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MAS and AirAsia Shares Swap

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Regional airline solution

 

KUCHING: The state is working on a solution to the flight woes faced by Sarawak in the wake of the route rationalisation exercise by MAS and AirAsia.

 

Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari said he was in discussions on a possible option to resolve the situation.

 

However, he said he could not reveal any details yet as the talks were confidential and involved “a very important player”.

 

“We are still in the process of preparing our next move. Hopefully, we may get good news but I can’t reveal at the moment what we’re going to do, except that we feel that the state is looking into the possibility of a regional airline.

 

“How it will be done, let us do it. We are tackling the problem,” he told reporters at the Borneo International Beads Conference’s gala dinner on Saturday night.

 

Johari was asked to comment on the route rationalisation following the share swap between MAS and AirAsia, which had led to reduced flight frequencies to Sarawak.

 

The state’s tourism and hotel sectors had raised concerns over the matter as reduced flights meant fewer visitor arrivals.

 

In addition, they were concerned that abrupt flight cancellations and lack of communication from the airlines on their plans were causing uncertainty in the industry.

 

Earlier this week, the Sarawak Tourism Federation and other industry players submitted three memoranda expressing their concerns to MAS, the state government and the Federal Government.

 

Johari said he was looking into the memorandum, adding that the state had its own option.

 

“In the memorandum, they want an aviation policy, but to us, we have a solution to the problem we are facing. But let us do it first, then I will reveal (it) later,” he said.

 

Asked how long it would take, he said he needed one or two months.

 

It is hoped that MASwings would be a solution if it could be developed into a regional airline.

 

Johari had said last month that the state was urging the Transport Ministry to grant permission to MASwings to become a regional carrier serving Sarawak, Sabah and the BIMP-EAGA area.

 

On Budget 2012, Johari said it was comprehensive and would benefit the people.

 

As Housing Minister, he welcomed the proposal to build 10,000 units of Rumah Mesra Rakyat, saying that Sarawak was likely to get a part of this.

 

“I also welcome the allocation for the revival of abandoned housing projects,” he said, adding that on the whole the Budget would stimulate the nation’s economy.

 

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/10/10/sarawak/9664600&sec=sarawak

 

Finally someone is doing something other than moaning and groaning... :clapping: :drinks: :yahoo:

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Finally someone is doing something other than moaning and groaning... :clapping: :drinks: :yahoo:

 

Believe if Sabah and Sarawak are adamant to set up own airline, the federal gomen couldn’t stop them. But air transport, tourism, hotel industry and people are not in cm priority list and ‘return’ on airline is not immediate, doubt they will take any bold action.

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“In the memorandum, they want an aviation policy, but to us, we have a solution to the problem we are facing. But let us do it first, then I will reveal (it) later,” he said

Anyone else find this disturbing ? :)

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A summary of future Malaysia Aviation scene:

 

Passenger

Malaysia Airlines- Full service premium airline- short, medium and long haul

Sapphire Airlines- Full service airline- short, medium (regional) haul

AirAsia- Low cost airline- short, medium (regional) haul

AirAsia X- Low cost airline- long haul

Fireflyz- intra West Malaysia- short haul

MASWings- intra East Malaysia- short, medium haul

Berjaya Air- short haul leisure airline [ Lion Air is yet to unveil what they are planning to do with Berjaya Air after buying a controlling stake]

 

Cargo

MASKargo- - regional to long haul

Transmile Air- short to regional haul

 

To be confirmed

Unidentified new domestic airline flying between West and East Malaysia, to be set up by Sarawak folks.

Edited by JuliusWong

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A summary of future Malaysia Aviation scene:

 

Passenger

Malaysia Airlines- Full service premium airline- short, medium and long haul

Sapphire Airlines- Full service airline- short, medium (regional) haul

AirAsia- Low cost airline- short, medium (regional) haul

AirAsia X- Low cost airline- long haul

Fireflyz- intra West Malaysia- short haul

MASWings- intra East Malaysia- short, medium haul

Berjaya Air- short haul leisure airline [ Lion Air is yet to unveil what they are planning to do with Berjaya Air after buying a controlling stake]

 

Cargo

MASKargo- - regional to long haul

Transmile Air- short to regional haul

 

To be confirmed

Unidentified new domestic airline flying between West and East Malaysia, to be set up by Sarawak folks.

 

 

AOC is very important before starting up a new airline. Aircraft can be leased. The most important after an AOC will be crews, trainings, fundings and aircrafts. Crews we can outsource from MAS/AirAsia/Firefly and depending on their job schedules and some other things such as MRO's. To be cost effective, the airline must operates the aircrafts to the highest utilisations without compromising safety. Aircraft turnaround time will be 30 minutes. Correct me if I wrong.

