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Mohd Suhaimi Fariz

MAS Privatisation

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16 hours ago, jahur said:

We may expect to see the 737-8 coming in Q2 2023 though. Internal invitation for the delivery of the first aircraft already actively in circulation. Probably may use it as a trial aircraft like how Garuda did and MH back decades ago. Aircraft no 3 is due for q1 2024.

The a330neo may come by Q4 2023. As Mh was adamant on not renewing any of the current 332leases. 3 a332 already leaving q3 next year. Some of the plans if the a330neo are not delivered by then is to remove certain 332 routes temporary.

One rumor currently on about is Airbus met MAG upper folks of taking some of Qatar's leftover a359 slots. MH expressing interest on 3-5 units. Airbus has also approached BA and CX regarding this. Currently Qatar orders that are up for grab consist of 9 a350-9 and 15 a350-1000. All configured with updated winglet and improved range. Not included was also 10 optional that is currently in court dispute between airbus and the airline.

Thank you for the insiders' juicy gossip. Them taking B737MAX now is a surprise, with the trial aircraft, wouldn't we end up like what MH did last time with NG fleet, with those two Czech-registered B737-800NG? Hantu situation again. LOLx, anyhow that would be a good head start for the crew to get familiarised with the new fleet. I do hope MH spare some money to buy a 737max training simulator to cash in on some extra money. The huge order backlog by Lion Air Group, Vietjet, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, and airlines in China offers a lot of opportunity for MH. MH Academy, please get your act together. 

On the note of A330neo coming earlier than expected, I think this will be initially fulfilled by lessor Avolon frame. With AirAsia X's order cancellation (coincidentally also leasing from Avolon), there are a lot of open slots now. For delivery in Q4, 2023, the parts should be in order queue now. The fuselage should be delivered by mid of next year, exciting time ahead. I am sure Avolon will be happy to push for earlier slots for MH. Removal of certain A332 routes does not sound like wise move though, all the more MH should be going all out to gain ex-KUL long haul market market share since AirAsia X is now half death mode. Those A332 are ripe for P2F conversion, maybe MH and Aercap can work out a plan to get them converted.

Regarding the rumour Airbus approaching MAG for QR leftover slot, this is interesting. I think Qatar has (had) only 23 A35K left for delivery when the whole drama with Airbus blew up. Out of these 23, six were already built and ready to be offered to any interested party. If MH is able to obtain these six A35K, it can be a huge upgrade for many routes: MEL, SYD, AKL, HND, NRT, SEL, PEK, PVG, HKG. Leaving the a small fleet of A333 doing high demand regional routes to India and Indonesia. I believe these airframes have those QR Suites installed, not sure Al Baker will make a noise his flagship product is being offered by another airline. 

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12 hours ago, BC Tam said:

Presumably this would be in the A220 class ?

I don't think A220 will sell well in Asia tbh. Despite heavy investment in upgrading current airport and building new ones, airport in Asia are still hampered by infrastructure and talent/manpower, hence the bigger/higher capacity the aircraft, the better. This is the primary reason why AirAsia Group upgraded their A32neo order to A321neo. Scoot, Cebu Pacific, China Airlines, Starlux, Eva Air did so as well. 

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17 hours ago, jahur said:

Same planning issue when Idris Jala came in with the awful MnM cabin. Results in most of the high paying folks leaving for other flag carriers but again this is another matter whether msia does indeed have the volume to run a premium business sustainably.

So far MH's only keen to send the 350s to Narita+Haneda daily and seasonal Melbourne. The only other long haul destination considered is just AMS and thats about it. In terms of how premium the a350 is compared to the a330neo for MH, there's not much difference nowadays especially seeing how MH just tossing the same Thomson Vantage cabin on both aircrafts front end with very little difference in between. It might work for the Japan market but don't think it works anywhere else even for Melbourne unless MH really puts effort in distinguishing the cabins. NZ is predominantly tagged for 330neo as the 350 is not suited there.

