Sandeep G

BA can make money if LHR-KUL-CGK BA can make even more money if LHR-KUL-PER VS can make money if LHR-KUL-MEL/PER Don't forget that BA has divested its stake in Qantas, and the one world membership is more so for Qantas pax to gain access to a wider variety of European destinations. SIN may be a base, but I'm not sure if calling it a hub in this case makes much sense... It is only a hub for pax travelling between Australia and Europe and MAINLY for Qantas... BA's ops into Australia were cut by Qantas as at the time they were equity partners... Let's make some sense of it now: 1. BA no longer holds a stake at Qantas 2. Qantas is often labelled a 'big-bully' in the world of aviation. Take for example the recent takeover of Valuair by Jetstar-Asia... Valuair as of Oct 9th will no longer fly SIN-PER-SIN... WHY?! They had good yields!!! Just a bit of reorganising and they could have thrived! PROTECTIONISM! Also Qantas refuses to let SQ use Sydney or Brisbane as a point to commence services to the USA, but QF aggresively challenges SQ on its most important european sectors such as Frankfurt and London. Qantas demanded BA stop servicing Perth so that they could take-over the services... at the time BA was restructuring its route network.. Perth was always full for BA! Why stop?!? 3. No connections by either airline into KUL from the hub at SIN 4. The only connection for BA is via HKG! what the?! BA can start services to Malaysia anytime they like. The yield and loads are there! Exploit it! Provide competition for MAS. To be frank, I couldn't care less if AO or QF don't wanna fly into Malaysia.. they've made it that clear, so be it. BA on the other hand is more important, and Malaysia should fight to have them return.

thanks for all the views guys! Liam, thanks for that it must have been carrying lots of Swans fans over for the celebration? hehe

You'd be suprised nowadays though. SQ has a much higher fuel surcharge than MH and nowadays its cheaper to book on MH. The same goes for those booking from Australia. MH is now somewhat cheaper than SQ on certain sectors, PER being one of them I know for sure.

VH-EBY Boeing 747-338 on finals for 21 from MEL. A rarity in Perth. Seconds from touch down. Sorry for the unlevel shot. VH-ZXA B767 also on finals for 21 from MEL. This bird flew in about 2 minutes after the above B743. Lotsa traffic bringing home the Eagle fans after a close loss at the weekend. This bird is on lease from BA I believe. note the RR engines. two Boeing 747-300s at Perth!??!?! VH-EBV heads out carrying pax for MEL as EBY taxies in! In the background in the QF762! Busy at Perth! Pacific Blue operating for Virgin Blue VH-VUD on finals for 21. VH-OJU operating as QF16 from LHR via SIN. thats 3 QF 747s at Perth instantaneously! MH-125 inbound from KUL. 9M-MRN minus the Man. Utd. Sticker. I was praying for MRD, alas MRN arrived. Still a beauty! TK, when you coming ah? Boeing 717 VH-NXE ex impulse, ex QantasLink ex Jetstar now again in QantasLink is slowly replacing the BAe-146 fleet here in WA. Operated on behalf of Qantas by NationalJet. Looking magnificent. Skywest Fokker 100 VH-FN* Thai niner-niner-eight (Liam does the accent well) HS-TEE. Needing a wash! Sure it will be going for the new paint-scheme soon! VH-EBA A330-200 from somewhere east VH-NJC (NationalJet) operating for QantasLink. Slowly being phased out of the fleet. Qantas B738 VH-VXT on finals Virgin Blue VH-VBO B737-700 DJ355 from ADL. Was hoping for VBY!

Liam on the left on final for 08 @ Gingin (VH-FES PA28 Warrior) Daniel conducting his circuits and coming into 08. A bit low! The safety nets at Gingin! operated by a radio frequency I believe. Staring down runway 08. I had to take this quickly, Daniel was turning onto finals! Gibby at the intersection Myself at the same point... RAAF Gingin now using Lemonade cans for lighting kidding hmmm... is somebody shooting at us? don't miss the bullet holes in this sign! The security was so tight at Gingin, that Liam and I had to open the gates manually under a hail of bulllet fire Thanks to Daniel for taking this shot

