Seng Lim

Latest update from Flightglobal: Spoilers not deployed in Atlantic Airways BAe 146 crash at Stord, Norway Norwegian investigators have discovered that spoilers did not deploy on the British Aerospace 146-200 which overran the runway while attempting to land at Stord Airport on 10 October. Four of the Atlantic Airways jet’s 16 occupants were killed when it careered off the slightly-damp runway and down steep terrain, before coming to rest and catching fire. Wreckage analysis has also revealed evidence that the aircraft suffered ‘rubber reversal’ as it tried to stop – a phenomenon where heat generated by the tyre vaporises the surface moisture and reduces runway contact. But while ‘rubber reversal’ causes deterioration of the tyre condition, there is no indication any of tyres punctured or deflated. Flight RC670 had been arriving at Stord, in western Norway, after a domestic service from Stavanger. It touched down on runway 33 with a 6kt tailwind. While there was nothing unusual about the airspeed, touchdown point, flap-setting, landing weight or air-brake, preliminary analysis shows that neither of the two independent spoiler systems deployed. One system controls a single spoiler on each wing, the other controls a pair, giving six in all. These systems are normally activated by the crew on touchdown, but a spokesman for the Norwegian Accident Investigation Board says the inquiry has yet to determine the reason for the failure. “The crew did not feel it was appropriate to make a go-around,” adds the spokesman. “But in a last attempt to stop the aircraft they tried to put it into a skid. It was actually skidding down the runway at one point.” Investigators are to examine the aircraft’s maintenance record as part of the inquiry. Atlantic Airways is based in the Faroe Islands and the Faroese ministry of trade and industry says that the jet had undergone a C-check in Sweden and returned to the fleet two weeks before the accident.

Latest news from Bernama: 2 interesting points is : frequency of Malaysian and Chinese passenger and cargo flights between them would increase by 25 per cent to 125 per week using any type of aircraft. Low-cost Air Asia is scheduled to begin flights from Kota Kinabalu to Xiamen and Shenzhen by the end of the year BEIJING, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has secured more air rights in China and significantly, permission for cargo freighters to operate from several Chinese cities to third destinations in Europe, Central Asia and the US. The two countries inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU), here Wednesday which comes into effect immediately, expanding the scope of services which also allows airlines from both countries to enter into code-sharing arrangements to third countries. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, who signed on behalf of Malaysia, hailed the pact as a milestone development in aviation cooperation, saying it underlined the close relations between the two countries. Yang Yuanyuan, Minister of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, said the MoU would create more business and cooperation opportunities for the two countries. "It is now up to Malaysian airlines to tap the opportunities in China which are growing tremendously. They can now pick up cargo from China and fly to other destinations," Chan told newsmen when asked how Malaysia could maximise the benefits when Malaysia Airlines (MAS) had planned to reduce flights to China. The agreement comes ahead of an "open skies" policy between the two countries which is expected to start by 2010. Under the MoU, the frequency of Malaysian and Chinese passenger and cargo flights between them would increase by 25 per cent to 125 per week using any type of aircraft. Currently, Malaysian carriers operate 47 weekly flights to China which in turn flies 34 times a week into Malaysia. For Malaysian cargo carriers the good news is that they can now operate three times a week to Shanghai and four times a week to Hangzhou and onwards to Dubai or to Central Asia from the two Chinese cities and twice a week to Nanjing before flying to Malmo or Gothenburg in Sweden. China would also permit Malaysian carriers to fly seven times a week between central and western China to two destinations in the US and four weekly services between Shanghai and Wilmington or Columbus in Ohio. "With the new cargo routes to the US, Malaysian carriers will stop the service between Shanghai and Cincinnati and in return, the Chinese cargo freighters would have unlimited reciprocal arrangements from Malaysia," Chan said. Chan said under the MoU, Malaysia and Chinese airlines could embark on code-sharing arrangements and use leased aircraft for their respective domestic and overseas destinations to expand passenger services. "MAS and China's biggest fleet operator, Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, are finalising a code-sharing deal which will enable passengers from Malaysia to travel to domestic or international destinations served by the Chinese airliner and vice-versa. "China has also offered Malaysian carriers open access to southern Hainan province," he said. Currently, MAS flies to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kunming and Chengdu. The national carrier has stopped services to Xian and will terminate its run to Chengdu at the end of the month. Low-cost Air Asia is scheduled to begin flights from Kota Kinabalu to Xiamen and Shenzhen by the end of the year. In his meeting with Yang, Chan also sought China's support for Malaysia's bid to become a council member of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. This is the first time Malaysia is seeking to be among the 36-member council after 30 years as a member of the organisation.