Then there's fund issue. If MH puts an upgraded business class for a330neo than the previous a330s it must then prep budget to overhaul the 6 a350s as well. Dont think MH has financial strength to do this and will just order the same Thomson Vantage seat with maybe some very minor updated finish for the 330neo.

MH should now be thinking new generation cabin offering for long haul. New J class, premium economy and economy class. Upgraded menu, lounge and all customer touchpoints. Thomson Vantage will be outdated in another year or two, product lifecycle is done. Plane configuration of 30J, 50W, 280Y for A350 and 24J, 36W, 230Y for A330neo sounds about right.

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11 hours ago, nrazmoor said:

I would say the non-existent planning for their fleet kinda of save them during covid period.. Now with the travelling is back with 2023/2024 most probably be the peak point especially with China start to open again they better expediate the dellivery of a330neo and a bonus if they can get more a350, of course the funding will be major issue. 

MH had the added responsibility of being the flag carrier during the pandemic. As such, it still operated a lot of domestic flights. I note that their A330 fleet was kept busy shifting freight profitably across the region.

Now that we are in the recovery mode, the lack of aircraft has curtailed their plans. I do not think funding will be a big issue because the new aircraft on order will be leased. So there will be no major capital requirement.

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29 minutes ago, JuliusWong said:

MH should now be thinking new generation cabin offering for long haul. New J class, premium economy and economy class. Upgraded menu, lounge and all customer touchpoints. Thomson Vantage will be outdated in another year or two, product lifecycle is done. Plane configuration of 30J, 50W, 280Y for A350 and 24J, 36W, 230Y for A330neo sounds about right.

Yes, the A380 cabin was dated (especially J) and the A350 "first class" seats were nothing special. A wide body cabin refresh would be welcome. Hopefully they will take advantage of the Airbus Airspace offerings to give the A339 cabin a fresh new look.

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59 minutes ago, JuliusWong said:

Thank you for the insiders' juicy gossip. Them taking B737MAX now is a surprise, with the trial aircraft, wouldn't we end up like what MH did last time with NG fleet, with those two Czech-registered B737-800NG? Hantu situation again. LOLx, anyhow that would be a good head start for the crew to get familiarised with the new fleet. I do hope MH spare some money to buy a 737max training simulator to cash in on some extra money. The huge order backlog by Lion Air Group, Vietjet, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, and airlines in China offers a lot of opportunity for MH. MH Academy, please get your act together. 

On the note of A330neo coming earlier than expected, I think this will be initially fulfilled by lessor Avolon frame. With AirAsia X's order cancellation (coincidentally also leasing from Avolon), there are a lot of open slots now. For delivery in Q4, 2023, the parts should be in order queue now. The fuselage should be delivered by mid of next year, exciting time ahead. I am sure Avolon will be happy to push for earlier slots for MH. Removal of certain A332 routes does not sound like wise move though, all the more MH should be going all out to gain ex-KUL long haul market market share since AirAsia X is now half death mode. Those A332 are ripe for P2F conversion, maybe MH and Aercap can work out a plan to get them converted.

Regarding the rumour Airbus approaching MAG for QR leftover slot, this is interesting. I think Qatar has (had) only 23 A35K left for delivery when the whole drama with Airbus blew up. Out of these 23, six were already built and ready to be offered to any interested party. If MH is able to obtain these six A35K, it can be a huge upgrade for many routes: MEL, SYD, AKL, HND, NRT, SEL, PEK, PVG, HKG. Leaving the a small fleet of A333 doing high demand regional routes to India and Indonesia. I believe these airframes have those QR Suites installed, not sure Al Baker will make a noise his flagship product is being offered by another airline. 

Originally there were plans to really operate 1-2 737maxes like OK-TVC/D with deliveries primed for q3 2022 with the interior ordered not installed. These would be fitted with generic seats afaik. Seems the defer option with finalized cabin finishing for mid 2023 was preferred instead and will be for 2 leased aircrafts right out from the Boeing factory. 