Hi everyone, So after flying the DC3 on Thursday 22nd, I met up with Liam at the Perth flight centre and we headed to the new Dome cafe at the domestic multi-user terminal.. and by Multi-user I mean Skywest and Virgin-Blue. The day was actually quite a good one for spotting on the 22nd as the West Coast Eagles were flying out that day to Melbourne to take on the Sydney Swans in the AFL Grand Final! So lots of additional flights including numerous QF 743s and 744s operating on the domestic apron. Anyway, as the game was on Saturday, we both figured that there would be an influx of flights returning the football fans from MEL on Sunday. Liam also proposed that I accompany him to Gingin AFB which is roughly an hour out of Perth, for some circuits.. There was no way I was turning this offer down! So Sunday arrived and an early morning start after playing poker at a friends place till 1am meant I needed a real sugar fix! Picked Liam and his mate Daniel up from his place at around 0750, and headed off to RAAF Gingin along the Grt. Northern Hwy. I think we arrived there by 0915 after a couple of stops on the way. To my suprise the airport was empty!!! The only aircraft there was the Piper Warrior PA28 VH-FES that belonged to the Pearce Flying Club to which Liam and Daniel were recieivng their flight training. Anyhow, They met with their instructor at the operations room and did all the formalities before heading out to the aircraft. This aircraft sure is a beauty, with a huge wingspan, lovely livery and a beautiful lycoming to boot! Pre-flight checks were undertaken, fuel qty was good, oil qty good, all control surfaces checked, and brake-fluid checked. Liam was first to get underway, so the three of us (Liam, the Instructor and myself) climbed aboard, with myself in the rear. Quite spacious! We taxied out to 26 initially and departed to the west conducting left circuits of the field. On the first touch and go it was evident that the wind had actually changed direction and the aircraft came down in a tailwind.. so we headed back up to 1250ft, flew a dumbell approach and came back in for the next TnG on 08. All remaining circuits were right-hand downwinds for 08. Liam did 5 TnGs with one absolute greaser of a landing, incredibly smooth. There was also some chicken scaring (whereby we flew at around 150-200 ft. over a farm to scare the crap out of some chickens in a barn before pulling away and climbing back to 1250ft) and a simulated engine failure. After his time was up, we headed back to the hangar where Daniel was waiting for his rounds. Liam and I left to the ops room and club-house. From this point is where the day got interesting. We walked all over the airfield, and when I say all over, I mean ALL OVER! We crossed the taxiways, walked across the runway, had a look at the safety nets, walked along 08 and all this while Daniel was doing his circuits! Absolutely amazing! Who would have thought we were on an airforce base! BTW, we were the only ones there of course! After daniel completed his circuits, we got back in the car and headed back to Perth. There was an incredible straight road that was about 3-4kms long leading from the Highway to the AFB. We decided to set some speed records and the pics will follow. At Perth, we commenced spotting at precisely 2pm cathching all the international traffic and lots of domestic traffic. A great crowd was present and the weather was immaculate. I want to thank Liam for inviting me along for his training and also for having the honour of being his first passenger! Thanks also to his instructor and all the guys down at Perth for making the day so enjoyable! The pics shall follow

Aren't there double daily flights to MEL with one 772 and the other 744?

Aren't there double daily flights to MEL with one 772 and the other 744?

Just a point of interest, when I was doing vac work with AK, the "G-Strings" were around and I got talking with one of the guys from Astreus on the train to work. He said it was likely that the Astraeus birds were to return to Malaysia to work again with Air Asia over the festive season of 2005/2006. The crews were very very happy working here in Malaysia, and were treated very well by AK. In case anyone was wondering, the aircraft were affectionaly referred to by AK crews as: G-STRA: G-string Alpha G-STRB: G-string Bravo

Bro Imran, very true oso, but in the case of the weather info, they would be mimicing lah, but all the other stuff, ORIGINAL MAHB!!! or in this case ORIGINAL MW.com! wonder if anyone from MAHB read this forum.. hehehe

that wouldn't be the fantastic Asian Aircraft and Aerospace would it?