Beside that, a lot of Malaysian have the perception where SIA is better and more superior compared to MAS. Anyway MAS will still survived due to it's 'direct flight' advantage from KUL.

These kind of combination you'll need to get the price from travel agent.

To enjoy the extra width, you have pay more! Singapore Air to Raise Fares on New Boeing 777 Planes By Chan Sue Ling Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore Airlines Ltd., the world's second-largest carrier by market value, plans to raise fares on flights it will offer using its new Boeing Co. 777-300ER planes. Singapore Airlines intends to charge 10 percent to 20 percent more in fares for routes served by the new aircraft, Huang Cheng Eng, executive vice-president for marketing for the region at the airline, said today. It will start offering flights on its new Boeing planes between Singapore and Paris in December. It will also fly to Zurich using the new aircraft. Singapore Airlines has committed to spend an initial $360 million to furnish 10 Boeing 777-300ERs and 19 Airbus SAS A380 it will add to its fleet to attract more passengers as economic growth prompted demand for leisure and business travel. The number of travelers in the region will increase an average 6.8 percent a year between 2005 and 2009, according to the International Air Transport Association, which represents about 260 airlines. The first Boeing 777-300ER will be delivered in November. Singapore Airlines has 19 of the aircraft on order, of which 10 will enter service by the middle of 2007. Singapore Airlines, which will be the first to fly the world's biggest plane, may offer services to Tokyo using the superjumbo A380. The carrier will receive its first A380 in October 2007 instead of December this year as Airbus struggles with wiring problems. The airline earlier planned to fly the double-decker aircraft to London and Sydney.

They should get some big size stocky model (successful businessman looking) to sit in the business class. Those tall slim models who hardly occupied half of the space just make the seat looks funny. Just wondering since their seat is so wide, are they gonna have 'couples' promotion - 2 for the seat of 1 and you can do whatever you want with your partner

Their current CEO (Mr. Chew) is taller and more handsome compared to the previous one (Mr. Cheong). Chew's background is engineering, well maybe that's the reason why he lack of artistic touch (boring engineer , opps sorry if there's any engineer out there)

It has been officially undated at: http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/cont...p/new/index.jsp Looks fantastic!

What I am trying to say is, if your teacher is willing to transit, he will have more choices and most probably it will be cheaper as well (direct non stop is usually more expensive). For example :

Maybe you can look into other EU carriers as they might provide cheaper fares due the transit.

Most user friendly - Changi Best for transit - Changi (lots of things to do + majority are free of charge). Best duty free shopping - Changi Best waiting area/daparture gate - HKG & ICN (they are quite similar), i like the opening planning concept. Best inside terminal spotting - HKG. I do agree KUL has no soul and finding gates at Satelite building can be quite confusing due to the small signs and the '+' design terminal with a forrest in the middle just make it worse. I also don't like the concept of aerotrain as waiting for the aerotrains is just waste of time and fighting places with the crowd is not something pleasant. Waiting for luggage in KLIA can be a nightmare also as it was just way too slow. Honestly speaking KLIA is very classy (the design, materials etc) but just not as practical, user friendly and efficient compared to some of the regional airport like SIN, HKG, ICN. Honestly speaking can't wait for the New Changi Terminal 3 to open in 2008 as I'm sure they are really gonna set a new standard considering the current T1 & T2 is very good already! http://www.changiairport.com.sg/changi/en/...tml?__locale=en

Cancellations mainly in East Malaysia especially on those small airports, as far as I concerned. Big airport like KLIA with advanced Instrument Landing System won't have any problems unless the visibility is really really bad.