Simulators it seems MH may be getting 1x 737max and 1x updated A330. No 350s though as the crew would be sent to Thai and SQ for those. Generally u would need 1 sim for an aircraft model if you have a fleet of more than 12. MH sim center has already gotten rid of the B747-400, B777-200, A380. Currently the 737-400, 737NG and ATR72 sims are in heavy use and the Fokker 50 on occasion. The A330 sim based on the 9M-MK aircrafts have pretty much no use except for basic checks. A330 Crew are often rotated to CAE KLIA or SQ for any syllabus the mh a330 sim cannot replicate.

The MAB sims could've been a good aux income for MABA last recall they offered RM424 per hour on the b747-400 which was generally cheaper than Thai airways sim session  costing15000baht and SQ's 800sgd. The only difference was Thai Airways was offering the A380 simulator experience and SQ's session can be redeemed with kris flyer points 0 cash needed and the fleet you can fly are rotated to any aircraft available during that session. MAG was more keen in disposing the B747-400 sim to an operator in China for quick cash instead. The sim experience failed generally as i see MABA failed to market it to any aviation enthusiast and did not properly weaponize social media users to promote. Currently MAB sim session is now back to old days RM1500 per hour and not much interesting aircrafts available and slots are always full in use by airline pilots.

The a350 slots mh was interested in wont be delivered until 2025 i heard. So the 6 ready built are not what MH was keen on. Airbus did offer A350-900s which came from Qatar. So maybe Qatars original a350-1000 can be easily converted to 900s. 

Edited by jahur

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46 minutes ago, JuliusWong said:

I don't think A220 will sell well in Asia tbh. Despite heavy investment in upgrading current airport and building new ones, airport in Asia are still hampered by infrastructure and talent/manpower, hence the bigger/higher capacity the aircraft, the better. This is the primary reason why AirAsia Group upgraded their A32neo order to A321neo. Scoot, Cebu Pacific, China Airlines, Starlux, Eva Air did so as well. 

I think Asian route patterns also demand cargo space, so A320 family can cater for this better. Although the A220 has the range, its payload capacity is too small. This may change if Airbus launch the A225.

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5 minutes ago, jahur said:

The a350 slots mh was interested in wont be delivered until 2025 i heard. So the 6 ready built are not what MH was keen on. Airbus did offer A350-900s which came from Qatar. So maybe Qatars original a350-1000 can be easily converted to 900s. 

I don't think Airbus has any issue with slots as long as the aircraft have not started their builds - the same line makes both -900s and -1000s. For quick deliveries, they would almost certainly be NTUs that are stored. As for Max, Boeing still has a fair number of NTUs made for China airlines. If MH wants the Max fast, they can shop for those.

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50 minutes ago, flee said:

I don't think Airbus has any issue with slots as long as the aircraft have not started their builds - the same line makes both -900s and -1000s. For quick deliveries, they would almost certainly be NTUs that are stored. As for Max, Boeing still has a fair number of NTUs made for China airlines. If MH wants the Max fast, they can shop for those.

Captain Izham has mentioned in one of his interviews MH is not keen on taking those Chinese airlines 737max NTUs. Close to 100 of them on last count. Boeing is much more keen to sell them to Alaska Airlines, United, GOL and Akasa Air by big lots for ease of maintenance. Also save some for Jet Airways order if it still alive by then. 

As for A350s, there are always the HNA Group airframes. Airbus is currently drawing down on those airframes.

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3 hours ago, JuliusWong said:

Captain Izham has mentioned in one of his interviews MH is not keen on taking those Chinese airlines 737max NTUs. Close to 100 of them on last count. Boeing is much more keen to sell them to Alaska Airlines, United, GOL and Akasa Air by big lots for ease of maintenance. Also save some for Jet Airways order if it still alive by then. 

As for A350s, there are always the HNA Group airframes. Airbus is currently drawing down on those airframes.

Yes, I think MH knows that it has a weak negotiating position - so they will take what Boeing can give them as they don't have massive funds for capex. The government has changed and will be very careful with funding. MAG must really buck up and compete with others for allocations.