NST also seems not to have published despite being sent the letter about 3 weeks ago now.. we wait and see.. For me its difficult to contact my friend at the star because I only see her in KL, and haven't got her email.. will keep trying. On another note, nice to see MAHB actually doing something somewhat proactive and pursuing self-check-in kiosks. I have another idea... since KLIA and Malaysia wants to be a hub for business and tourism, why not have multiple sections around KLIA Sat and MTB with screens showing regional and internationoal stock market activity.. Have a partner like bloomberg television... or Bursa Malaysia. Have areas where business men/women can connect to the net at these locations and do some trade in between flights.. Keep TVs monitoring Forex and Commodity markets.. make a KLIAsx!! I think that would be pretty unique and help KLIA image wise.. ALso, at the departure gates, KLIA should mimic Changi and display destination weather info, but also add some other info like Exchange rate, Stock market indices, local time (if any time difference)... integrate for ease lah

can't tell but the AK has no tail-skid? Also, notice on the AK that it has no vortex generators around the empennage assembly.. interesting.. I remember the 733s having those... could be wrong though!

heck, since we're footing the bill via our taxes, why don't the government hire us as the management team... if we fail, we'll blame it on the old management for leaving such a big mess. If we succeed, we'll prove a fundamental point - You gotta be passionate in this game C'mon, CEO Gavin, who you wanna appoint as your management team?

hey guys, I have sent the letter to TheStar and The NST editorials already, with a letter on behalf of MW.com to the respective editors. We now wait and see when it shall be published. Thanks for all the comments! Let's hope we turn some important heads with this letter! - Sandeep

Well said SV! But this is the politics of the land. Perhaps in creating Bangsa Malaysia, we should acknowledge all Malaysians... If this guy is a minister, then we must seriously question whether his allegiance is to UMNO or BN? If I recall correctly, the logo for BN is a balanced scale! it's all about imagery! PM Badawi, there is a calling in this! Time to open up Malaysia for all Malaysians! We all have talent, we're all friends, we have to oppurtunity to live in this great land which is allegedly built upon racial harmony! Let's start actually living by the merits of the system we have on the blueprints!

I think its a good idea too! Rod Eddington would be fabulous! But I don't think they could pay him enough.. especially if they can't pay their own staff competitive industry wages! A foreigner at the helm will potentially mean less 'hand in pocket's' action at the executive level which could always be good for an airline. But a foreigner until someone local is trained to the level and quality, or one of us here matures and takes the helm Wouldn't that be nice Go MW.com!

Hey guys, The LCC terminal is being built as we all know, but I was wondering if anyone has seen a mock-up or somesort of scale model of the complex?? Also, If any of you guys go spotting one of these days, would be great to see some pictures of the progress as I am stuck in Perth till December now... Thanks!

hhehe Sanjay, is that a hint? Might be worthwhile in doing so.. double whammy for MAHB & MAS, with love from MW.com

I think an MH A380 would look simply stunning in the present Batik motif seen on the female uniforms! That would be special and unique!

hehe more like they will loose the battle they SAY they are going to fight. Early bird catches the worm!

This is the edited copy and with some more added. Please feel free to add more. I will be sending this as soon as I receive approval and additions from some of you here. Add your names to the bottom should you make any changes. Thanks guys. Keith, It is a beautiful airport, but it's underperforming and we want to be the best regionally, and that's slowly slipping away. Hence this forum and the release of the above statement to the media for immediate attention. We want to catch the eyes of all those involved and force changes to be made. Public opinion is paramount afterall, all th companies in question are publically listed companies - the shareholders are entitled to the frank opinions of members of this forum! But thanks for the compliment! Next time you return, we hope it's even better than last time thanks to the dedication of MalaysianWings.com!