Phase 1 : F50 serving small cities in peninsular Malaysia by end of this year. Phase 2 : B737 to Sabah Sarawak early next year. Phase 3 : India & China Phase 4 : B777 to West Asia and Europe middle of next year . From F50 serving domestic to B737 then to India & China and B777 to West Asia and EU all within a year? Seems like all they know is just talk big and that's their way to get attentions

China has the hardware (world class infrastructures etc) but not the software (populations that are still pretty uncivilised).

Tyres changed overdue? Look at the black particles smoke came out from the airbus tyres!

The raining bording picture reminded me of on one of my MH flight from KL to Ipoh few years back. The plane touched down in Ipoh and the rain was pretty heavy, during disembark the groud crew was very helpful making sure everyone didn't get wet and the umbrellas is in good conditions as well. This picture also reminded me on what's happended to one of my ex. colleague brother who went to Bangkok for 6 months for intership. He took AK and on the day where he depart from KLIA (during that time LCCT not ready yet), it was raining cats and dogs and by the time he reached Bangkok and opened his luggae everything is wet! He was so devastated because all the medical reference books inside the luggage is all wet! It seems like AK just leave all the luggage sitting outside uncovered during heavy rains and those unlucky passanger with luggage being placed on top of the whole stack will have a shock of their life when they retrieved and opened their luggage. Lesson from this case : If you don't want your luggage soaking wet, get a good PP (polypropylene) material luggage (hardcase) as they have much better protection against rain.

I'm trying to get more information about Cebu Pacific about the meals (not sure it's provided or you have to buy your own meal) but didn't have much information except the check in baggage allowance is 20kg. However they got 2 very nice TV advertisement and here's the link: http://www.cebupacificair.com/aboutus/ads/index.html

Just did a quick play on their reservation system and the lowest promo fare in RM is $99 oneway. A return trip = $198 + $223 = $421 Kuala Lumpur LCC Terminal - Manila

From the pics the main deck seems more spacious compared to the upper deck.

Looks good and the colour is very Korean.

He can wait and see how's Jetstar is doing as well in their regional long haul flights starting this Nov.

I guess if the load of this flight is heavy the number of fatalities will be much higher.

Below is the news from BBC : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6036321.stm Norway runway blaze kills three The aircraft skidded off the runway as it was landing Three people have been killed after a charter plane caught fire and skidded off a runway as it landed in Norway. Thirteen people were rescued from the burning aircraft - which was carrying 16 in all - at Stord airport. The plane had taken off from Sola airport, near Stavanger, and was due to fly on to Molde further up the coast after a stopover. The three dead were found in the wreckage, having originally been reported missing. Rescue officials said the 13 survivors were not seriously injured. The cause of the accident was not immediately clear. The BAe 146-200 jet was operated by Atlantic Airways of the Faroe Islands. Fritz Arne Lilleskog, of the district police, said the heat from the fire had slowed efforts to search the wreckage.

Agreed with what Leo said on the issues on Upgrades from Asia carriers. An ex. colleague of mine in her late 20's travel to TPE with CX on last year. They (with her husband) was being upgraded at the check in counter for their KUL-HKG sector. It was a real surprise for them as they are holding a cheap economy tickets, no silver/gold FF card or what so ever, they dress up normally (not with Armani or Gucci or LV), they didn't know anyone from the airline/airport and they didn't check in at last minutes.

For me I'll look into the price first, after that I'll look in the schedule of the cheapest flights. If the schedule is no good, then I'll look into the second cheapest and the same process will repeat until I'm satisfied with both fares and schedule. In terms of mileage I'm won't be bother as there's usually 3 years expiry on your mileage, it's very difficult to accured enough mileage within 3 years to redem for free flights unless you are business traveller who always fly (Like Kelvin) or if you are leisure flyer who takes long haul flights.