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4 hours ago, JuliusWong said:

Captain Izham has mentioned in one of his interviews MH is not keen on taking those Chinese airlines 737max NTUs. Close to 100 of them on last count. Boeing is much more keen to sell them to Alaska Airlines, United, GOL and Akasa Air by big lots for ease of maintenance. Also save some for Jet Airways order if it still alive by then. 

As for A350s, there are always the HNA Group airframes. Airbus is currently drawing down on those airframes.

The interview with Captain Izham I have mentioned earlier: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/malaysia-airlines-considering-doubling-boeing-737-max-order

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On 12/10/2022 at 12:52 PM, Riza said:

If last minute equipment change by TG is termed as TG-ed, dont know what people call when they buy QR ticket but got on MH metal.

QR-ed but worse lol. If 77P changed to a 77I, pax gets a better non Q-Suite bed. I had it substituted from 359 to 320 before but that was a short intra-Gulf hop so its fine.

On 12/15/2022 at 4:26 PM, jahur said:

One rumor currently on about is Airbus met MAG upper folks of taking some of Qatar's leftover a359 slots. MH expressing interest on 3-5 units. Airbus has also approached BA and CX regarding this. Currently Qatar orders that are up for grab consist of 9 a350-9 and 15 a350-1000. All configured with updated winglet and improved range. Not included was also 10 optional that is currently in court dispute between airbus and the airline.

Are the 24 A350s equipped with QR's cabin or are they bare? I don't know much about aviation, but are they same (or at least similar) to MH's 359 (e.g. engines etc.). If they are getting only 3-5, they better be upgrading MH's legacy 359 cabins. With 9 in the fleet, at least MH can do some European expansion. QR-cabin fitted 359 (36J, 247Y; total 283) seems very similar to MH's 359 other than the slightly higher premium density. 

MH's 359 is configured 4F, 35J, 27Y+, 220Y (total of 286 with 13.6% premium cabin). MH's 330 is configured 27J, 16 Y+, 246Y (total of 290 seats with 9.3% premium cabin). Didn't I read somewhere that MH's new 339 will be 300 seats even though 333/339 is essentially similar in size?! They are going to do the same 2 rows of Y+ in front of door 2 again instead of just pure J between door 1 and 2?!

On 12/15/2022 at 4:53 PM, jahur said:

So far MH's only keen to send the 350s to Narita+Haneda daily and seasonal Melbourne. The only other long haul destination considered is just AMS and thats about it. In terms of how premium the a350 is compared to the a330neo for MH, there's not much difference nowadays especially seeing how MH just tossing the same Thomson Vantage cabin on both aircrafts front end with very little difference in between. It might work for the Japan market but don't think it works anywhere else even for Melbourne unless MH really puts effort in distinguishing the cabins. NZ is predominantly tagged for 330neo as the 350 is not suited there.

Then there's fund issue. If MH puts an upgraded business class for a330neo than the previous a330s it must then prep budget to overhaul the 6 a350s as well. Dont think MH has financial strength to do this and will just order the same Thomson Vantage seat with maybe some very minor updated finish for the 330neo.

Is the Thomson Vantage set in stone? I am not asking for Q-Suite on MH's 339, but something like all-aisle access for everyone in J or not walking through the Y cabin to get to the loo is not reaching for the stars for a brand new aircraft in this day and age. Granted MH almost has a monopoly on nonstop premium cabin for most of their flights, but don't they have to rely on connecting passengers which may choose a better premium cabin and MH isn't exactly cheap now compared to 2019? The 359s cabin aren't old, but probably not the best for premium routes like LHR (again, monopoly on nonstop but still). It's 6 frames. The current 330s are fine for flights less than 5 hours - TPE, HKG, CGK, BKK, PER etc.

10 hours ago, flee said:

Now that we are in the recovery mode, the lack of aircraft has curtailed their plans. I do not think funding will be a big issue because the new aircraft on order will be leased. So there will be no major capital requirement.

Weren't we just discussing that MH should remain as it is - a regional player and not expand to Europe?

