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RMAF Herkybirds to fly students out of Egypt

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I am not sure what is your problem but barking like that in a cynical way to a fellow forum member who is now in a middle of a crisis is just plain blunt.

 

 

The sensitive hearts of some forum participants never ceases to amaze me. I wished him luck, he thanked me for my concern. In retrospect maybe I shouldve PMed him that. I hope he is well, and as he is currently typing away at our forum I am sure he is in some measure of safety.

 

Anyways, my only comment is 'why A320 and not A330'.

 

C.Lee, I do not have the full picture either, as I am not privy to both MH and AK D7 insider scoop. However, some airline peeps have told me that the key for taking out pax from a distressed location is VOLUME. not FREQUENCY. During the 2008 PAD uprising in BKK, most airlines flew big birds into U Tapao for the same reasons. Apparently reason being : you're not quite sure if/when you can get slots for the next landing. hence it is best to carry out volume at one go.

 

I happen to be part of the stranded pax in BKK that Airasia said "sayonara, here's your refund, consider your flight cancelled" to during the BKK uprising so forgive me if I am a bit biased against them. I saw a lot of BS that time, a lot of PR spinning by Tony and co and of course, a lot of media spin revolving around ONE A320 that was sent to U-Tapao. There were subsequent flights of course, but that was way after almost everyone have cleared off. I personally have travelled down by road to HKT and took a widebody-upgraded MH flight out by the time AK sent the first A320.

 

A lot of BS then, and certainly some hints of BS now. For sure TAT of a widebody is not that much off an A320 when there's no belly cargo, hardly any luggage and no first and business class catering to be loaded.

 

I believe Tony Fernandes was tweeting about rights to CAI - they don't have it and the govt. was arranging for them to get the rights to land in CAI. Whatever made you guys think he was demanding SYD rights in exchange? Can you please post that tweet to enlighten us?

 

I think you completely misunderstood. Nobody said he was demanding SYD in exchange. We are just curious why an A330 was "ever ready" to ply SYD but then an A320 was mounted when Govt needed urgent help.

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The sensitive hearts of some forum participants never ceases to amaze me. I wished him luck, he thanked me for my concern. In retrospect maybe I shouldve PMed him that. I hope he is well, and as he is currently typing away at our forum I am sure he is in some measure of safety.

 

Anyways, my only comment is 'why A320 and not A330'.

 

C.Lee, I do not have the full picture either, as I am not privy to both MH and AK D7 insider scoop. However, some airline peeps have told me that the key for taking out pax from a distressed location is VOLUME. not FREQUENCY. During the 2008 PAD uprising in BKK, most airlines flew big birds into U Tapao for the same reasons. Apparently reason being : you're not quite sure if/when you can get slots for the next landing. hence it is best to carry out volume at one go.

 

I happen to be part of the stranded pax in BKK that Airasia said "sayonara, here's your refund, consider your flight cancelled" to during the BKK uprising so forgive me if I am a bit biased against them. I saw a lot of BS that time, a lot of PR spinning by Tony and co and of course, a lot of media spin revolving around ONE A320 that was sent to U-Tapao. There were subsequent flights of course, but that was way after almost everyone have cleared off. I personally have travelled down by road to HKT and took a widebody-upgraded MH flight out by the time AK sent the first A320.

 

A lot of BS then, and certainly some hints of BS now. For sure TAT of a widebody is not that much off an A320 when there's no belly cargo, hardly any luggage and no first and business class catering to be loaded.

 

The first aircraft that flew U Tapao was a B737-400 organised by MasCharter. We flew two flights one day before anyone else, and did it so seamlessly and quietly that even MH management was not even aware when the main operational team started planning rescue flights 36 hours later. That was rather funny, and more than a few people I know became upset with us at Charters.....he he he. The same with the post Tsunami event. Mascharter flew in a 7 person CNBC news team and carried food and medical supplies. We even brought our Chairman along. That B737-400 was the first foreign aircraft to go into Banda Aceh. There were some ruffled feathers that was quite upset with us but they became friendlier when they found out that Chairman came along.....he he he

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Latest out of Wisma Putra -- now RED alert -- safety of Malaysian citizens cannot be guaranteed. Evacuation necessary.