There are so many reasons why KLIA doesn’t perform the way it’s supposed to. The principle reason is the evident lack of managerial quality. Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to a lesser extent are to blame. However, these companies and organisations have troubles of their own. The main problem is the lack of funds and the rising costs plaguing the industry. Nonetheless, this combined with the present quality of management is compounding problems deeper for the aviation industry in Malaysia. We can’t lay blame on the staff or customers of these entities; we must lay blame on management. I know the word ‘blame’ is harsh to use and I am sure that the management teams do try to attain a high level of fiscal performance. My concern is why fiscal performance is so poor. We are led to believe that externalities beyond the control of companies such as MAHB, MAS and Tourism Malaysia are the primary reason as to poor fiscal performance. Perhaps its management’s lack of experience with the aviation industry, or perhaps it’s more worryingly something that has metamorphosed from the stereotypical Malaysian corporate culture – see big, think big, do little. We are persistently adopting business models from other countries and using them here in Malaysia with some degree of success. Frequent trips by local corporate committees to the USA, Europe and Australia are undertaken to investigate potential solutions that are aimed at increasing value and profitability. In the case of MAS and MAHB, do we really need to go that far? Let’s face it, a short and relatively inexpensive hop across the causeway would probably save lots of money and time. Then Again, why not fine tune our own Malaysian standards and use these with potentially greater levels of success and profitability. Was it not the aim of the Government in implementing a fixed-value currency to encourage investment within Malaysia, amidst Malaysian corporations, thereby limiting the outflow of Ringgit from Malaysia? Our corporate ethics, cultural commitments, and personal morals are increasingly under the microscope in today’s political climate, and let me tell you, foreigners laugh at us. The airport is so fittingly characteristic of the way Malaysia portrays itself to the rest of the world, and coincidentally, it’s what all of us here at MalaysianWings.com are so passionate about. So I want to give you our opinions, and see what you think. We are susceptible to changing our opinions should you show us another way of looking at things, until then here are our views on the current state of affairs at KLIA. KLIA – Grand, beautiful, tropical, modern, iconic, underperforming, under-maintained, deteriorating and lacking the finer points of quality. This is what Malaysia presents the world of itself - a contradiction of imagery that perplexes the foreigners who visit our shores and us. We want so much, we hold high hopes, we do achieve, but only on the surface of things. One only has to scratch the surface to reveal a reality filled with politics and bureaucracy, a lack of commitment and most importantly a lack of managerial quality. We then cast aside our hopes and dreams, until we find others, bigger and shinier than those held before, and the cycle repeats. KLIA was envisaged as the gateway to Malaysia. It was destined to be the one-stop facility to commerce, trade and recreation. Unfortunately, KLIA has not lived up to its potential, as yet, and the situation merely worsens day by day. Since opening, KLIA has been through some of the worst economic recessionary periods of regional history, the catastrophe of the SARS outbreak and most importantly has joined the world and felt the ripples of the rise in terrorism and the ensuing outbreak of wars in the Middle East. But it survived, and passenger numbers grew steadily over the years to its best performance last year with 21.5 million passengers. The airport appears to be performing well – on the surface! The performance of KLIA in recent times is due principally to the restructuring of MAS, and the birth of Air Asia – the regions most admired corporate debutant. However, the overall gains are marginal when one considers the overall potential of the airport. Growth has been inhibited due to a general lack of management and foresight. Let me elaborate upon some of this further. KLIA is the epitome of Malaysia’s ‘no-maintenance’ culture. Looking around the airport, it is evident that what we have is neglected and left to deteriorate until it is functionless and needs to be replaced. Maintenance of the airport facilities is paramount to the success of the airport and thus profitability of companies such as MAHB, Kuala Lumpur International Airport Berhad (KLIAB) and Kuala Lumpur Airport Services (KLAS). 1. Total Airport Management System (TAMS) a. This was designed to integrate the numerous airport systems to provide ‘unprecedented levels of service, safety and comfort to the travelling public… to help bring more tourists and business to Malaysia’. This is quoted from MAHB in the KLIA overview publication (1998). My point in bringing TAMS into question is: If such a system is installed and presumably operational, why then are certain airport systems inefficient and sometimes out of order. For instance the Baggage Handling System, which has broken down numerous times in the past causing delays and passenger and customer discomfort. TAMS is present to ensure the highest levels of efficiency and maintenance standards are adhered, yet it appears that such is not the case. 2. Airport Roadways and Car park: a. The roadways that weave around the Main Terminal Building (MTB) complex are very poorly maintained, and visually unappealing. Road lines have nearly disappeared and the ornate lamp-poles that line the roads are in need of touch-up. The road barriers are also in need of repair, especially the locations where accidents have obviously occurred, yet the authorities have yet to repair the damage done. The car park B is leaking and this will ultimately lead to structural defects at the entrance to the car park, just at the bottom of the ramp before the chip-coin collection gate. The truncations of cables and piping that line the ceilings of the car park on the basement level are very badly maintained, with corrosion and leaks – if not maintained, the costs will just escalate. There is a car that has been idle in the car park since as long as I can remember and it’s still there today, with a clamp on the wheel and all. I don’t think the people who own the car are coming back, it’s covered with dust and all the tyres are flat. Shouldn’t it be removed? 