 

Maybe I can provide the solutions to Sabah & Sarawak government for airline start-up solutions.

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You forgot to mention the RedQ/OneAsia/Qantasia or whatever name airline Qantas are going to set-up. A real possibility that they set up at KUL.

 

I highly doubt it though, but would be a real coup over SIN if KUL manages to get them.

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‘Limited air connectivity suffocating state tourism industry’

 

MIRI: Poor air connectivity is biggest stumbling block in getting Miri on the international tourism radar, said Assistant Minister of Communication Datuk Lee Kim Shin yesterday.

 

Lee said the local authority and tourism players had been striving hard to project Miri as a lively and vibrant resort city not only for the domestic and international markets but the response thus far had been below expectations.

 

“Although the city is blessed with a wide selection of tourism assets, without strong air connectivity support there is nothing much the operators can do,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.

 

Lee, who is also chairman of the Miri City Incorporated (MCI)’s Tourism Working Committee, said the limited air connectivity issue had frustrated the business community.

 

“I would like to appeal to the government to, perhaps, grant more international routes to Miri … in addition to the current direct routes to Singapore provided by AirAsia.

 

“MAS should also

consider redesigning another international connecting route for the Kuching-Miri-Hong Kong/China/Korea sector, instead of having a transit point in KK.

 

“KK is now overflowing with international flights. MAS should look into alternatives, probably making Miri another gateway hub of Sarawak to go overseas,” Lee suggested.

 

He added that the state tourism sector deserved better because places like Miri could offer culture, adventure and nature (CAN)-based tourism products which people from European countries adore.

 

“I strongly believe that better air routes would generate brisk business for the tourism industry,” he said.

 

Commenting on the possibility of a regional airline coming into the picture, Lee said the initiative, if materialised, had his support.

 

Minister of Tourism Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg on Sunday hinted that a regional airline might take to the skies soon in response to the air rationalisation anxiety caused by the recent swapping of shares between several stakeholders of MAS and AirAsia.

 

http://www.theborneopost.com/2011/10/11/%e2%80%98limited-air-connectivity-suffocating-state-tourism-industry%e2%80%99/

 

-_- :lazy:

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“KK is now overflowing with international flights.....” Lee suggested.

:rofl: :rofl: :rolleyes: :rofl: :rofl: :rolleyes:

Where do people find these gems ? :lol:

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With only 47 POB on MH2528, KUL-KCH today, does KCH needs more flights? It was a 738 by the way....

 

Haha... looks like it's even struggling to fill up an ATR.

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During peak season, KUL - KCH - KUL could be overbooked, I went through that several times.

 

The idea of KCH - MYR - HKG is kinda bullshit...

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AirAsia big boss, TF comments on his official blog regarding MP attacking AK on the MAS-AirAsia shareholder share swap.

 

 

Member of Parliament

Oct 13, 2011

Categories: Brands, Customers, Others

 

Since the 2008 general election, one particular MP has been obsessed with us and has been obsessed with AirAsia.

 

He claimed we would go bust so we shouldn’t collect money up front and that the government would have to bail us out; he goes on and on about us owing Malaysian Airpots RM 120 million two years ago. The list is endless.

 

Now he’s attacking us on the MAS-AirAsia shareholder share swap.

 

I wonder what his constituents think of his antics. Many of them use AirAsia thanks to our affordable fares; some of them even work for AirAsia. Rather than support us, this MP seems to want us to go bust and make 9,000 people jobless. STRANGE for an elected Wakil Rakyat. And his dislike of me personally is just immense. After all I have done for this country.

 

It’s a free world and he can feel what he wants but as an elected representative, he should come visit us at AirAsia and find out for himself. I’ll be more than happy to meet with him. In fact, I’ve invited him many, many times. Good leaders should listen to all sides and get the facts instead of just venting.

 

Come take a look at the LCCT . See if we should be paying half of the charges levied at the Main Terminal of KLIA. Are the services and facilities provided at LCCT equivalent to half of those at the Main terminal? I dare say they are only 30 percent.

 

This MP claims to be a “man of the people.” Yet he was happy for Malaysian Airports to raise airport charges. Which would have meant that his constituents would have to pay more for air travel. Like I said earlier, STRANGE.

 

So, YB for Wangsa Maju, here’s another invitation: Come and see me, come and see what an amazing job the staff of AirAsia have done and how they’ve helped 130 million people fly to places and at fares they never believed they could do before.

 

Come visit us, YB and to all YB too, YB YB please come visit us.

 

Source : http://www.tonyfernandesblog.com/main.php/2011/10/13/member-of-parliament

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Looks like there are some real new plans from MH regarding FY future, now that KUL-SBW-KUL and KUL-SDK-KUL also being stopped from further sales starting mid Dec onwards apart from axing plans to using Melaka airport...CCF to be revealed soon (according to earlier reports) or they continue to be silent...let's see...

