MAS and AirAsia Shares Swap

[leon t 0]

the only way MAS can live on - is for the govt to completely shut down MH - and then give it to a truly private n commercial MNC or even jv with AK or foreign carrier to "start" and have a "new" MAS with all new top management with no connections to MH or the govt. Otherwise merely changing the current CEO n some appointees and having few times of restructuring will never help and MH will still continue to bleed.

[BC Tam 2]

..... is for the govt to completely shut down MH - and then give it to a truly private n commercial MNC or even jv with AK or foreign carrier to "start" and have a "new" MAS with all new top management with no connections to MH or the govt .....

That must be music to ears of a certain Tan Sri waiting on the sideline already

 

In midst of all these high profile wheelings and dealings by the top honchos, spare a thought for those minority shareholders of MAS - it is after all still a publicly listed company under scrutiny of the securities commission and all those MH directors are supposed to be acting in best interest of ALL shareholders

Edited December 17, 2011 by BC Tam

[affendi osman 0]

Are we in the minority here? seems like many people are in love with TF! it seems like he is systematically cannibalising MAS for his own benefit. MAS will soon lose its flag carrier status when suddenly, AK/D7 is flying to more places than them.

 

Also having tried to book his 'now everybody can fly' low fares on multiple occasions and failing epically, I think he is one big CON job. Unfortunately, in my line of work, I don't have the luxury of planning my leave 5 years in advance. Thanks Tony, but no thanks.

 

Me too

I can't plan 5 years in advance. That's why I choose to fly the later.....

[V Wong 0]

the only way MAS can live on - is for the govt to completely shut down MH - and then give it to a truly private n commercial MNC or even jv with AK or foreign carrier to "start" and have a "new" MAS with all new top management with no connections to MH or the govt. Otherwise merely changing the current CEO n some appointees and having few times of restructuring will never help and MH will still continue to bleed.

 

The only hope for cure in a cancerous growth is TOTAL resection (with clear margin) ... with maybe adjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

[KK Lee 5]

On KUL-DXB, EK is having 3 flights daily but MH is to terminate next month mean MH management can’t comprehend market demand. Not sure they are the right candidates to manage the airline

[KC Sim 2]

Of all the route terminations, Dubai is the most impossible to understand. Dubai is probably the most capitalist Islamic capital of the world and if MAS could not make this route work - even for just one daily flight, then something is terribly wrong.

 

There certainly must have been quite a bit of traffic feeding from the latest batch of terminated destinations into what is considered the "profitable" routes ... I wonder what effect will the route terminations then have on the rest of the network.

 

For example : I have previously heard that quite a bit of the traffic on the KUL-EZE route conprises Chinese seamen travelling to Argentina to join ships. I understand that the fares are incredibly low for these and the volume is quite sizeable. So will the termination of EZE flights then result in a drop in bookings for MAS' flights from various Chinese cities.

 

KC Sim

[dean hizudy 0]

BTW, for the new MAS subsidiary's name, why there is nobody suggested "HIBISCUS"? It is our national flower and i dont think there is Malaysian people have difficulty to pronounce it.

[S M Tang 0]

BTW, for the new MAS subsidiary's name, why there is nobody suggested "HIBISCUS"? It is our national flower and i dont think there is Malaysian people have difficulty to pronounce it.

 

They should just name it 1Malaysia Airlines. Maybe something like our Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia?

[flee 5]

MAS caught between a rock and a hard place

 

One analyst from Maybank Investment Bank Bhd reckons most of the routes axed were those that never got a chance to make money from inception.

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines is caught between a rock and a hard place.

 

While some quarters are condemning it for cutting routes that reduce the country's connectivity to key or potentially key tourism destinations, others are lauding the fact that it is finally axing routes which have been bleeding the national carrier since inception.

 

MAS announced it would be cutting several routes last week, including to those destinations perceived to be gateways to Europe and South America.

 

Among others, the airline announced cuts to Buenos Aires, Rome, Dubai, Capetown and Johannesburg.

 

Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners president Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, for example, lamented that MAS lacked foresight in discontinuing routes to Buenos Aires and Rome.