3. Airline Offices: a. The airline offices on the 4th floor of the MTB are another point of concern. The floor in the corridors is in terrible condition, the walls appear to be damp, ceiling panels missing and lights not working. Fire doors between the corridors are in poor condition and some may not even meet regulatory requirements. The airline offices themselves are maintained, but that is the responsibility of the airlines, not MAB. MAB should maintain these corridors for the comfort of passengers and airlines. I would imagine that such would only lead to appreciation to MAB by the various airlines that have offices on that level. 4. Taxi, Airport Limousine and ERL operators: a. With regards to the Limos, I have taken the service on numerous occasions, and suffice to say, we cannot blame the drivers. Once again, the problem lies with the management! For those of you who are unaware, the airport Limo drivers pay around RM200 a day (more for premier cars) to hire the Limo from the company. They then have to pay for PETROL AND MAINTENANCE from their OWN pocket! The sad fact is these drivers work so hard, and for a measly profit IF ANY! They have to compete with the touts, the management, etc. etc. They have a union I'm sure, but a suppressed one, so striking is out of the question. Once again, it just takes the management company a little effort to look after this service so that Malaysians and foreigners alike will use and applaud the service! Who will help these drivers? It is they who suffer the most, followed by the consumer. It further compounds the image of Malaysia as just a 'wannabe' nation. It's time for change, and it begins with acknowledgement of the problem. b. The Ekspres Rail Link (ERL) is an efficient and somewhat reliable service. However, the fare is expensive for local Malaysians. Passenger numbers appear to be improving since beginning the services in 2002, however, why has the ERL management chosen to take away the senior citizen discount and airline worker discount available on the Express line? These people can buy tickets on the Transit service instead, but at some inconvenience. A suggestion to improve operating costs of the ERL is to reduce the number of staff selling tickets and invest more heavily on the distribution of tickets via ticketing machines and collaboration with airlines when selling airline tickets. Such a feature is apparently available on MAS, although I have never encountered it. Encourage more airlines to allow check-in at KL City Air Terminal (CAT) in Sentral. At present only 3 airlines offer the facilities of CAT check-in being MAS, Cathay Pacific and Royal Brunei. Why not Singapore Airlines? Air Asia (the opening of a ticket office recently at Sentral may prompt negotiations for check-in facilities here)? Thai Airways and Garuda Indonesia seem like other likely candidates – they are amongst the more frequent visitors to KLIA. The ERL can provide a better platform for growth of KLIA than it presently does. Does MAHB and ERL management collaborate on their partnership enough to ensure the benefits are attained? – Quite obviously not. 5. Aerobridges and Apron facilities. a. The Aerobridges are fantastic at KLIA! They are so visually appealing and have great features such as the individual Ground Power Units (GPU) located on the underside. They are actually quite envied by some of the other airports around the world. But sadly, some don’t work and haven’t for years. Why haven’t they been fixed? The aerobridges themselves are lacking finer maintenance. Sure they are in working order, some barely. There is rust, the carpet inside some of them needs to be replaced, light fixtures missing, and the ceiling panels are loose and dirty. A real shame is that the air conditioning in some of the bridges is not in working order. Malaysia is tropical, Europeans and Malaysians alike don’t want to walk out of the plane and immediately break into a sweat. The cameras that guide the ramp crew on some of the aerobridges don’t even work. The aerobridges have also been known to quit working sometimes, leaving passengers waiting in the aircraft for up to an hour. These incidents are surely avoidable. b. The amenities and locker rooms available for ramp staff and apron crews such as the food court and rest area in the MTB (across from Air Asia engineering store-room) and near A6/A8 and B6/B8 are in very poor condition. MAS and MAB should ensure that these facilities are well-maintained to improve the morale of employees and should discipline those that abuse such facilities. The floor in the staff lounge near A6/A8 has recently had to be replaced. c. The apron roadway lighting and corridor from the MTB to the Cargo complex running parallel with the aerotrain is very badly maintained. The retention walls look 100s of years old with paint peeling and the lights very badly maintained with some even missing or broken. These are all visible from the Aerotrain. Is this the image we want to present? d. There are locations around the apron where curbs have been damaged by heavy vehicles. For months, all that remains is the rubble of the road and curb. Prevent this from happening. Install rubber strips in front of the curbs to prevent curb damage and more costly vehicle damage. Leaving the rubble as it is presents a hazard to airport staff working in the vicinity and should be addressed immediately. 6. Toilets. a. Do I really need to say anything here? Let me provide you with an example of my own. On the night of 14th August)\ I was at the arrivals hall waiting for a relative to arrive. I needed to use the restroom facilities and upon entering was presented with the cleaner using the wash-hoses to literally hose down the entire cubicle - Including the toilet. He then proceeded to wash the walls with water and used a rubber broom to ‘sweep’ the water creating a mess all around the toilet cubicles, leaving the toilet saturated with water and unappealing for use by a patron of the airport. The sinks were filthy, some even with faucets missing. The bin was overflowing with rubbish onto the floor and the automatic hand dryers just weren’t working. This is the same story at most of the toilets around the airport, and I have been led to believe by female relatives and a member of parliament that the female toilets are in worse condition. I don’t blame the cleaning staff. I blame the airport authorities for inadequately training these staff. Let’s take Changi as an example. I was travelling back to Perth via Singapore on the 16th of August where I had a 3 hour transit. The toilets are immaculate. The staff seem to take some pride in their work! It’s very admirable! The efficiency and utter cleanliness made me wonder why we don’t achieve this or better at KLIA. This is after all our principle competitor. 