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The idea of KCH - MYRY - HKG is kinda bullshit...

Remember there was the MYY-BKI-HKG flight before ?

I thought that was a rather clever piece, considering they were already scheduling the plane to fly the sectors that way. Wonder why they discontinued ?

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Heard from my fellow schoolmate that MH taking over again SBW-KUL-SBW v.v.from FY beginning on Dec 5th.Any confirmation on this news?

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would love to see MH's 738 flying that route ! btw, i just checked on MH's website, they did reintroduce MH2712 again. :)

Edited by andrewljs

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End of the road for Firefly’s jet service

By Lee Wei Lian October 18, 2011

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 – Firefly’s jet service became a casualty of the strategic collaboration between Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia today and the fledging budget carrier will now focus on its turbo-prop fleet.

 

Malaysia Airlines announced today that all of its subsidiary’s jet aircraft will be redeployed into the parent company’s operations by December 4, 2011 saying that the move addresses the continuing heavy losses being incurred by Firefly jet operations.

 

Little was known about Firefly’s financials previously as profit and loss statements were never disclosed by MAS.

 

The national carrier said that it deeply regreted any inconvenience caused to passengers of Firefly Jet services and gave its fullest assurance to passengers that it will honour all jet flight seats sold on Firefly.

 

The MAS-AirAsia strategic collaboration was inked on August 9 as a deal between the government’s investment holding company Khazanah which controls MAS and unlisted Tune Air which controls AirAsia.

 

The move renders AirAsia as Malaysia’s only major airline operating in the budget or value segment prompting fears that the collaboration would give rise to an airline industry cartel.

 

MAS had since last year used Firefly to compete against AirAsia, launching competitively priced flights from KL to East Malaysia and adopting the same low cost model such as charging for meals on board.

 

A fare war had erupted late last year with Firefly offering 50,000 seats as low as RM9 and AirAsia responding with a million free seats.

 

It was also seen by some as a threat to the booming low cost carrier despite AirAsia group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes dismissing any such notions.

 

Under the collaboration however, MAS will now focus on being a premium full service carrier while AirAsia will focus on the budget segment which appears to remove the element of competition between the two airlines.

 

Fernandes however said that AirAsia will not increase fares following the strategic collaboration.

 

“The takeover of jet services is an important part of Malaysia Airlines Group’s business realignment exercise and is prompted by the need to address network and fleet restructuring plans for short-haul jet services. With the consolidation of Firefly’s jet operations under the Group, Malaysia Airlines will focus on the business of growing our premium full-service segment,” said MAS Group CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya in a media statement on the takeover of Firefly jets.

 

Firefly was to take delivery of its seventh Boeing B737-800s in November.

 

Source

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MAS Takes Over Firefly's Jet Services

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines Group has embarked on a network rationalisation programme which will see its subsidiary, Firefly, concentrating on serving short-haul turboprop operations and Malaysia Airlines focusing on enhancing its premium full-service offering.

 

Firefly's turboprop operations will remain unaffected by this exercise, the group said in statement today.

 

The takeover of Firefly jet services by the group is part of the service separation plans under the business realignment exercise which addresses the continuing heavy losses being incurred by Firefly jet operations, it added.

 

"The takeover of jet services is an important part of the Group's business realignment exercise and is prompted by the need to address network and fleet restructuring plans for short-haul jet services.

 

"With the consolidation of Firefly's jet operations under the Group, Malaysia Airlines will focus on the business of growing our premium full-service segment," said group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.

 

The programme will be undertaken over a two-month period on a sector-by-sector basis, and will result in all Firefly jet aircraft being redeployed into Malaysia Airlines' operations by Dec 4, 2011.

 

"Malaysia Airlines Group remains committed to Sabah and Sarawak and will continue to operate all services to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. In addition, MAS Wings will also continue to operate all flights to the other points within Sabah and Sarawak that are currently being served," he said.

 

Firefly's turboprop operations out of Subang and Penang airports will be strengthened with the recent delivery of two additional turboprop aircraft.

 

These aircraft will enable Firefly to reinstate the Subang-Kuantan-Subang services and also provide capacity to increase frequency of services on existing routes, the statement added.

 

The group also gave its fullest assurance to passengers that it will honour all jet flight seats sold on Firefly.

 

"The Group is committed to minimising the impact of any disruptions to the travel plans of Firefly jet passengers and will reassign all those affected to equivalent flights or better, at no additional cost, to ensure they reach their intended destinations," it said.