 

He said the route cuts would make tourists bypass Malaysia, reducing the number of travellers to the country. He was concerned that this would hurt the tourism industry's long-term development.

 

"It is a pity that there appears to be no strategic long-term planning on MAS' part. They just believe in chopping here and chopping there," Abdul Aziz said.

 

On MAS' losses, Abdul Aziz said the national carrier should be thinking in terms of the tourism industry as a whole.

 

Malaysian ambassador to Chile S. Ganeson also expressed disappointment at the route cut to Buenos Aires, especially at a time when other carriers are seeing the need to expand into that region.

 

Singapore Airlines started flights to Sao Paulo, Brazil, in March this year, it is understood, in anticipation of the upcoming 2014 World Cup to be held in Brazil.

 

According to MAS, its decision to withdraw was made as various initiatives to revitalise them (the routes) in the past did not yield positive results.

 

"As for the Kuala Lumpur-Cape Town-Buenos Aires route, the losses were heavy, compounded by the fact that it was serviced by a four-engine B747 aircraft which required heavy fuel consumption," the airline said in response to queries.

 

As MAS is also on track to phase out the B747 aircraft by end of 2013, this means that the national carrier would have eventually exit the route.

 

The decision to exit early was to contain the losses expected for the 2012 financial year.

 

"I think the only thing we can ask of MAS is that in their criteria to determine which routes to axe, they should keep in mind whether these routes involve countries which are major tourism markets for Malaysia," Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin told Business Times when contacted.

 

While no one believes that route cuts are the end all and be all for MAS' problems, one analyst from Maybank Investment Bank Bhd reckons most of the routes axed were those that never got a chance to make money from inception.

 

"We have to give due respect to current management for actually axing it," he said.

 

The analyst went on to say that this was the first positive step made by management.

 

"External parties who complain about MAS discontinuing routes must also understand that it's a crucial requirement for MAS to get back on track. You can't have it both (loss-making routes and a profitable airline). It's one or the other," he said.

 

Source

[alberttky 0]

MAS caught between a rock and a hard place

most of the routes axed were those that never got a chance to make money from inception.

 

Someone should be hanged for allowing these routes to operate at heavy losses for such a long time.

[flee 5]

They will say that these are done "in the national interest".

[alberttky 0]

They will say that these are done "in the national interest".

 

Yeah... sinking the national carrier to near bankruptcy is done "in the national interest".

[flee 5]

Well there are many people who still think that having TF on MH's board is not in the "national interest"!

[flee 5]

MAS hopes to leverage on Latin American carrier

 

MALAYSIAN Airline System Bhd (MAS) hopes to leverage on Latin American carrier, LAN, to ensure its network reach to South America is not compromised.

 

Last week, MAS announced that it would be withdrawing from its Kuala Lumpur-Cape Town-Buenos Aires, effective February 1 next year to cut its losses.

 

The national carrier told Business Times via email last week that it would leverage on its oneworld alliance, of which LAN is a member, to achieve this.

 

LAN is one of the largest carriers in Latin America and currently operates to Sydney, a point which connects to KLIA through MAS' daily services.

 

"This new route connectivity between South America and Malaysia will be possible once a code-share between Malaysia Airlines and LAN materialises," MAS said.

 

Recent developments, however, cast doubt on this plan.

 

While Brazilian authorities recently gave its approval for the merger between Chile's LAN and Brazil's TAM Airlines as part of the last leg of the deal, they attached the approval with two conditions.

 

One was that the airlines must give up two slot pairs at Sao Paulo Guarulhos for the Sao Paulo-Santiago route and the other was that the merged entity belongs to only one alliance.

 

TAM belongs to Star Alliance, while LAN belongs to oneworld alliance.

 

It is now up to the merged entity to decide which alliance to be exited.

 

According to media reports, LAN shareholders will meet on December 21 to approve the terms and conditions of the merger and of the entities that will hold the TAM shares after the exchange offer occurs. TAM's shareholders, meanwhile, will meet on December 23.

 

The LAN-TAM merger will be completed in the first quarter of 2012.

 

While a possible exit of LAN from oneworld could throw a spanner in the works for MAS' South America plans, it is not inconceivable that MAS strikes a partnership with the LAN-TAM merged entity outside of the alliance.

