Robin

he tyres of an Airbus aircraft of Cathay Pacific Airways caught fire at 1:50 p.m. today when it arrived the Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong. The passengers were evacuated using the emergency ladder.It is said that four persons were injured and the fire has been put off.

The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam has banned local carriers from using brands and logos of foreign airlines for their services. Foreign airlines are also not allowed to directly control business plans, revenues and profits at a local airline, Lai Xuan Thanh, deputy head of the administration, said Sunday. The administration is trying to tighten control over foreign-invested airlines in Vietnam and prevent them from reporting fake losses in revenue, Thanh said. The decision came after VietJet Air, the first private airline to be licensed in Vietnam, sold a 30 percent stake to Malaysia’s low cost carrier AirAsia and planned to name its new joint venture VietJet AirAsia. Thanh was quoted by local news website VnExpress as saying AirAsia’s acquisition of the stake was legitimate but VietJet Air needs to think carefully about using the brand of its foreign partner. He also asked low cost carrier Jetstar Pacific Airlines to report its plan to change trademarks or it would not be allowed to open new routes. Local carrier Pacific Airlines was renamed Jetstar Pacific Airlines in May 2008 under a branding agreement with Jetstar Airways, which is a subsidiary of Australia-based Qantas Airlines. The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam has several times warned Jetstar Pacific Airlines against using the “Jetstar” logo or “Jet” and a star image, saying these trademarks could cause people to confuse the Vietnamese airline with Australian carrier Jetstar Airways. But Jetstar Pacific Airlines has said that under the branding agreement, it has the right to use Jetstar’s brand name.

ALBANY, New York: U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday he's trying to get the federal government to prohibit airlines from charging a fee for carry-on baggage, calling it a "slap in the face to travelers." The New York Democrat is making a personal plea to the Treasury Department to rule that carry-on bags are a necessity for travel, which would make them exempt from a separate fee outside the ticket price. "Airline passengers have always had the right to bring a carry-on bag without having to worry about getting nickeled and dimed by an airline company," Schumer said. "This latest fee is a slap in the face to travelers." Schumer said carry-on bags often contain medications and other necessities, particularly for families. Carry-on fees artificially avoid higher ticket prices and the taxes applied to tickets, Schumer said. The fee, however, is legal. The first airline to try it, Spirit Airlines, announced last week it would charge up to US$45 for a carry-on, but that it was also reducing the cost of most tickets by $40. Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza has said having fewer carry-on bags will help empty the plane faster, and the fee is intended to get customers to pay for individual things they want, while keeping the base fare low. Charging for checked bags but not carry-ons also means many passengers lug as much as they can onto planes. There was no immediate comment Friday from the Treasury Department, which would handle the case because it's considered a tax issue. Schumer wrote to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner seeking to end what Schumer calls a loophole in law that allows the fees. Without action by Treasury, Schumer said he will introduce legislation. - AP

I wonder 9M-NAA can fly direct from Noi Bai to Washington without transit in somewhere?

PENANG, April 8 — An AirAsia flight from Penang to Macau today turned back to the Bayan Lepas International Airport here when the pilot detected a technical fault 45 minutes after take-off.Flight AK 5072, carrying 180 passengers, had departed at 6.30am and returned at 7.37am, AirAsia Penang station manager Kenneth Tan told reporters at the airport. “Forty-five minutes after take-off, the pilot realised he had a technical problem and decided to turn back,” he said. He also said that all the passengers left for Macau at 12.40pm on another AirAsia aircraft. Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB) senior manager in Penang, Abdul Wahab Mohd Yusof, said the aircraft landed safely and the incident did not disrupt other flight schedules. — Bernama

aircraft registration?