 

===

 

Pengumuman Penting : Pengumuman Berkenaan Situasi Terkini Di Mesir

 

PENGUMUMAN BERKENAAN SITUASI TERKINI DI MESIR

 

Situasi terkini di Mesir dilaporkan bergolak berikutan pengumuman Presiden Hosni Mubarak untuk tidak bertanding di dalam pilihan raya Presiden pada bulan September 2011. Klasifikasi tahap keselamatan dinaikkan ke tahap MERAH : keselamatan rakyat sudah tidak dapat dipastikan/dijamin. Gerakan pemindahan (evacuation) diperlukan.

...

 

http://www.kln.gov.my/web/guest/home?p_p_id=101_INSTANCE_Yt06&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-2&p_p_col_pos=6&p_p_col_count=10&_101_INSTANCE_Yt06_struts_action=%2Fasset_publisher%2Fview_content&_101_INSTANCE_Yt06_urlTitle=pengumuman-penting-%3A-pengumuman-berkenaan-situasi-terkini-di-mesir&_101_INSTANCE_Yt06_type=content&redirect=%2Fweb%2Fguest%2Fhome

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HM should go. Civil war in 48 hours unless he steps down it seems. EgyptAir must be cursing away at the cancellations. PnL will surely be hit BAD.

 

Nik.H : I was not a MH passenger that time so missed out on the rescue flight! I was offered a seat by a nice KLM mgmt staff tho, but doing UTP-AMS-KUL was just too much of a dog leg!

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Enjoying life at Nexus Karambunai with family over the CNY being entertained by emails from 'important' people to other important people organising the rescue effort. Some solutions akin to scratching the left ear with the right hand via the back of the head. Its amazing how egos can rule while Malaysian lives are at possible peril.

 

HM should go. Civil war in 48 hours unless he steps down it seems. EgyptAir must be cursing away at the cancellations. PnL will surely be hit BAD.

 

Nik.H : I was not a MH passenger that time so missed out on the rescue flight! I was offered a seat by a nice KLM mgmt staff tho, but doing UTP-AMS-KUL was just too much of a dog leg!

 

N. Azman : The aircraft was chartered to rescue BA crew from U Tapao to SIN. When we mounted the flight we even anticipated chaos at the counter so we even organised a weighing machine and MasCharter staff followed the plane to speed up check-in. By doing so the turnaround was like an F1 pit stop.

Edited by Nik H.

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What's unfortunate here is that the next country nearest by road is Israel, which is a no go. Its just too far to run away to Libya i suppose, unless you consider crossing over by sea to Jordan an option. Unless, wisma putra allows conditional entry pass into Israel! which means we can mount first and last ever flights to Ben Gurion! Unlikely unfortunately.

 

What's guaranteed is that if we are unclear about the rescue flights here, im sure people there are also guessing in the midst of uncertainties. Am sure a number of people would escape by road/sea by now.

Edited by N Azman

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Had they used the 377-seats A330 instead, there will be at least 1508 Malaysians brought out of CAI daily instead of 720. Unless, of course, there is not enough A330 that they need to use an A320 instead. But then according to Azran, they are ready to deploy the A330, subject to "government's directive".

 

Should we blame the gov for not granting the SYD rights, hence only an A320 is deployed instead of an A330?

 

Don't be shocked when you hear later today that an A340 will be heading to Cairo too, on top of the A320! And bro, you've got to learn to take things with a little pinch of salt. When they don't send any aircraft, you protest why they don't send and make calculations based on the number of seats available on the A320 and how many Malaysian students can be brought out. When they send an A320, you compare them to an A330. So much so for being a Malaysian, the word gratitude is always missing in our dictionary.

 

*edit: and yes, thank you for also not questioning why the Malaysian govt. could only send 2x C130 (with a max capacity of 150pax) to CAI.

Edited by Sri Ramani K.