7. Departure Gate lounges and Duty Free shopping: a. The departure gate lounges are comfortable for now. But the chairs are being damaged by inconsiderate members of the public. But that’s no excuse for MAB to sit on their laurels and not do anything about it. Fix it before it gets worse and someone writes into the NST or The Star complaining about it. I can imagine how much these public complaints embarrass MAB officials – Don’t let it lead to that, aim to be one step ahead! The gate entertainment of TV3 is, whilst Malaysian, quite dull and boring. To further worsen things, the TV reception isn’t all that fantastic either. CNN? BBC? CNBC? ESPN? It is afterall an international airport. Perhaps local flat-screen manufacturers and Astro would like to help MAHB in this regard by offering the airport operaters a special deal that would allow MAHB to improve passenger amenities and double as direct marketing. Free internet service for passengers or at least wireless broadband facilities would allow businessmen to keep in touch with the office. That would encourage trade and development of KL as a business and trade destination. b. Duty Free shopping. The new shops in the centre of the Satellite wings look nice. Expensive but nice. They are expensive because the rental is so high! They can’t maintain their shops because their margins are so low! MAB, help them out and give them a break! You’ll improve your non-aeronautical revenue if you help promote it and not constrain it as is the case at present. So many retail outlets at the MTB in the Viewing gallery are empty. I have an idea that I will discuss with members of this forum in another post, but how far that goes depends on us. MAB should aggressively be finding ways to improve that! c. The radio station, Fly fm (95.8 in the Klang Valley), plays great songs for the youth! It actually is a really great station. But boost it with some advertising revenue? DHL? MAS? Air Asia? airlines serving KLIA? Retailers at KLIA? Why not MAB boost their retailers business by giving them discounted advertising costs on the radio. Why not MAB broadcast the radio within the airport? I didn’t hear it once inside the terminal! What about playing the music on the ramp for the ground crews – break the monotony, BE INNOVATIVE and improve employee morale and thus their performance. 8. Cargo Complex: a. They want KLIA to be a regional cargo hub! MASKargo is growing and so too is Transmile. Create some order and efficiency around the cargo complex. It is often confusing and disorganised. The standard of professionalism at KLIA is one of the biggest thorns in the side of promoting and developing this airport as a regional transportation hub. Staff can be discourteous, uninterested, and just plain unprofessional. Talking on handphones whilst checking in passengers, not acknowledging passengers and customers with a simple smile and hello – these are some of the flaws in customer service at KLIA. There are many more, but too many to delve into now. One must realise that the secret to success is ensuring the greatest resource of all – human resources – the people must be sufficiently trained and briefed on interpersonal skills and procedures. The various teams of management that supervise these people in their work must sit down and look at where they have failed so that tomorrow they can correct it. The vast majority of staff are courteous and helpful, but it’s the few that aren’t that constantly draw attention and bring down the quality of service available at KLIA. Why have so many airlines like BA and Qantas left KUL? Because KLIA couldn’t provide the efficiency and standards it promised upon opening in 1998. BA and QF say they have low yields into Malaysia. Maybe so, but they didn’t always neglect KLIA as a potential hub – This is clear from the BA/QF lounge established at KLIA in 1998 and now closed. That investment must have reflected some confidence in KLIA. KLIA let them down, and must improve its reputation if they ever want to see these airlines again. In the meantime, passengers will have to keep booking on MAS to Europe and Australia (two very important markets for KLIA), and when those are full (which they always are), will rather fly SIA, and thus defeat the purpose of KLIA as a hub. MAHB must strive for efficiency before the situation worsens at KLIA. Start addressing the quality of service and amenities available at the airport. You can’t expect a return when you haven’t made the investment in the right areas – that’s a fundamental principle. Boosting non-aeronautical revenue should be at the forefront of MAHB’s business strategy. They claim that it is, but we’ve yet to see any fruits from their ‘investments in customer comfort’. The decision making process is too long at MAHB. The same goes for MAS – what’s happened with the alliance and the orders for new much needed aircraft to bring relief to its bursting operations? To be profitable, you have to be transparent, and unfortunately MAS and MAHB are not sufficiently so. It is possible in Malaysia, and you don’t have to look far. Air Asia is a gleaming model of Malaysian innovation and corporate success. Who would have thought, that a loss-making airline be turned around and now challenge the biggest of guns in the South-East Asian region. Air Asia is a company that has taken a foreign model and made it uniquely Malaysian. It prides itself on efficiency and quality standards and that’s why it is such an appreciated member of the Malaysian corporate and aviation community. If we remember back to earlier in this rambling of mine, KLIA has achieved record passenger numbers in recent times! The contribution of Air Asia is significant, and continues to be so. It is a company that adapts to its operating conditions given local restrictions and government protection of subsidised companies like MAS and MAHB. As a result it has soared, and now is only held back by the impending crude oil crisis. KLIA is behind Changi and Hong Kong CLK, its two major competitors. Bangkok’s new airport opens next month. Will it fall behind that too? I hope not. It’s time for KLIA to rise to the challenge and meet its targets. It can do so with collaboration, NOT HELP, from the Malaysian Government, MAS, Tourism Malaysia and Air Asia. Let’s not underestimate the role of forums like MalaysianWings.com. We are the ones who are passionate about this industry, and want to see it succeed. Some of us are making career decisions that will bring us into the Malaysian aviation scene. We want it to succeed and let’s face it; those of us here have the potential to make it so! The dedication of members and readers alike is so sincere and admirable. The success of KLIA can be a lesson to the rest of Malaysia. But in my eyes, the success of KLIA is the perfect example for Malaysia. In order to land at our place amongst the developed nations of this world, we must first take-off. Sandeep S. Godrei, c/o www.malaysianwings.com