 

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Btw, I just read that VA (Virgin Australia) is adding a 737 MAX 8 from CNS to HND (3,627 miles)! And QF is using E90 to fly DRW-SIN (2,075 miles)! Will MH go down the path of flying 7M8 to FUK/NGO/PUS 😂 and maybe order E90 and fly them to tertiary Indian/Australian/Chinese cities 😂

Speaking of Australia, both OD and D7 has applied and received for a lot of seat allocation to Australia. Is MH not planning to add any seats to AU at all?

10 hours ago, jahur said:

The a350 slots mh was interested in wont be delivered until 2025 i heard. So the 6 ready built are not what MH was keen on. Airbus did offer A350-900s which came from Qatar. So maybe Qatars original a350-1000 can be easily converted to 900s. 

MH wasn't keen on QR's ready-built 359s? That's a shame.

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12 hours ago, jahur said:

The a350 slots mh was interested in wont be delivered until 2025 i heard. So the 6 ready built are not what MH was keen on.

It's such disappointing if MH not received that 6 built A350 thought they're facing serious aircraft shortage issue.The first half dozen new A339 just to fulfill the leaving A332 and no expansion before 2025.They will totally uncompetitive with other region players.

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12 hours ago, Craig said:

Weren't we just discussing that MH should remain as it is - a regional player and not expand to Europe?

As an example, MH had to suspend its KUL-BNE service so that it can better deploy its A333 to other currently served routes. We are not talking about expansion to Europe - we are just talking about having enough assets to deploy on the existing route network.

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10 hours ago, sweekee said:

It's such disappointing if MH not received that 6 built A350 thought they're facing serious aircraft shortage issue.The first half dozen new A339 just to fulfill the leaving A332 and no expansion before 2025.They will totally uncompetitive with other region players.

MH at greater risk of over expanding as well. Dont forget it is still everely cash strapped to renew anything appropriately when compared to competitors. Parent Khazanah only drip aiding 7% of its cost burden per year. Yields are poor. If it wants to commit anything it needs to have more 1bil usd usable in its account not taking up imaginary orders via loans and then cancelling it outright last min when the milk starts to turn sour.

MH was only lucky during the pandemic it has already downsize and has the appropriate cargo certification to do p2c run. If mh was in fleet level 2008 and experiencing the pandemic and lockdown, it would be placed on the same level with many collapsing airlines like Thai and Garuda coupled with an even more restrictive gov. 

Any signs of actual required cash aid by the msian gov will only upset the rakyat. Even worse where airasia group and Batik Msia did not receive any during the lockdowns except high interest loans lol which none of them took. Its all let go now. Even military assets like helicopters and now gunboats are leased for the army and air force instead of actual buying. The gov and opposition does not want to commit anything and are actively trying to emulate half baked Canadian at a very wrong time. 

For the a330neo all 20 unit will be delivered by q1 2026. Technically it has nearly fulfilled the replacement 21 of the current a330ceos. It is only the matter of expansion requirement then it may resort to executing the other optional orders it has placed with Airbus(20 flexible widebody options, qatar airways a350 options) and Boeing(25 additional 737 max option) or in worse case scenario retain few older a333s and b738s.

Edited by jahur

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3 hours ago, jahur said:

If it wants to commit anything it needs to have more 1bil usd usable in its account not taking up imaginary orders via loans and then cancelling it outright last min when the milk starts to turn sour.

Yes I know,there's only one relative matter:money money and money.Maybe a few 332 routes would be downgraded to 738 after China open border.

 

3 hours ago, jahur said:

For the a330neo all 20 unit will be delivered by q1 2026.

Glad to heard this information (previously reported through 2028)

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20 minutes ago, sweekee said:

Yes I know,there's only one relative matter:money money and money.Maybe a few 332 routes would be downgraded to 738 after China open border

China was never MH appetite. For years since 2012 the Malaysian gov has been pushing MAS to handle the China market over Japan, India, Australia. These flights were not fruitful. Mab CEO already mention MH wont focus on China anymore it may be assigned to Firefly as it suits the market forces. 

