KL-Singapore route's war is on

[Robert 0]

Mod - we have many KUL-SIN posts - maybe we need a sticky thread for them all?

 

Anyway I've been busy and not able to reply for a few days but I've been following the story. It's good news and I think it will start to hit MAS and SQ becuase of the lower costs.

 

Today in the Singapore Staits Times they are reporting that Silk Air will start flying. I thought that SQ and Silk never competed over the same destination. Perhaps this is becuase the 777's would provide too much capacity - interesting none the less.......

 

Sep 30, 2008

More SIA S'pore-KL flights

By Karamjit Kaur, Aviation Correspondent

 

SINGAPORE Airlines is pumping capacity into the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur sector, ahead of market liberalisation in December.

 

A week after low-cost carriers Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia and AirAsia said they would increase Singapore-KL flights from Dec 1, SIA announced on Tuesday that that it will operate the sector eight times a day from Dec 1.

 

Four of the flights will be operated by its sister airline SilkAir. The parent company will do another four.

 

This means two more daily flights, up from the six a day that SIA does now.

 

Because of a code-share agreement with Malaysia Airlines, a traveller holding an SIA or SilkAir ticket will also be able to take a MAS flight, and vice-versa.

 

It means travellers have a choice of up to 15 daily flights.

 

Between them, the low-cost carriers will operate up to 14 flights a day.

 

SIA executive vice-president for marketing and the regions, Huang Cheng Eng said: 'With the spread of services and a frequency of up to 15 flights a day offered jointly by Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Malaysia Airlines, customers will be spoilt for choice!'

 

Chief executive of SilkAir Chin Yau Seng said: 'This is the first time we will have flown to Kuala Lumpur, and we are excited about the prospects for this new route.'

 

[reyneo 0]

yup, the headlines may read "More SIA S'pore-KL flights " But in reality, they are cutting capacity... Quite a surpise, I must say, I thought MAS would cut flights first with SIA adopting a 'wait-and-see' approach. With most of its flights taken by business travelers or connecting passengers, I thought they would not really be affected much, if at all.

[S. Huang 0]

yup, the headlines may read "More SIA S'pore-KL flights " But in reality, they are cutting capacity... Quite a surpise, I must say, I thought MAS would cut flights first with SIA adopting a 'wait-and-see' approach. With most of its flights taken by business travelers or connecting passengers, I thought they would not really be affected much, if at all.

 

SIA has adopted a 'tag-team' approach with sister carrier SilkAir... so in essence, the SIA Group will be offering more services between SIN and KUL, using different fleet combinations... SQ's 777s during peak hours, and MI's smaller A320s during non-peak hours. This way, SQ is able to use their 777s on other more lucrative routes. It's a win-win for the SIA Group.

 

Also interesting to note that passengers can travel on either MI, SQ or MH with 1 ticket. This probably means that all 3 airlines will be offering a common ticket price on this route... similar to the SQ-MH arrangement during the era of the Shuttle Service.

[Isaac 0]

yup, the headlines may read "More SIA S'pore-KL flights " But in reality, they are cutting capacity...

Cutting capacity ? Not entirely true. It depends on which aircraft SQ/MI deploy to KUL. Currently there are about 1862 seats offered by SQ everyday. When they go 8x daily (4x daily each for SQ and MI), the seat count provided will still be roughly the same.

[M. Sofian H. 0]

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Singapore Airlines (SIA) and SilkAir are offering up to 15 flights daily between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur from Dec 1.

 

"We have extended and strengthened our cooperation with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) by including our sister airline, SilkAir, in our ongoing code-sharing arrangement with MAS on the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route," said SIA executive vice-president (marketing and the regions) Huang Cheng Eng in a statement Monday.

 

SilkAir chief executive Chin Yau Seng said this was the first time SilkAir was flying to Kuala Lumpur and the airline is excited about the prospects for this new route.

 

SilkAir will commence twice daily flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur from Oct 26 while SIA will operate five daily flights. From Dec 1, both airlines will operate four flights each.

 

Together with MAS, the three carriers will offer up to 15 flights a day.

 

hope i can see FY will fly to SIN in the future

Edited October 6, 2008 by M. Sofian H.

[affendi osman 0]

more options....

 

can our MH survive?

[Seth K 3]

Of course MH can survive, 15 flights including MH. What's the news really? except Silkair one(2?) daily to KL...they make it sound so wonderful with 15 flights daily although they currently operate near to 15 flight daily?