Hey guys, I must say that this resignation is a shock to me. I was under the impression that Fuaad Dahalan was to be at the helm for some time, but personal reasons I suppose cannot be avoided, and I wish him the best with whatever he does next. Is it true he is now a non-executive director of MAHB? Because that sure would be 'interesting'. The severe loss that MAS has incurred in this quarter is detriment to the restructuring of the airline, and I can't help but compare with SIA Group, Qantas group and Cathay Pacific. These carriers have all recorded some very large profits for the first quarter. Munir Majid has indirectly said that over the next five years MAS will embark on cost-cutting measures and improve fiscal performance - wasn't that the aim of the first restructuring exercise? Could it also be said that the Wide Asset Unbundling (WAU) restructuring exercise over the last few years could be the reason for MAS profits last year?? Shouldn't MH enjoy lower costs than the other big players in the region like SQ, QF and CX? Munir Majid also said that whilst oil has dampened the profitability of the airline it is not the major cause of the RM290 million loss this quarter, as that is attributable to apparent poor fiscal management. Hedging operations are frequently put into question it would seem. The new management line-up? What's their experience with the airlines? Anyone know? I've seen Datuk Rashid Khan on an interview on Bloomberg. I must say, he was very repetitive and didn't really answer the questions asked by the reporter. Let's hope that was just an off-day for him and in reality he has a good corporate mind for the airline industry - That's all MAS needs! Munir seems to be doing a good job in appeasing investors with talk of lowering costs and increasing value, but at what cost to the airline? Rapid decisions need to be made, or MAS will just continue to suffer financially. The talk that we can't compare MH with SQ or CX I feel is pointless. They are airlines, so are we. KL may not be as big a regional business hub as Singapore or Hong Kong that's very true - but its not THAT small either! And on the other hand, CX and SQ have more competition from major international carriers at their homebase than MH does!! So how?? Maybe thats what MH needs, more competition so that it is more stringent with management control and such results would not be so severe. Just my 2 cents. Still love MH, and want to seem them as the greatest airline in the region! MH has what it takes - it just needs to 'start taking'!

Good work Benjamin! I have a contact with the StarBiz, its a relative. May be able to try and see if we can work with her. Anyone know somebody from the NST?