 

Source

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Question is, will the merged LAN-TAM go for Oneworld or Star Alliance?

[Y. J. Foo 0]

Question is, will the merged LAN-TAM go for Oneworld or Star Alliance?

 

It all depends on whether Avianca-TACA actually goes to *A as well. Chilean ruling decrees that LAN-TAM cannot be in the same alliance with Avianca-TACA.

 

Given Avianca-TACA is expected to not be dumb enough to withdraw its entry to *A, the only way LAN-TAM will go to *A is if *A blocks Avianca-TACA from its entry. So for the time being it is pretty much a given that LAN-TAM will remain in OW. Then again, nothing is 100% certain, especially not in aviation industry, so we'll need to wait for them to officially decide and declare their allegiance.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Y. J. Foo

[Isaac 0]

Question is, will the merged LAN-TAM go for Oneworld or Star Alliance?

Everyone at A.net seems very confident that TAM will leave Star Alliance.

[Fashni M. 0]

MAS caught between a rock and a hard place

 

"As for the Kuala Lumpur-Cape Town-Buenos Aires route, the losses were heavy, compounded by the fact that it was serviced by a four-engine B747 aircraft which required heavy fuel consumption," the airline said in response to queries.

 

As MAS is also on track to phase out the B747 aircraft by end of 2013, this means that the national carrier would have eventually exit the route.

 

The decision to exit early was to contain the losses expected for the 2012 financial year.

 

"I think the only thing we can ask of MAS is that in their criteria to determine which routes to axe, they should keep in mind whether these routes involve countries which are major tourism markets for Malaysia," Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin told Business Times when contacted.

 

While no one believes that route cuts are the end all and be all for MAS' problems, one analyst from Maybank Investment Bank Bhd reckons most of the routes axed were those that never got a chance to make money from inception.

 

Source

 

I'm sure things would have been different if the A380 was delivered on schedule back then. The CPT-EZE route can only be done by 4 engined aircraft (until very recently); due to ETOPS restrictions on twins. That said, the recent approval for 330 mins ETOPS for the B777 was a simple case of 'too little, too late' for MH to decide if they can/should finally send the B777 all the way to EZE.

 

The trouble with this route is that its too costly to operate. The better CASM of the A380 vs. B744 would have made this route a success.

 

Airline operations & route structures has to be seen as a whole. The EZE route was very popular with those from mainland China. With this route being cut, there will be less pax flying MH into KUL from PVG, CAN, PEK, etc. Some routes are required to sustain other routes. Hence why this route has been on the network all these years. Its somewhat like cutting or reducing LHR-KUL-Oz. Pax will flock to other carriers which offer better connectivity. So in the end you will lose more traffic and the route network will shrink further in the near future.

Edited December 20, 2011 by Fashni M.

[flee 5]

I do not think that there are that many pax from China on a 3 times weekly service, hence MH has finally figured that the opportunity cost is not so high.

 

For Malaysians needing to travel to South America, using the Middle Eastern airlines would seem to be their best available options.

[KK Lee 5]

MAS probes graft claims in cargo unit, boss put on leave

By Jahabar Sadiq

 

December 21, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Loss-making Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is investigating allegations of kickbacks in its cargo unit which has led to MAS Airlines Cargo (MASkargo) managing director Shahari Sulaiman to go on leave since early last month, sources said.

 

The Malaysian Insider understands that an internal investigation report has been sent to the MAS board although the unprofitable flag carrier has not lodged a police report over the issue.

 

“It is related to kickbacks in MASkargo and the board already has a report on the matter,” a source told The Malaysian Insider.

 

The source added new managing director Ahmad Jauhari Yahya and the top management have been going through the books for all divisions in the national carrier that has posted losses of some RM1.2 billion in the three quarters of the current financial year. MAS is not expected to make profits until 2013 despite a new business recovery plan.

 

“They are cleaning up the company. This is just the start,” he added.

 

However, it is not clear why MAS has not lodged a police report over the alleged kickbacks in MASkargo, which made a record pre-tax profit of RM142 million in 2010.

 

The Business Times had reported that Shahari has been away since early November 2011 after fresh allegations about problems in the cargo unit.

