and at 5.20pm to reach its destination at 10.20pm every Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday. The flight from Hangzhou will depart at 2.10pm and arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 7.10pm every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and at 11.20pm to arrive here 4.20am every Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday. AirAsia has 198 flights weekly flying from various destinations in Asean to nine destinations in China including Hong Kong and Macau. Source: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsbusiness.php?id=474774

Yes, I think so - last time Vietnamese govt. did not give their approval. I think the partner is also different this time, and it looks like it may be called AirAsia too, just like the Thai and Indonesia AirAsia JVs.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- AirAsia Bhd through its fully owned subsidiary, AA International Ltd, is set to establish a joint venture airline in Vietnam. The venture will see the Malaysian and Vietnamese parties establishing a low cost airline in Vietnam based on the successful AirAsia business model. The main Vietnamese party will be SOVICO Holdings, an established corporation with interests in banking and finance, real estate, plantation and power plants. In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, AirAsia said the venture would enhance the company's ASEAN regional expansion by providing AirAsia with additional routes and destinations. "Vietnam will be a gateway which connects the travel markets of Asean with mainland China and potentially the regions of South Asia, North and East Asia including possibly Japan, Korea and Taiwan," it stated. Subject to regulatory approvals, the joint-venture is expected to commence operations either in April or June this year. Source: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsbusiness.php?id=474925

Thanks! It was unfortunate that the recession spoilt this unique service. The A345 is such a nice aircraft and its quiet cabin is most suitable for the kind of premium service that SQ has envisaged. Great stuff from all you guys who were at SIN!

XXE had to go into service on 28 Jan 2010, D7 took off XXB for maintenance. From 1 Feb, XXE will primarily focus on Melbourne.

Yes, this year, the airshow has lost its lustre! BTW, do you know where that SQ A345 was heading? Looks like SQ is slowly restoring its A345 all-biz class services...

The suspension of AUH so soon after its introduction has caused a lot of bad feeling amongst those who have booked on those flights. If D7 wants to regain some goodwill, it will have to offer some compensation - perhaps free flights when AUH services resume to those who have booked on the cancelled flights.

I suspect that the upper deck is not needed for the 747-8F - so maybe the upper deck only has the crew rest area. I note that pix of the 747-8I show a full upper deck all the way to the wing.

Singapore Airlines delays A380 deliveries (AFP) – Sep 3, 2009

If the A380 was doing so great with SQ, why did they also defer their deliveries of their new aircraft? I suspect that cash flows have weakened and the ability to finance the giant whalejet is somewhat difficult. They want to buy some time so that their debt repayments will not be so stressful once business picks up again later.