Edited October 6, 2008 by Seth K

[Robert 0]

This is already covered here http://www.malaysianwings.com/forum/index....st&p=193716

[Min Chun 0]

Today, in Fly FM advertisement, I heard that AK will be serving route for 6 flights everyday ?

15 + 6 ??

[Isaac 0]

Today, in Fly FM advertisement, I heard that AK will be serving route for 6 flights everyday ?

15 + 6 ??

Yes. But you forgot TR and 3K. TR will be offering 5x daily flights while 3K 2x-3x daily, depends on the day. So SQ-4x daily, MI-4x daily, MH-7x daily, AK-6x daily, TR-5x daily and 3K-2x/3x daily. Altogether are 28x daily - 29x daily.

 

[David Wong 0]

woo ..it's like one day can bring half of the singaporeans out of singapore to malaysia >.<

haha joking

[Azri M. 0]

OK now KUL-SIN route, by Dec 1, we have

 

Full service:

MH - 47 weekly

SQ - 28 weekly

MI - 28 weekly

JL - 7 weekly

TOTAL : 110 weekly (103 minus JL)

 

Low cost:

AK - 42 weekly

TR - 34 weekly

3K - 19 weekly

Total : 95 weekly

 

All in all, the MH-SQ-MI codeshare still boost the biggest frequency, and may be more appealing to the business people. One real worry is how AK-TR-3K can fill up the seat, and there may be chances that some flights can be combined (translated into delay!).

 

The low cost airlines have responded the sudden boost of frequency with cheap seats (AK - RM45, TR - $29), while SQ adds more flights (under MI brand). Suprisingly (or not suprisingly), MH reacts with lowering the fuel surcharge substantially (a cut around RM80 one way). I wonder, MH may actually reduce their frequency.

 

I believe, FY should try flying SZB-SIN. Is that possible under the open sky agreement?

[Naim 6]

...

I believe, FY should try flying SZB-SIN. Is that possible under the open sky agreement?

 

I think so. Subang-Seletar would be cool (Berjaya Air does Seletar - Redang/Pangkor).

 

[Robert 0]

I'm not sure I'd wanna fly to Selatar but something I mentioned before -

 

Sg Besi - Changi would be cool. It could be named something like Cityflyer Express.

[reyneo 0]

I'd rather they fly subang to changi than to Seletar... Seletar Airport is served by just one bus (103w) with a 45minute frequency at certain times of the day only, with a one lane road into and out of the airport and almost no passenger facilities...

[Robert 0]

Some updates and thoughts on the changes to the KUL-SIN route.......

 

TR 149 which used to depart from SIN around 15:00 stopped on the 25th Oct and has now need replaced by TR416 Departing SIN at 20:50 with a return flight from KUL at 22:15

 

TR has a tax free fare offer on at the moment with flight ex KUL at MYR 92 inc all taxes, fuel etc and ex SIN for SGD 29. To me this is a fantastic price and is cheaper then most of the VIP bus services.

 

In addition Silk Air have now started flying on the KUL-SIN route. I've noticed that the 20:00 ex SIN flight is now operated by Silk Air. This always seemed to have a good loading figure and was often difficult to get a seat on at short notice so I'm surprised that its been downgraded to an A320.

 

The timetables on the MAS and SQ sites don’t display all of each others flights yet a full code share is in operation. This is very slack and a pain when you need to check the schedule.

 

I think the new SQ, MH & Silk schedule is nore balanced but it’s a shame that the regular SQ flights are now operated by Silk because I don’t get any miles or point on my VS card with them and I prefer to fly on a 777 (

 

Just one final thought - I've always wondered why there isn't a really early flight ex KUL to allow people to attend early morning meetings.

[reyneo 0]

I thought all Silk flights are SQ codeshares, so since you still book wtih SQ, you should still get your miles, no?

 

As for early morning flights (since you said meetings, im assuming u're refering to non-budget),

for ex-SIN we have:

MH602 0645-0745

SQ102 0710-8010

SQ106 0835-0930

 

ex-KUL i see:

MH601 0805-0900

MK646 0855-0945

(MK is Air Maritus)

 

TR has a tax free fare offer on at the moment with flight ex KUL at MYR 92 inc all taxes, fuel etc and ex SIN for SGD 29. To me this is a fantastic price and is cheaper then most of the VIP bus services.

The ASA has mandated that all travel-related ads in Singapore must show only all-inclusive prices from 1st November (thats today!). Finally!