No flag carriers in Aseans were flying to places like Hangzhou, haikou, Kunming, Nanjing, chongqing, Harbin, fuzhou except MAS. These were instead all assigned to their LCC subsidiaries but MH gotta wag it's tail to gov directive and flew their 738s over there. It was also one of the reason MH kickstart the FY 737 in 2011 only to be bulldozed the airasia mas shareswap. 

Edited by jahur

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9 minutes ago, jahur said:

China was never MH appetite. For years since 2012 the Malaysian gov has been pushing MAS to handle the China market over Japan, India, Australia. These flights were not fruitful. Mab CEO already mention MH wont focus on China anymore it may be assigned to Firefly as it suits the market forces. 

Give up even PVG PEK?Firefly will equip 738max oneday and fly to China?

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1 hour ago, sweekee said:

Give up even PVG PEK?Firefly will equip 738max oneday and fly to China?

Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong are the trunk routes 4-5 destination fullstop no more than that most already doable with the a330. The other China destination have no yield value to full service carriers. If you can recall mas used to fly 10 minor destinations in China that it had to let go so many key market. These China based secondary city Business class load are always nearly empty. Even China based carrier flights to KL were empty on the front end lol. Try comparing that to certain sectors like Narita, Chennai, and Mumbai where business class overbooking occurs.

Majority are arguing Malaysia Airlines should position itself as the forefront in Asia like it used to. But any mention of required Cash aid gets hammered, Any intention to increase overall ticket price gets hammered. The gov and market forces it attracts is steering the airline towards the "value added carrier service" instead of the premium while burdening it with excessive continuous wrongful management decisions years ago results in the airline til today still constricted with limited freedom of choice and incentive. The gov is not even bothered to take account the dwindling buying power of local msians and changing travel patterns of most travelers into Malaysia. We've yet to even take account on tourism Malaysia's lackluster marketing.

Edited by jahur

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4 hours ago, jahur said:

Majority are arguing Malaysia Airlines should position itself as the forefront in Asia like it used to. But any mention of required Cash aid gets hammered, Any intention to increase overall ticket price gets hammered. The gov and market forces it attracts is steering the airline towards the "value added carrier service" instead of the premium while burdening it with excessive continuous wrongful management decisions years ago results in the airline til today still constricted with limited freedom of choice and incentive. The gov is not even bothered to take account the dwindling buying power of local msians and changing travel patterns of most travelers into Malaysia. We've yet to even take account on tourism Malaysia's lackluster marketing.

To add on, the gov even allow new carrier to operate in the already crowded market. 

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Is MH over-stretching their fleet right now? It seems like most 737 flights and some 330 flights are delayed later in the day even without significant weather event. They over-scheduled holiday flights and they are booked and can't cancel them without enough 737s?

23 hours ago, flee said:

 We are not talking about expansion to Europe - we are just talking about having enough assets to deploy on the existing route network.

You need to expand (or rather have a fleet to expand) should that opportunity come (e.g. Europe this past summer. If MH was flying to any major city in Europe, they'd probably be making good money there). You can't just have a fleet of 339 without any possibility of expansion to Europe. Even VN, TG, PR, CI, BR have more flights to Europe than MH! And at some point, your Asia/ANZ market will be saturated with destinations you can fly to. You need new markets to either sustain or expand the ANZ/Asia flights. I am not asking for a SQ equivalent fleet, but enough 359s for them to add 2-5 destinations in Europe if they need do, they can do so without hurting MEL/TYO flights.

22 hours ago, jahur said:

Even military assets like helicopters and now gunboats are leased for the army and air force instead of actual buying. The gov and opposition does not want to commit anything and are actively trying to emulate half baked Canadian at a very wrong time. 

For the a330neo all 20 unit will be delivered by q1 2026. Technically it has nearly fulfilled the replacement 21 of the current a330ceos. It is only the matter of expansion requirement then it may resort to executing the other optional orders it has placed with Airbus(20 flexible widebody options, qatar airways a350 options) and Boeing(25 additional 737 max option) or in worse case scenario retain few older a333s and b738s.

