flee

For those who plan to shoot the Thunderbirds, here is a taste of what you can do. Found this on a.net

It is more or less guaranteed that there will be massive traffic jams on the narrow roads leading to RMAF Subang. So unless you arrive very early (maybe 7 or 8 am), you might not be able to get in... I do not think that there is any public transport to the base other than taxis.

9M-XXC should be in the D7 fleet around 1 October 2009.

'Xcellence' Touches Down in Oakland On June 25, 2009, The Oakland Raiders announced an unprecedented sponsorship with AirAsia, the largest low-fare airline in Asia. Highlighting the sponsorship is an AirAsia A340 airliner named “Xcellence” that is adorned with Raider marks and imagery, including the Raider shield on the tailfin and an eye patch on the nose of the plane. That airplane touched down in the United States for the very first time this morning and was put on display at the Oakland International Airport. A formal press conference was held on the tarmac of the Oakland International Airport as AirAsia was introduced to the local community. More here: http://www.raiders.com/news/article-1/Xcellence-Touches-Down-in-Oakland/c5040ec4-2e8c-43ab-a603-5c261b1e0502

PRIVATE PLACEMENT OF NEW ORDINARY SHARES OF PAR VALUE RM0.10 EACH IN AIRASIA We refer to the announcements in relation to the Private Placement. On behalf of the Board of Directors of AirAsia, we wish to announce that AirAsia has completed the bookbuilding exercise for the offering of 380 million new AirAsia Shares pursuant to the Private Placement (“Placement Shares”) representing 16.0% of the issued and paid-up share capital of AirAsia as at 10 September 2009. Based on the Record of Depositors of AirAsia as at 10 September 2009, the foreign shareholding level of AirAsia amounted to 46.10%. The Private Placement was oversubscribed with strong demand from foreign institutional investors. The final allocation and size of the Private Placement was aimed to achieve a post-placement foreign ownership level of 45.0% in line with AirAsia’s Articles of Association. In addition, we wish to announce that the issue price has been fixed at RM1.33 per Placement Share. This represents a discount of 6.71% to the five (5)-day volume weighted average market price of AirAsia Shares up to and including 14 September 2009 of RM1.4257 per AirAsia Share. Based on the issue price of RM1.33 per Placement Share and the offering of 380 million Placement Shares, the Private Placement is expected to raise gross proceeds of RM505.4 million. CIMB Investment Bank Berhad and Credit Suisse (Singapore) Limited acted as joint placement agents for the Private Placement. This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or elsewhere. The securities of AirAsia are not being registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”) and may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements under the Securities Act. There will be no public offering of the securities in the United States. This announcement is dated 15 September 2009. Source: http://www.klse.com.my/website/bm/listed_companies/company_announcements/announcements/index.jsp

I contacted the military attaché at the US embassy in KL but he did not have any information at all. He said best to check the RMAF website. Maybe we should monitor the airspace closure announcements around SZB.