National carrier Vietnam Airlines has requested the government to prevent Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia from forming a new budget joint-venture in Vietnam. According to Vietnam Airlines, AirAsia’s acquisition of a 30 percent stake in local VietJet Air last month was only a move to help the Malaysian company enter the domestic market. As it’s difficult to expand their business to overseas markets, foreign carriers often try to invest in a local carrier, Vietnam Airlines said in a letter to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Although the government has set a 30 percent cap on foreign ownership in a local airline, the loophole is that the regulation applies to all foreign investors, including airlines. Jetstar, and now AirAsia, have taken advantage of the loophole to form joint ventures in Vietnam and this trend is bound to harm the local industry, the national carrier said. VietJet Air, the first private airline to be licensed in Vietnam, said last month the Ministry of Transport has approved its joint venture with AirAsia. AirAsia said last month that the new budget airline, VietJet AirAsia, will operate both international and domestic flights starting May. Analysts said AirAsia’s investment in VietJet Air would help the local airline launch its service soon. VietJet Air received its license in 2007 but has delayed its first commercial flight many times since. Vietjet AirAsia, if finally established, will compete directly with Jetstar Pacific, the first low-cost airline in the country. Jetstar Pacific has not raised any objection to the co-operation between VietJet and AirAsia. Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia’s largest airline, holds a 27 percent stake in Jetstar Pacific.

AirAsia sets up Vietnam low-cost airline15:01' 11/02/2010 (GMT+7) AirAsia,a major low-cost airline in Asia, said it has purchased a 30 percentstake in VietJet Aviation of Vietnam to establish a budget carrierbased in the country. AirAsia’sVietnam representative office sent out a statement Thursday saying thatthe new carrier will be called VietJet AirAsia. AirAsia aircraft at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi (Photo: VNE) AirAsia said in a statementlate Wednesday from Kuala Lumpur that the Ministry of Transportation ofVietnam approved the share acquisition on Tuesday, February 9. It didnot reveal how much it paid for the acquisition. The new carrier will beoperating both domestic and international flights, AirAsia said. It iscurrently finalizing details regarding routes, frequencies and launchof flights. The formation of the new airline makes Vietnam AirAsia’s fourth country base, following Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. AirAsia said it joined the venture to expand its reach in Vietnam and open the country as another gateway in the ASEAN region. It added the joint venture“will be tapping be tapping the expertise of both AirAsia and VietJetAir for the successful operation and marketing of low-cost flights.” Subject to regulatory approval, the venture is expected to start operations either in April or June this year. VietJet Air was licensed tooperate in December 2007 as a partnership of SOVICO Holdings (anestablished corporation with interests in banking and finance, realestate, plantation and power plants), T&C Group and Ho Chi MinhCity Housing Development Bank, or HDBank. However, VietJet Air hasnot launched its flights due to fuel price fluctuations and the globaleconomic downturn that began late 2008. Vietnam has so far approvedthree private airlines namely VietJet Air, Indochina Airlines andMekong Aviation. Indochina Airlines stopped flights in November lastyear due to losses. Mekong Aviation had plans to start operations thisyear on domestic routes but no developments have been seen so far. Meanwhile, there are no signs of when the national carrier – Vietnam Airlines – would launch low-cost services.

Jaya Tiasa own by Tiong's family not only Tan Sri Tiong. Also Datuk Tiong T K ( MP Lanang) and the rest of their brothers.

I also have this experience before in Vietnam many years ago. When MAS B734 landed Hanoi Noi Bai Airport, one VN worker, played with the emergency exit window and try to close it but fail. At that moment, the aircraft still on runway not yet enter to terminal building. In my memories, there was no alarm rang due to his actions.

Does anybody know why MASwings ATR is 68 seats but Firefly ATR got 72 seats?

I just went to Shenzhen via HK last few days. HKIA is still ok. You just need to fill in healh declaration form and scan for temperature. Same like Shenzhen immigration. Basically, I would say nothing give me hassle.

I would say they will convert 1 A380 replaces 9M-NAA (M'sia Air force one) install with all the luxury facilities for our VIP to travel for overseas delegation!

Select seat for online booking has been implemented long time ago!

Ic. tks! Azuddin

what if they need to travel to East M'sia? Via Air Asia? or private jet?

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has successfully retained its five-star airline ranking, making it the fourth year in a row. The ranking recognises the highest product quality and consistently high standards of staff service delivery onboard and airport environments. The national carrier was assessed by airline and airport industry research advisor Skytrax under its Quality-Cost-Value-Satisfaction audit from November to December last year. “This award is a timely recognition of our employees’ continuous commitment to delivering the highest quality at affordable prices,” said MAS managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala in a statement on Sunday. He added the airline’s value proposition was to treat its customers as how they would treat guests at their own homes. “We now have over 700 customer-focused initiatives. These are aimed at improving our front liners’ interaction skills and service delivery as well as improving our physical product and service offerings,” Idris said. Skytrax Group chief executive officer Edward Plaisted said the greatest attribute behind the five star status was an airline’s ability to deliver the combination of product and service. “The airline industry is a people-business and we are highly focused on recognising those airlines whose staff deliver a true five-star standard of service delivery,” he said.

