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Lion Air and NADI announced a JV - Malindo Air

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Separately, AirAsia said that it is rethinking its plan to acquire rival Batavia Air in Indonesia for RM240mil cash. AirAsia hinted that having got to know the Indonesian aviation sector better due to the proposed acquisition, it now feels that to grow its Indonesian operations organically may not necessarily be a bad idea after all,” it said.

 

There are indeed rumors doing the round in Jakarta that all is not carved in stone yet. However, I could not get anything confirmed. This is also the first time that an "Analyst" says something that is not already known by the industry.

 

Did you happen to hear something on this issue in your circles?

There were lots of articles on this matter the past 72 hours and I picked this one out precisely as it had something a little different. I am not sure if there is any substance to that but as you know, in Malaysia 90% of rumours turn out to be true! So lets wait and see how things play out! :)

 

I do hope that is not a reflection of complacency - anyone remember similar thoughts when the red Air Asia took off with the two 733's and MH had near complete monopoly in the domestic market ? :)

I think that this article refers more to the knee jerk reaction in the stock market on Thursday. AirAsia stock prices recovered on Friday.

 

The analyst was only looking at the short term effect of this new airline on AirAsia. I don't think it is complacency. It is a more measured reaction than that of the investors in the Bursa Malaysia.

 

TF Tweet:

All competition must be taken seriously. But I rather have more competition than closed markets. We are ready. And have been competitng from day one

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TF Tweet:

All competition must be taken seriously. But I rather have more competition than closed markets. We are ready. And have been competitng from day one

He had a different tone when Scoot was set up just not so long ago :D

 

Anyway, competition is always good and we as the consumers are probably the biggest winners. Oh, and something FREE is coming next week. Time to plan your next trip :D

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Wonder why they seek to somewhat destroy a successful Malaysian company that has made the country proud (going by the choice of words in the press articles). And the gomen also has a hand in it. And like as if MH will not be affected at all by this JV. AK / D7 has enabled people to travel far and wide at reasonable cost, something they wouldn't have imagined they could years ago.

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Wonder why they seek to somewhat destroy a successful Malaysian company that has made the country proud (going by the choice of words in the press articles). And the gomen also has a hand in it. And like as if MH will not be affected at all by this JV. AK / D7 has enabled people to travel far and wide at reasonable cost, something they wouldn't have imagined they could years ago.

 

I don't think the intention is to "destroy", but to send a message to whoever that's running this "successful Malaysian company" that it's high time to get their acts together and fix the problems once and for all, no matter how tough it may be. Otherwise it'll just be rendered irrelevant.

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Agreed ........ its time for this 'successful Malaysian company' to fulfill it social obligation and share the wealth with people and country more than what they are doing now. After all, it was the people's govt who help this company to reach at this level. I'd not like to see it goes down the drain and becomes disgraceful in the future ............ :unsure:

 

 

 

:hi:

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I love competition, as a consumer. No 'destroy' issue. Btw I'm here in Nepal thanks to D7 promo fares, for which I am grateful. Somebody else gives better offer, I'll listen.

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I love competition, as a consumer. No 'destroy' issue. Btw I'm here in Nepal thanks to D7 promo fares, for which I am grateful. Somebody else gives better offer, I'll listen.

 

Time for some free seats available tonight (today with BIG Visa card) :clapping:

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I just noticed this so called free seats promo is misleading as they only offer free seats on very few select routes...

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I just noticed this so called free seats promo is misleading as they only offer free seats on very few select routes...

 

I agree totally. I can't even find any promo fare at all. All... almost everyday is recording regular fare. How absurd!

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I agree totally. I can't even find any promo fare at all. All... almost everyday is recording regular fare. How absurd!

Currently only domestic flights are open for this sale for traveling period between April-September 2013.

 

Anyway, i did some random search around 12.30am today and a return ticket between BKI and KUL only cost RM130 all-in and seats are still widely open. RM130 for a return ticket is very very cheap but the problem is that the ticket is NOT free as advertised! A one-way ticket cost RM39 and RM26 for airport tax/fuel surcharge. If it really is a FREE ticket, one only has to pay the airport tax/fuel surcharge! This is the second time that Air Asia has such a misleading advertisement this year. Lucky them we're not in US/AU!

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I remember once the AK Director of Commercial bragging about their tix being cheaper than a packet of nasi lemak. What utter crap!