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Unless, wisma putra allows conditional entry pass into Israel! which means we can mount first and last ever flights to Ben Gurion! Unlikely unfortunately.

 

Wisma Putra could allow conditional entry passes, but the question is, would the Israeli government allow it? I doubt they'll be sympathetic to the plight of Malaysians in Egypt.

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A lot of BS then, and certainly some hints of BS now. For sure TAT of a widebody is not that much off an A320 when there's no belly cargo, hardly any luggage and no first and business class catering to be loaded.

Surely, surely there must be more important priorities at times like these ! :p

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I was offered a seat by a nice KLM mgmt staff tho, but doing UTP-AMS-KUL was just too much of a dog leg!

I can imagine a few of us here jumping at that opportunity ! :D

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All this hammering/bantering is really insensitive and of bad taste. Find it sour that the rights into Sydney is being dragged in given the situations. And to Izzuan, all the best and stay safe! I'm sure you and your family will be back safely.

 

From the KLIA website, i can find 3 flights going to Cairo, MH8010, MH9149 and D72998.

 

RT @tonyfernandes 4ending a340 to cairo. Airbus.

Edited by Walter Sim

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RT: @tengkuazmil: The Malaysia Airlines rescue flight to Cairo has already departed KUL this morning. We are flying a B747, 9M-MPL for the mission.

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Good job AirAsia! and best of luck to AK D7 MH!

 

Finally they have woken up and I would like to think the plight of 'complainers' like myself and c.lee asking for bigger aircraft CONTRIBUTED to Tony's decision to send another bird. Maybe it did, maybe it did not, but i know tony received tremendous pressure (online, and Offline too!) to mount a bigger plane (from myself included).

 

If we sit quietly and just lay down in 'gratitude' like some forummers suggested, then what is the point of having an aviation forum website?

 

just to share pics, flight sim tricks and to oogle at pilots' experiences? come on lar guys. sikit banter pun jangan lah takut.

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Finally a widebody, plus an A320. Thank you AK/D7! :good:

 

When they don't send any aircraft, you protest why they don't send and make calculations based on the number of seats available on the A320 and how many Malaysian students can be brought out. When they send an A320, you compare them to an A330. So much so for being a Malaysian, the word gratitude is always missing in our dictionary.

If constructive criticisms and suggestions can improve the situation, why not?

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If you want to criticize anyone, there are some really crazy people here. (Note: link is in Malay)

One word: Wow! :blink:

 

From Bernama: http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=561386

 

First Batch Of Malaysian Students In Egypt To Arrive In Jeddah By Midnight Tonight

 

KOTA KINABALU, Feb 3 (Bernama) -- The first two planes operated by Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia, carrying about 600 Malaysian students from Egypt, are expected to arrive in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by midnight today, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said.

 

The Malaysia Airlines plane, a Boeing 747, and the AirAsia Airbus A340 plane left KL International Airport early this morning for Cairo.

 

"As soon as these planes arrive there, we will arrange to fly out the first batch of Malaysian students and we hope, if everthing goes well, they will arrive in Jeddah by midnight tonight," he told reporters, here Thursday.

 

Anifah said the three C-130 transport aircraft belonging to the Malaysian air force, which left for Jeddah yesterday, would start flying out Malaysian students out of Egypt tomorrow morning.

 

"These three aircrafts need to cease from activity for 24 hours before resuming the normal flying activity.

 

"That's why these planes can only start operating shuttle service tomorrow. Altogether the three Malaysian air force planes could carry up to 750 passengers," he said.

 

Anifah said the Malaysian embassy in Egypt was working round-the-clock to ensure the mission to bring home Malaysian students from the troubled country, would run smoothly.

 

He said the situation, particular in the vicinity of the Malaysian embassy office in Egypt, was under control, saying it was located from away from the troubled Tahrir Square in Cairo.

 

Anifah said he would monitor the situation and the evacuation process very closely in view of the prevailing situation there.

 

-- BERNAMA

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From an acquaintance of mine, a medical student in Egypt via sms:

 

MH 325 CAI-JED 12:30 pm.

