KK Lee

Qantas is likely to extract a 20% premium from passengers on the world’s longest direct flights when it launches nonstop services connecting Sydney with New York and London in late 2025. The Australian flag carrier is betting on passengers paying a premium for seats on the marathon 20-hour legs to avoid the hassle and extra time spent transiting on the way. Tickets on Qantas Airways Ltd. services between Perth, Australia, and London already cost 20% more than flights that stop on the way in Singapore or the Middle East, Chief Financial Officer Vanessa Hudson said at an airline industry gathering in Istanbul on Monday. It’s “very reasonable” to assume passengers will be prepared to pay the same price hike for the coming ultra-long flights, dubbed Project Sunrise, Hudson said at the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association. Qantas has ordered 12 customized Airbus SE A350 twin-aisle aircraft to operate the routes. The airline said last month that the A350s and Project Sunrise will deliver at least A$400 million ($264 million) of operating profit a year once the entire fleet is in service. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-05/world-s-longest-direct-flights-to-cost-20-more-than-stopover-fares Joyce said this month he had “no doubt” about the commercial viability of the nonstop flights, citing the 17-hour Perth-London service, Qantas’s most profitable international route before the pandemic. Flights of this duration have become normal and Project Sunrise routes aren’t much longer, he said. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-12/twenty-hour-flights-to-push-travel-to-limit-at-12-000-a-ticket

Whenever glc or gomen wanted to raise price would publish comparison with asean. when come to bloated head count, would claimed mys labour cost is 3 times cheaper than sg. Hence, justify to have many more head count. mahb remuneration to top management is excessive, taken stakeholders to a ride.

Mr 019 liked to use the term "in national interest" to justify non commercial rational. If mh service level is similar to ba/lh, it could only compete on price i.e poor yield; almost certain to loss money. My late dad used to take discounted YN flights from SZB.

It is always foreign gomen, aircraft manufacturers, etc fault and not mh management's fault. If mh solely depends on o&d pax, it could never expand. as a airlines, should and must looks for transit pax. despite many o&d pax between kul and aus cities, qf still refused to ply; could mean more than commercial reasons.

At one period of time, steak served in mh f lounge was reconstituted steak. On a recent red eye flight, after the bar at satellite lounge closed after midnight, server claimed only one bottle of wine (red, white and sparkling) is available for the whole night. To those brought up in nescafe, nescafe gold blend is premium.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is close to a deal for a large number of Boeing Co. commercial jets that will serve in the fleet of a new national airline, people familiar with the matter said. The Saudi sovereign-wealth fund is expected to announce the deal later Sunday amid the official launch of the airline, according to some of the people. Earlier in the day, the government announced the creation of the new carrier, Riyadh Air. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the new airline will take advantage of Saudi Arabia’s geographic location between the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, “enabling Riyadh to become a gateway to the world and a global destination for transportation, trade, and tourism.” Tony Douglas, who ran Abu Dhabi’s state-backed carrier Etihad for five years, was named chief executive of Riyadh Air. The Boeing BA 0.91%increase; green up pointing triangle aircraft order is valued at $35 billion, some of the people said. People with knowledge of the agreement said the mix is expected to include wide-body jets often used in long-haul international flying. Deals for new aircraft can fall apart even in their later stages. A potential Saudi order has been expected to involve as many as 100 airplanes or more, according to people briefed on the competition. Aircraft deals can include a mix of confirmed orders and options to buy more later. https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-sovereign-wealth-fund-close-to-deal-for-boeing-jets-943c1377

Before downsized, mh was a major carrier on kangaroo route. if mh have enough good yield transit pax, o&d yield from kul is secondary. on kul-bkk, mh ticket price is generally more expensive than tg; tg serve 3 course meal and good range of alcohol. with limited network, poor service, etc, few pax are willing to pay premium price to travel mh.

FRA T1 allow separation of domestic, international arrival and international departure pax in a single terminal.

Talked to someone who is familiar with the klia aerotrain; it seems, different vendors have submitted a number of proposals to mahb in the last few years and mahb ignored them all. Believe or not; crossover switch between the existing tracks and the Operation, Maintenance and Storage Facility (OMSF) doesn't work. OMSF is practically useless and why aerotrain maintenance is carry out at the satellite station. Not that current rolling stock from bombardier couldn't be repaired. It is just purely mahb mismanagement and incompetency.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): The government remains committed to brand Malaysia as a top destination for tourism, with the Visit Malaysia 2020 (VMY2020) campaign targeting to achieve 30 million tourist arrivals. To support efforts in making VMY2020 a success, the government said it will continue to allocate 50% of tourism tax to the respective state governments. The government is also allocating RM1.1 billion to the ministry of tourism, arts and culture, including an allocation of RM960 million to drive awareness, promotions and programmes of the VMY2020 campaign. https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/govt-sets-aside-rm11b-tourism-ministry-drive-visit-malaysia-2020-campaign The government today proposed an allocation of RM2 billion in 2018 Budget as tourism fund to provide loans for operators next year. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the fund to assist the small and medium-scale enterprises would provide loans at subsidised interest rate of two per cent. “Of the amount, RM1 billion will be allocated for Tourism Infrastructure Development Fund as soft loans,” he said. Najib said RM500 million would be used for development and promotion activities through improved tourism facilities, homestay and eco-tourism programmes. https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/295750/2018-budget-rm2b-improve-tourism-industry Mean substantial amount of federal funding was siphoned off.

Everyone in mab knows no matter how much losses mab incurred, gomen will bail it out. The only possibility to turn around mab is to replace entire bod and top 3 level of management, contract a management team from me3. similarly for mahb.

Mean mas has given up on business turnaround plan, is lacking strategic plan and will remain at current status for foreseeable future.

Without a realistic strategic business plan, mh is neither here nor there, wanted to compete with lcc but opex is too high, wanted to be a fsc but service level and product is like lcc, is lost in the wilderness, become irrelevant.

mh or kul couldn't add much value to qr network, doubt Akbar Al Baker would even consider.

QR does advised kul-doh sector is operate by mh. MOT and PMO is not known to be business savvy; to follow their directive is almost certain to end in losses. type of aircraft deployed is operational, for mot to get involved could only end with bad result, also means mab management is spineless. Aircraft delivery take a few years. without a feasible strategic plan, mh couldn't ensure long term survival.. heard from a few friends; it seems mh has been cancelling low load flight and combined pax to improve load, also means mh is not dependable. those pax with tight schedule is not advisable and unlikely to book with mh.