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No free ticket, no booking! :)

 

I passed on the BKI fares. The AirAsia web site is fast - so no one is rushing for their "free" tickets.

 

Waiting for Malindo to come up with some offer when they launch. :)

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No free ticket, no booking! :)

 

I passed on the BKI fares. The AirAsia web site is fast - so no one is rushing for their "free" tickets.

 

Waiting for Malindo to come up with some offer when they launch. :)

 

When is this Malindo coming up? I have planned a trip to Sydney and Melbourne next year in June. I have booked one way ticket to Sydney via Scoot, only 75 SGD, quite a good deal. Now I need to grab cheap fares from Melbourne back to KL. Finger cross that they would give cheap fares on 20th Sep later.

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Malindo start flying in May 2013, on routes of up to 4 hours flying time.

 

AirAsia X (D7) should be able to offer some cheaper fares from 20 Sept. However, Melbourne tickets are seldom discounted. A family member just booked return tix to MEL on MH (for Jan 2013 travel) - cost RM 2,200+. D7 could not offer anything lower than MH.

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In this article, there is a mention that the Lion Air Grup with fly to Johor Bahru, anyone knows any details about it? what route and which operator (Lion Air or wings air)?

 

 

 

Malindo rising

 

 

The newest airline Malindo Airways is set to change the low-cost carrier scene with plans to create routes to Asean, China, Hong Kong, India and Japan as well as further afield to Australia and Europe.

CONSUMERS want low airfares, regular flights and new planes. If you thought flights between Malaysia and Indonesia couldn’t get cheaper and more frequent: think again.

Last week, Rusdi Kirana, the owner of Lion Air, Indonesia’s largest low-cost airline inked a deal with Malaysia’s National Aerospace and Defence Industries (Nadi) to form Malindo Airways.

Nadi will hold 51% and Lion 49%, with the latter managing the airline. Malindo will operate out of the soon-to-be-opened KLIA2 airport and start plying Indonesia-Malaysia routes from May, 2013.

It will initially operate 12 Boeing 737-900ERs and then incorporate five of the American aerospace giant’s 787-8 Dream-liners from 2015, towards having 100 planes in 10 years.

Indeed, there are plans to create routes to Asean, China, Hong Kong, India and Japan as well as further afield to Australia and Europe.

First off, it’s always good to see Indonesian and Malaysian businesses collaborate. Our bilateral relationship might be uneven at times, but such business-to-business ties can only bring our two countries closer together and when consumers benefit, everyone’s happy.

Indeed, Pak Rusdi’s initiative is part of a wider regional trend as national champions such as ThaiBev (the brewers of Chang beer), Filipino oil refiner and retailer Petron and our very own banks, CIMB and Maybank expand across Asean.

Hitherto, Indonesian business giants have been preoccupied with their own vast and rapidly growing domestic market. With Lion Air’s bold move, we can see that corporate Indonesia is beginning to survey the region for opportunities.

In the case of Pak Rusdi, it’s doubly intriguing that he chose Malaysia – and not Singapore – as the base for his regional expansion.

Of course, a combination of language, cost and a large Indonesian expatriate community makes this decision seem almost inevitable now.

Moreover, this suggests that Malaysia is fast-becoming a better economic and business “fit” for Indonesians despite the bilateral noise.

But let’s get back to Pak Rusdi who is himself a very gutsy businessman.

When he first started Lion back in 2000, flying a leased aircraft between Jakarta and Pontianak, no one took this travel agent turned upstart airline entrepreneur seriously.

By the end of the year however, Lion was already flying to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

When he placed his humungous order for 230 737s with Boeing for US$21.7bil (RM67.3bil) in November, 2011, Jakarta – if not the rest of the world – sat up and took notice, especially when the deal was witnessed by US President Barack Obama.

Now with over 80 planes in service and 60 destinations, Pak Rusdi’s low-cost carrier has long since eclipsed Garuda to become Indonesia’s largest domestic carrier.

Indeed, according to the Wall Street Journal in 2011, some 47.9% of Indonesia’s domestic travellers flew with Lion Air and this will rise to 30 million in 2012. Not bad for a man who hasn’t reached 50 yet!

With the Nadi deal, it’s clear that Pak Rusdi has plans for the international market, a sector in which South-east Asian aviation behemoth, AirAsia has been particularly strong.