 

AirAsia for pregnant and family straight to KUL, lucky them!

I guess this is the A340 aircraft.

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Just to share the experience of my cousin, a Malaysian student in Cairo, whom I just talked to just now:

 

- Situation is only tense in several hot areas.

- Airlines are still operating as usual, subject to regulatory approval.

- The curfew for today is extended until 17:00 local time.

- For tomorrow (3 February 2011), the curfew will be for 24 hours - the whole day.

- She is now at Cairo International Terminal 1 waiting for her RJ flight to KUL via AMM and BKK tomorrow. She has to spend the night at the airport today because of the reported 24 hours curfew tomorrow.

- She was told by her college that Al Azhar University will be closed for 1 year until the crisis is over, or whenever advised.

- She is aware of the rescue efforts by air and water that the Malaysian Air Force, Navy, MH and AK are organising, but she and many of her friends at Al Azhar prefer to make their own arrangements to get out of the country.

My cousin is checking-in for her RJ flight to AMM which will depart in 2 hours. Kinda sad hearing her said "Abang Long doakan Nana selamat ye."

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Good thing that MH / AK / D7 / RMAF is helping the evacuation.

 

If you want to criticize anyone, there are some really crazy people here. (Note: link is in Malay)

 

That guy is really suffering from some syphilis of the brain. Just imagine, if everybody thinks like this 1d1ot and things work like he fantasizes, then those planes to evacuate only BN supporters will not be heading anywhere and will remain at KLIA or SZB tarmac as Selangor airspace will be closed to these aircraft!

Edited by Mushrif A

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Now the Saudis?

 

===

 

RMAF’s Egyptian mission planes to Jeddah stuck in Abu Dhabi

February 03, 2011

 

ABU DHABI, Feb 3 — Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) aircrafts on their way to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for a rescue mission, have yet to get green light from the Saudi authorities to take off from the Abu Dhabi International Airport and land in Jeddah.

 

The three C130 Hercules aircrafts that left RMAF Subang at 9.30pm yesterday arrived in Abu Dhabi at 12noon today (Malaysian time) but could not take off to Jeddah.

 

Deputy Commander of the rescue mission Col Dzulkarnain Ahmad said RMAF were still waiting for approval from the Saudi authorities to land in Jeddah.

 

According to him, the 180-member mission was made up of 150 army personnel while the remainder were member from the National Security Council, Wisma Putra, media and Tabung Haji.

 

The objective of the mission was to send food supply and fly out Malaysian students trapped in troubled Egypt.

 

He added that the students would be flown out of Egypt to Jeddah using the three aircrafts.

 

Meanwhile, students in Egypt have been issued directive to prepare for evacuation from the troubled country.

 

According to a student from Universiti Al-Azhar in Cairo, Muhd Faizul Azmir Ramli, the Malaysian Embassy had already issued a notice to students, urging them to prepare for evacuation as soon as possible.

 

“We have packed our belongings and waiting for the signal. We just want to get out of the country (Egypt) before the situation gets worse,” he told Bernama when contacted.

 

He added that communication was a major problem because the systems have been tampered and efforts to withdraw cash from ATM machines has also been disrupted due to the riots that seem headed for the worst.

 

Muhd Faizul said he and 200 other students had gathered at the Haiyur Asyir complex, one of the venues earmarked for evacuation of students in Cairo.

 

“It is easy to gather students in Cairo but those from Iskandariah, Mansourah and Tanta will face a slight problem,” he said.

 

Universiti Al-Azhar student Mohd Zainureen Mahmud when contacted said he and 64 others students from Perlis were already at the Cairo International Airport and expected to board a flight by 12.30pm (Egyptian time).

 

He added that another 286 students would also be on the same flight.

 

Mohd Zainureen said apart from their flight, there was another flight bound to Jeddah with 309 students and scheduled to leave Cairo today. — Bernama

 

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/rmafs-egyptian-mission-planes-to-jeddah-stuck-in-abu-dhabi/

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