Oh and btw, the flights aren't tax-free. SIN Budget Terminal Airport tax is SGD7 w/SGD21 Surcharge, while (IIRC) LCCT Airport tax is 35RM with the rest as surcharge. While that is indeed cheaper than coach (in fact so was AK's only airport tax-no surchare fares), you have to:

- make your way to the airport, (about 20-30mins from city)

-wait a take a free shuttle bus to BT, (about 15mins wait)

-arrive at least a hour before departure to check in, (thats an hr)

-clear immigration, dump all liquids, (negligible time, just inconvenient)

-wait for the expected delays, (TR's average delay is 15-30mins)

-fly for an hour,

-clear immigration and wait for bags, (at the overcrowded LCCT, this could take awhile)

- then wait and take transport to the city. (9RM bus takes an 1.5hrs)

 

For a SIN-KUL LCCT flight, how much time (and money) do you u really save over a 5hr coach? If Firefly launched SIN-SZB (no XPS please), it would shave the 1.5hrs travel time to Sentral and make the flight more reasonable... then they could fly 10x daily and probably still fill the planes and they dont even need to match AK/TR's fares, since I'd imagine even some Businessman would want save time. MAS probably wouldn't allow this, but if they have spare MASwings metal, they could technically 'fly it themselves', no? What do u guys think?

[Robert 0]

The flights I quoted are tax free and start from SGD29 and include all taxes and fees

 

 

I thought all Silk flights are SQ codeshares, so since you still book wtih SQ, you should still get your miles, no?

 

I need to check the details again becuase previously when MH/SQ had a code share the SQ site would say that no miles are earned on codeshare flights.

As for early morning flights (since you said meetings, im assuming u're refering to non-budget),

 

ex-KUL i see:

MH601 0805-0900

MK646 0855-0945

(MK is Air Maritus)

AK will be doing an earlier flight but its tough if you want to attend a meeting or in my case get back to teh office on a monday morning by 08:30 am on monday

 

The ASA has mandated that all travel-related ads in Singapore must show only all-inclusive prices from 1st November (thats today!). Finally!

Oh and btw, the flights aren't tax-free. SIN Budget Terminal Airport tax is SGD7 w/SGD21 Surcharge, while (IIRC) LCCT Airport tax is 35RM with the rest as surcharge. While that is indeed cheaper than coach (in fact so was AK's only airport tax-no surchare fares), you have to:

 

The fares I quoted are tax free and start from SGD29 and include all taxes and fees

 

-

For a SIN-KUL LCCT flight, how much time (and money) do you u really save over a 5hr coach?

 

I agree with you there and I find the bus more relaxing. If I want to arrive in KL evening time or travel during a public holiday then it has to be a flight for me because of the traffic jams.

 

 

The flights I quoted are tax free and start from SGD29 and include all taxes and fees

 

 

I thought all Silk flights are SQ codeshares, so since you still book wtih SQ, you should still get your miles, no?

 

I need to check the details again becuase previously when MH/SQ had a code share the SQ site would say that no miles are earned on codeshare flights.

As for early morning flights (since you said meetings, im assuming u're refering to non-budget),

 

ex-KUL i see:

MH601 0805-0900

MK646 0855-0945

(MK is Air Maritus)

AK will be doing an earlier flight but its tough if you want to attend a meeting or in my case get back to teh office on a monday morning by 08:30 am on monday

 

The ASA has mandated that all travel-related ads in Singapore must show only all-inclusive prices from 1st November (thats today!). Finally!

Oh and btw, the flights aren't tax-free. SIN Budget Terminal Airport tax is SGD7 w/SGD21 Surcharge, while (IIRC) LCCT Airport tax is 35RM with the rest as surcharge. While that is indeed cheaper than coach (in fact so was AK's only airport tax-no surchare fares), you have to:

 

The fares I quoted are tax free and start from SGD29 and include all taxes and fees

 

-

For a SIN-KUL LCCT flight, how much time (and money) do you u really save over a 5hr coach?

 

I agree with you there and I find the bus more relaxing. If I want to arrive in KL evening time or travel during a public holiday then it has to be a flight for me because of the traffic jams.

 

[leon t 0]

no matter what flying still is faster than a "5 hr" bus ride - which is provided that the highway is smooth, off-peak and no traffic accidents" and immigrationa nd customs clearances. Do remember too that even taking a coach it still translates to more than the "5 hr" jouriney as one have to take a taxi/bus from his home to the coach station at least half an hour before the coach leaves.

[reyneo 0]

The flights I quoted are tax free and start from SGD29 and include all taxes and fees

I think i mistook 'tax free' for 'free tax'... What I meant to say was that the flight was free, with a SGD7 tax and SGD22 surcharge.

(OT: but IIRC, the RM35 tax for LCCT seems abit steep considering the MTB only charges RM10 more?)