Indeed AirAsia now controls a 40% share of Malaysia’s international air travel (not to mention 42% of Indonesia’s). AirAsia has since embedded itself even more deeply into Indonesia with its US$80mil (RM248mil) purchase of Batavia Air in July 2012 (although according to media reports it may be reconsidering this) and supremo Tony Fernandes’ moving to Jakarta.

Pak Rusdi and Tony (who has welcomed the competition) will be going head-to-head though Malindo, unlike AirAsia, will offer frills like in-flight entertainment.

The market, in fact, seems eager to fuel the rivalry: AirAsia’s market capitalisation fell by RM475mil at the end of Sept 12, 2012 (one day after the announcement of Malindo) and its share price fell 5.33%.

As Citi analyst Rigan Wong was quoted in the Financial Times on Sept 13, Lion Air’s expansion may weaken AirAsia’s funding source for its Indonesian expansion, disrupting its plans to go regional.

Of course, it remains to be seen if Malindo can deliver: aviation is an industry whose would-be players don’t always match the PR buzz.

Another interesting aspect of the competition is that AirAsia and Lion Air represent a proxy war for aviation dominance in the South-east Asian market between Airbus (AirAsia) and Boeing (Lion/Malindo).

I should add that I’m a little disappointed that Pak Rusdi isn’t using his own Lion Air brand in the Malindo joint venture. Lion Air – with flights to Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Malacca (and soon to Johor Baru) – is already pretty well-known in Malaysia.

Still, this has the makings of a great business rivalry — on the scale of Apple vs Microsoft or Pepsi vs Coca-Cola.

There’s a new player in Malaysian aviation and my itinerant heart is glad as long as airfares remain cheap and flights are regular. Having yet another regional airline to choose to fly with is always welcome for a frequent flyer like me.

 

SOURCE: http://thestar.com.m...41053&sec=focus

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Malindo will have Malaysian AOC and will not be on the EU blacklist whereas Lion Air is. It is Lion Air's backdoor entry into Europe and beyond, should it fail to get off the blacklist.

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AirAsia Seeks Collaboration With Malindo Airways

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- Budget airline AirAsia is seeking to discuss potential areas of collaboration with stakeholders of the new Malindo Airways.

 

Its Group Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said in this regard, he will be meeting with Lion Air's parent company, PT Lion Grup's (rpt Grup) President Director, Rusdi Kirana soon.

 

"We can collaborate with Malindo Airways. I am not here to make enemies. I will meet Rusdi over dinner soon.

 

"There are many thing that we can collaborate on. Personally, I respect Rusdi who has done a fantastic job in Indonesia," Fernandes told reporters after launching AirAsia's Badminton Academy, here today.

 

However, he said the competition between AirAsia and Malindo Airways, is still on.

 

"AirAsia has a very strong foothold in the regional aviation industry to face the competition.

 

"Without doubt, we will compete against each other. I know what it takes for an airline to win," he added.

 

National Aerospace and Defence Industries Sdn Bhd (Nadi) and PT Lion Grup will form the new frills-free Malindo Airways, which is poised to start operations in May 2013 using the soon-to-be completed KLIA2 in Sepang.

 

It plans to offer flights within Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as to Thailand, China, India, Japan and Australia.

 

Nadi owns a 51 per cent stake in Malindo Airways, with the balance held by the Lion Group.

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I understand the cosa nostra dons do occasionally gather round for a meal and discuss areas of collaboration too :p

Likewise, their businesses are also very profitable and yes, they do compete with each other too (in fact it's much deadlier) :D

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Since when lion group has a share in Malindo? :pardon:

Bernama probably meant Lion Air - typical sloppy Malaysian reporter error!

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Good to know that Malaysia can work out with Indonesia to form an airline and kick start using KLIA as the hub. Yet, I'm still quite disappointed between the collaboration between MH and QF has to be scrapped...

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Good to know that Malaysia can work out with Indonesia to form an airline and kick start using KLIA as the hub. Yet, I'm still quite disappointed between the collaboration between MH and QF has to be scrapped...

I think that MH has always regarded itself as God's gift to any partner! That is why they are not able to close an agreement with QF while EK had no problems agreeing terms.

 

Same if you look at AirAsia - it has collaborated with local investors in Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Philippines already. And they do not need the majority stake.

 

49% of something is always better than 100% of nothing.

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Does anyone find Malindo's name a bit cheesy? It is the combination of Malaysia and Indonesia.... Surely there are better names out there...

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