I guess there is a system error. It should be Fokker 70

Hi Sneeze, Are you coming to Hanoi or HCMC? Maybe, you give me the flight number, I am able to find out for you. Also, you said you are flying to SIN, from HAN or SGN?

Asiana Airlines has been named as the winner of the 2008 World's Best Cabin Staff award, in another closely contested survey conducted by Skytrax. "Yet again this section of the World Airline Survey was the most closely contested, and for much of the study period, the top 4 airlines were running almost neck and neck" said Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax. "The 2008 Awards represent another clean-sweep of top accolades by airlines across Asia, where service quality is still prioritised as both an important and distinguishing factor of the air travel experience." "The final winner of the Best Cabin Staff 2008 title is Asiana Airlines, and we congratulate them upon this magnificent achievement. This is the world's largest and most respected Award to recognise Cabin Staff Service Excellence, and is a clear sign of where passengers can expect to receive the best quality of onboard service. Judging from the increasing performance of Asiana Airlines in this cabin staff category, they are rapidly becoming the Best Practice against which other world airlines will benchmark standards". Malaysia Airlines (the most frequent previous winner of this Award) was pipped into 2nd place for 2008, ahead of Singapore Airlines in 3rd. Thai Airways (4th) maintains a Top 5 position, with Air New Zealand moving up 5 places from last year to take 5th spot in the 2008 results. "Whilst the primary role of cabin staff is to ensure passenger safety during a flight, that is a function where we generally find the majority of airlines perform well. Over and above that, this Cabin Staff survey is about asking customers to nominate their favourite airline based upon the complete quality of their onboard experience. It is more than just serving meals or tending to customer needs, since the survey assesses the all important soft-service elements of the average trip. The friendliness, enthusiasm and sincerity of staff service are all very marked differentiators when we examine airline performance. Consistency of service remains another critical feature, since it is this which drives future purchase and loyalty decisions amongst customers" added Plaisted. WORLD'S BEST CABIN STAFF 2008 Rank 1.Asiana Airlines 2.Malaysia Airlines 3.Singapore Airlines 4.Thai Airways 5.Air New Zealand © Skytrax Result publication allowed with prior consent of Skytrax Who is right?

thanks.I will keep follow up on MW

Can anybody know this? Is that any chance for the flight SBW-KCH v.v or SBW-MYYv.v using ATR?

Air Asia only provide point to point check in NO check through services. This is the 'selling point' for No Frills airlines. Good luck!

MAS serving hot meals in boxes PETALING JAYA: Hot meals are back on Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flights, but they are still served in meal boxes. MAS managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala said the hot meal boxes, which were launched last month, had improved aircraft turnaround time by five minutes. “By improving the turnaround time, MAS can increase revenue by RM50mil a year,” he said at the MAS Academy yesterday. He said passengers who do not feel like eating while on board could take the meal boxes as takeaways. “We prefer that passengers take them out, as this means we save on cleaning time,” Idris said, adding that the objective was to increase in-flight efficiency. “This approach will see the return of all-time favourites such as nasi lemak and nasi goreng kampung as well as the introduction of new varieties.” Passengers can choose from 37 Asian and Western meal options that change on a daily basis. Those with special dietary requirement need to inform the airline when during ticket booking their tickets. “We are conducting an in-flight survey until Aug 15 and will use the findings to continuously refine our meal offerings,” he said. The airlines is also progressively developing special meals such as for children and vegetarians, and these will be introduced by the end of next month. Hot meal boxes are currently offered on domestic flights from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, Kuching, Miri and Kota Kinabalu, as well as on Asean flights between Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, Yangon, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Jogjakarta, Phuket, Bandar Seri Begawan, Denpasar, Hanoi, Jakarta, Manila, Siem Reap, Surabaya and Singapore.

I have seen it park there for at least 2 years from now.