SINGAPORE, Sept 13 – One year after the global economy went into a tailspin, taking with it the airline business, the global carriers appear to be levelling out from their steep dive. True, business is nowhere near where it was a year ago, but demand for air travel is slowly picking up. There is no doubt that the industry will recover. But the good old days may be over for top-tier carriers like Singapore Airlines (SIA) which made hay by living off the front-end of the cabin, earning as much as 40 per cent of their revenues from first- and business-class customers. The last 12 months have been rough for SIA and others like it. Many travellers have downgraded from business to “cattle class”, and from premium to cheaper carriers. Investment bankers – planeloads of them used to fill SIA’s Airbus 345 aircraft on its non-stop flights to Los Angeles and New York – are out of work or have taken hefty cuts in pay and perks. Companies have slashed travel budgets and trimmed costs, for example, by extending the number of flying hours required to enjoy a business- class seat, or moving to an economy class-only policy. The competition is also catching up. Whereas low-cost carriers like AirAsia, Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways once drew mostly budget travellers, they now see briefcase-toting folk in shirt and tie. This trend prompted American Express to add AirAsia to its list of partner carriers – its first such tie-up with a low-cost carrier. Flyers can now use their Amex card to pay for AirAsia flights. Peter Kapoor, Amex’s regional vice-president of merchant services, said recently: “Within our customer base, there are corporations that find budget carriers relevant, given the current economic recession and the recent opening up of more shuttle flights between Singapore and Malaysia.” Aviation analyst Shukor Yusof of Standard & Poor’s Equity Research believes that even when the storm passes, it would be foolhardy to think people will go back to the way things were. Companies that have changed their travel policies see the benefits to the bottom line, and travellers who have “gone low-cost” find it is not so bad after all. Shukor said: “The business landscape has changed considerably; I don’t see things ever being the same again.” Jetstar Asia seeto think so too and is thinking about going long-haul, thus joining Malaysia-based AirAsia X which took to the skies two years ago. The latter currently flies between Kuala Lumpur and destinations in Australia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, the Middle East and Europe. Even the experts who are more optimistic about premium airlines’ prospects, like Berthold Trenkel, Asia-Pacific president of travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel, expect that it will take three years at least before things rebound to pre- crisis levels. Going forward, the challenge for SIA is not just to fill seats. There will always be a market for top-end carriers and nobody really expects them to fall from the sky. The bigger challenge is to attract travellers who will pay the premium fares that the airline charges. In its latest report on the health of the premium air travel market, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) said that in June, first- and business-class ticket sales fell by 21.3 per cent compared to the same month last year. The good news is that the fall was less steep than the 23.6 per cent drop in May. However, the better results were achieved at the expense of much lower yields as airlines sought to boost cash flow by making more cheaper seats available. Iata’s data shows that revenues from this segment are about 40 per cent lower, year-on-year. Trenkel, who flew SIA to Paris recently, paid about $5,500 for his return business-class ticket, more than $1,000 cheaper than the fare a year ago. While views differ on the long-term impact of the current crisis on high-end carriers, experts agree that airlines will have to work very hard to recover their lost business – traffic and yield-wise. At the operational level, efforts are ongoing at SIA to cut costs and better manage the business. The airline has introduced a slew of measures, from voluntary leave to compulsory no-pay leave, shorter working months and pay cuts, to deal with the downturn. To better match demand with capacity, it also plans to ground 16 aircraft in the current financial year, which ends on March 31 next year. SIA will also defer delivery schedules for its last eight Airbus A380 superjumbos, by up to a year. The airline, which already has nine of the double-decker giants flying, will collect another two before the end of next March, as planned. But over and above all these moves, SIA needs to think long and hard about whether its business model and strategies are sustainable in the long term. Post-crisis, will there still be a market for the all-business-class flights to the United States, for example? Will people pay $20,000 to fly to London in a private suite on the A380, given that a first-class ticket on another equally high-class carrier costs about half that amount? Instead of putting all its eggs in the premium basket, the airline could focus more on Tiger Airways – which it owns 49 per cent of – to cash in on the growing low-cost travel market. Ditto for its regional arm SilkAir. In the financial year just ended, Tiger and SilkAir contributed only about $40 million of SIA Group’s total operating profit of $904 million. SIA could also do more to engage loyal customers and keep them happy. Whether this is by making it easier for people to redeem their miles – which some say is becoming increasingly troublesome with SIA – or embracing new media like Facebook and Twitter, the airline cannot afford to take customer loyalty for granted. Industry analysts say the situation is dire. SIA, which lost $307 million in the April-June quarter, could be looking at a full-year loss this financial year. If that were to happen, it will be the first since the company went public in 1984. As the world starts to recover from the economic meltdown and countries claw their way out of the recession, the real challenge has only just begun for SIA. The aim is not just to fly, but to soar. – The Straits Times Source: http://themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/business/37555-good-old-days-may-be-over-for-sia-

I think this has always been charged. I remember that when AK/D7 have FOC tickets, infant fare is higher than adult fare!

I think he is setting an example to those who dun want to rent the IFE!

Yes, our BN govt. only makes decisions to the requirements of the cronies. Since when did they make decisions in the best interest of the whole country?

Actually KLIA Ekspress cannot afford to miss out on LCCT traffic because traffic to the main terminal has reduced considerably since the current LCCT was opened. That is why you can see so many busses operating out of LCCT now. But I wonder how many people will use the KLIA Ekspress if the fares are still going to be RM 35? Only those travelling alone might go on it. Families are better of taking taxis.

Yes, they will increase and increase. Then they cut - and make a big hoo hah about it. Still they need to recover the lost admin fees from somewhere!

Hmmm, I wonder how they can work around the D7 STN flight schedule to do this flight? Anyone with any ideas?

I think Chaity got the "money" shot of the moment this plane damaged its landing gear...

Of course we are Pieter! Great pix and coverage. Keep them coming!

Need to be a bit careful here. Fund managers and bankers are different people. The economy collapsed because some bankers made wrong bets.

Tony is impressed with UK fund managers. I always felt that Malaysian analysts do not really understand the LCC model and are not able to judge the risks adequately. Good that AirAsia goes overseas for funds if the local ones are so anal...

Yes, the more seats you book, the greater the likelihood that you will not be sitting together. Bear in mind that most D7 seats are in blocks of 3. One way to reduce the risk is to do a web check in early. You can check in up to 48 hours before the actual time of the flight. That way, you just need to drop off your luggage at the airport.

Yes, it wud be good to cover their arrival!

Actually whether they flew by MH or Timbuktu airways is not really important. MH is just another contractor for FY. So unless you sign a release to say you are happy to terminate the flight in KUL, FY has an obligation to transport you to SZB.

They won't be around during LIMA but are in KL on 3 October. If they display at SZB, the place will see traffic jams cos it will be a Saturday.

In my experience, when airlines divert their flights, they do not usually tell the pax to get off at the diverted destination. They will inform them that arrangements are being made to deliver them to their final destination (usually the one stated on the ticket). It would be interesting if someone sues FY one of these days. Then we get a clarification from the courts!

Pieter, Flights headed for Subang carry the SZB code while flights into KLIA will be showing KUL on tickets.

Yes, they always tell us no photography allowed... So its amazing the SIN contingent got so much shutter time! Well done, guys! And some great shots too!

They shud have bussed the FY pax from KUL to SZB. Otherwise they are in breach of contract.