 

Passengers with queries related to bookings or reservations on Firefly can write to customer_care@fireflyz.com.my with their booking confirmation number and flight details, or call 03-7845 4543 or visit www.fireflyz.com.my for more information.

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Sabah Wants More MAS, AirAsia KL-KK Flights

 

KOTA KINABALU, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- Sabah hopes Malaysia Airlines (MAS) or AirAsia would add more flights between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu following the termination of Firefly's services.

 

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines Group, had contributed to the increased availability of seats resulting in an increase of 21 per cent in domestic arrivals in Sabah as of August.

 

"There will be an impact on Sabah's domestic tourist arrivals in the short run.

 

"But I believe airlines are in the business of making money and eventually, when they know there is demand, obviously it will make sense for them to add on more flights," he told reporters after opening a seminar on Sabah's prospects and retrospects after colonial rule here today.

 

Masidi said the airline group needs to rationalise its operations in East Malaysia to ensure it does not lose more money.

 

While hoping the matter could be resolved in order to meet increasing demand, he expressed gratitude that passengers can still choose to travel by either MAS or AirAsia.

 

On Tuesday, the group said it had embarked on a network rationalisation programme with Firefly concentrating on short-haul turboprop operations and MAS focusing on its premium full-service offerings.

 

The programme will be undertaken over a two-month period on a sector-by-sector basis, and will result in all Firefly jet aircraft being redeployed into MAS' operations by Dec 4, 2011.

 

However, the group remains committed to Sabah and Sarawak and will continue to operate all services to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.

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If 1 per hour is still not enough then it's time to bring in the wide-bodies.

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MAS lines up mid-management

By B.K. SIDHU

bksidhu@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has released its organisational chart to its employees revealing the lines of reporting for its middle-level management but it has yet to name a candidate to head sales and marketing since the departure of Datuk Bernard Francis.

 

Datuk Eddy Leong would continue to head Firefly as CEO and he is also the chief operating officer of the short haul operations, sources said.

 

The chart showed that the airline had consolidated the over 10 units to seven, sharpening its focus and made the reporting lines clearer, they added.

 

The seven are commercial, customer experience, operations, group finance, corporate finance, human capital and CEO’s office.

 

The three subsidiaries – MAS Wings, MAS Aerospace and Engineering and MAS Kargo – are also parked under the CEO’s office.

 

“As customer is the key focus, MAS has created a new unit, customer experience, which is headed by Datuk Mohd Salleh to look at all the touch points of customer needs, from planning, booking, check-in, baggage handling to customer care.

 

“This is essential since the airline wants to get back to offering full premium services or it would always be known as a second-tier premium carrier,” said a source.

 

Customer experience management will be handled by S. Pushpalatha while Rahimah Farjan Ali would oversee service quality assurance and enforcement.

 

While some view the new chart as providing clarity to the lines of reporting, others felt it was “confusing, and it appears to be top heavy again.”

 

The immediate focus of the new team should be to return the airline to profitability and make its mark in the premium segment where competition is stiff.

 

MAS reported RM769mil in net loss in first half of 2011 when its rivals in the region reported profits.

 

It has undergone a shake-up with the share swap with AirAsia Bhd in August and this resulted in a board revamp and the entry of the new MD/CEO and deputy CEO.

 

It is the new team that released the new chart to the employees.

 

At the end of September the new team came up with a organisation for the top management team whereby there was a clear separation of duties for the MD/CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya and deputy CEO Mohamed Rashdan. Alhough Jauhari oversees the airline, he is also head of long haul operations and Rashdan, the short haul.

 

The commercial unit is also headed by Rashdan until a new candidate is found. All aspects of sales and marketing, revenue management, network and fleet planning, charters, corporate marketing and loyalty programme (Enrich), Golden Holidays falls under the purview of the commercial unit.

 

The head of the commercial office is Datuk Merina Tahir, head of commercial strategy is Datuk Dr Amin Khan, corporate marketing and loyalty programmes remains with Raja Datuk Nordiana Zainal Shah. Revenue management is under the purview of Sharifah Salwa.

 

All the aspects of operations, be it flight operations, the control centre, crew and pilots fall under this unit and it is headed by Capt Mohamed Azharuddin and flight operations under Capt Izham Ismail.

 

The corporate finance unit looks into mergers and acquisitions, fleet management, aircraft financing and leasing and it is headed by Abdul Aziz.

 

MAS made it clear that Firefly would continue to focus on operating the turboprops from its base in Subang and Penang and its jets would be taken over by MAS. The jets would be re-deployed for the short haul operations by Dec 4 as the airline is currently undertaking a route and fleet management evaluation.

 

Separately, Airbus said MAS’ first A380 took off from Toulouse for its maiden flight on Thursday after completion of the final assembly and system tests.

 

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