 

The new MAS board had begun looking into all aspects of the airline operations after a share swap between the national carrier and Asia’s biggest budget carrier, AirAsia in early August. It is understood that investigations started and a domestic inquiry was done but fresh allegations revived the probe.

 

MAS had told Business Times early this month that “Encik Shahari Sulaiman, managing director of Malaysia Airlines subsidiary MASkargo, is currently on leave.

 

“In his absence Encik Mohd Yunus Idris, senior vice president Global Sales & Government Affairs MASkargo, is overseeing thedaily operations of the subsidiary,” it said in response to queries on the matter.

 

Shahari was named managing director of the profitable division in September 1 2007 replacing Datuk Ong Jyh Jong. Before that, Shahari was the general manager of cargo operations for MASkargo. Under Shahari’s management, MASkargo won the Best Air Cargo Carrier in Asia title at the 23rd annual Asian Freight and Supply Chain Awards 2009 in Hong Kong.

 

He also initiated upgrades for the Material Handling Cargo System used in the warehouse complex in KLIA, to ensure smoother handling of cargo and an increase in capacity from 650,000 tonnes to one million tonnes per annum.

 

MAS unveiled a 44-page business plan early this month that focuses on its core premium business by spinning off ancillary activities including the cargo unit, suspending loss-making services and through better cost management. It announced the suspension of eight routes last week.

 

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/mas-probes-graft-claims-in-cargo-unit-boss-put-on-leave/

[V Wong 0]

Duuh! The previous MASkargo MD Datuk Ong received accolades and praises for his work, expanding routes, increasing cargo volume and profit, And apparently left MH to seek for 'greener pasture'. And now this kind of disturbing news.

Edited December 21, 2011 by V Wong

[flee 5]

This guy was promoted "from the ranks" and not "parachuted" in like AJ was.

 

So what kind of management should MAS be getting? I would say a professional aviation industry person with a proven track record. No more amateurs who has to learn the ropes before doing some concrete work.

Edited December 21, 2011 by flee

[Roger Soon 0]

recently i can't find any direct flight from KK to Perth? is it MAS suspended this route already?

[Cheng Long 0]

Look like it.. What a shame.. Thought the route had some potential.. Having said that it would be a torture sitting in those tight seats of MH 737-800

[flee 5]

MAS to suspend four regional flights from Sabah in 2012

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — Loss-making Malaysia Airlines will suspend four regional routes from Sabah next year, apart from the eight international flights taken off its schedule in 2012.

 

The flag carrier said today the flights are:

 

• Effective January 6, 2012: Twice-weekly Kota Kinabalu-Osaka return B737 route
  
• Effective January 31, 2012: Thrice-weekly Kota Kinabalu-Perth return B737 route
  
• Effective February 1, 2012: Four times weekly Kota Kinabalu-Haneda (Tokyo) return B737 route
  
• Effective February 21, 2012: Four times weekly Kota Kinabalu-Seoul return B737 route
  

“This suspension is until further notice and is part of our regional network consolidation involving single-aisle aircraft operations. We will be reviewing this situation in about three months time from the date of the first route suspension and will be deciding further by early April 2012,” said MAS group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya in a statement this evening.

 

He said during the suspension, MAS will take advantage of existing code-share operations with Korean Air for direct connectivity between Sabah and South Korea on the Korean carrier’s Seoul-Kota Kinabalu return direct flights.

 

“We will also continue offering direct international connectivity to Kota Kinabalu through our existing daily B737 flights from Hong Kong and Taipei.

 

In addition we will also use our existing 86 weekly flights between Sabah and KL International Airport (KLIA) to provide immediate connections for passengers who prefer full service flights between Sabah and the cities of Perth, Tokyo, and Osaka,” he added.

 

The airline said it will honour all forward bookings on the affected routes and will make alternative carrier arrangements, at its own cost, to ensure minimum discomfort to passengers.

 

For the Sandakan-Kuala Lumpur operations, MAS said it will continue to offer the flights through Kota Kinabalu, 22 times weekly from Sandakan and 25 times weekly from Kuala Lumpur, using both its daily B737 flights and daily MASwings ATR services currently operating between Sandakan and the Sabah capital city.

 

Source