I am more surprised about the leasing of defense assets. I didn't know that exist. I always thought most countries want to own them since it's a matter of national security but I guess Malaysia is always peaceful for the past few decades. 🤣

18 hours ago, jahur said:

Majority are arguing Malaysia Airlines should position itself as the forefront in Asia like it used to. But any mention of required Cash aid gets hammered, Any intention to increase overall ticket price gets hammered. The gov and market forces it attracts is steering the airline towards the "value added carrier service" instead of the premium while burdening it with excessive continuous wrongful management decisions years ago results in the airline til today still constricted with limited freedom of choice and incentive. The gov is not even bothered to take account the dwindling buying power of local msians and changing travel patterns of most travelers into Malaysia. We've yet to even take account on tourism Malaysia's lackluster marketing.

IME, MH has raised their ticket prices a lot since compared to 2021 (as with all other airlines). But shouldn't the market dictate what to charge? Is Capt. Izham steering the ship in the right direction after years of mismanagement? 

I am curious, how has the travel patterns of most travelers to Malaysia changed over the years? 

There can only be one Anthony Loke 🤣 He will be over-quailfied to be our Tourism Minister. Most tourism ministers are....how do I say it "makan gaji buta"? The "Visit Malaysia Year XX" is so 90s and has never been changed since. Malaysia is an absolutely beautiful country but no one knows how to market it well other than pasting a few faces of multicultural Malaysians on the billboard (that's great, but most tourists aren't here to meet friendly diverse Malaysians). 

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3 hours ago, Craig said:

Is MH over-stretching their fleet right now? It seems like most 737 flights and some 330 flights are delayed later in the day even without significant weather event.

Definitely,there are a lot red ball alongside with their schedule list in FR24.

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4 hours ago, Craig said:

Is MH over-stretching their fleet right now? It seems like most 737 flights and some 330 flights are delayed later in the day even without significant weather event. They over-scheduled holiday flights and they are booked and can't cancel them without enough 737s?

You need to expand (or rather have a fleet to expand) should that opportunity come (e.g. Europe this past summer. If MH was flying to any major city in Europe, they'd probably be making good money there). You can't just have a fleet of 339 without any possibility of expansion to Europe. Even VN, TG, PR, CI, BR have more flights to Europe than MH! And at some point, your Asia/ANZ market will be saturated with destinations you can fly to. You need new markets to either sustain or expand the ANZ/Asia flights. I am not asking for a SQ equivalent fleet, but enough 359s for them to add 2-5 destinations in Europe if they need do, they can do so without hurting MEL/TYO flights.

Recent history that led to the privatisation of Malaysia Airlines Berhad has shown that a vast part of its international network was unprofitable. Initially that network was trimmed but it came as a surprise to many here that even services to CDG and FRA are unprofitable and only LHR remained viable.

Of course, expansion must be considered from time to time to grow the airline. In MAG's case, funding is a grave concern. Based on previously announced funding from Khazanah, there isn't much room for MAG to grow. MAG will have to come up up with a masterplan for post 2025 if it is to secure a significant increase in funding. To do so, it must demonstrate that it is a new and vibrant airline with lots of ambition.

While a great many of us wish that MAG isn't such a sleepy head, I am afraid that they will need a complete management change with fresh ideas. The past decade has been quite a disaster for the national airline.

Edited by flee

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5 hours ago, Craig said:

I am more surprised about the leasing of defense assets. I didn't know that exist. I always thought most countries want to own them since it's a matter of national security but I guess Malaysia is always peaceful for the past few decades. 

IME, MH has raised their ticket prices a lot since compared to 2021 (as with all other airlines). But shouldn't the market dictate what to charge? Is Capt. Izham steering the ship in the right direction after years of mismanagement? 

I am curious, how has the travel patterns of most travelers to Malaysia changed over the years? 

There can only be one Anthony Loke 🤣 He will be over-quailfied to be our Tourism Minister. Most tourism ministers are....how do I say it "makan gaji buta"? The "Visit Malaysia Year XX" is so 90s and has never been changed since. Malaysia is an absolutely beautiful country but no one knows how to market it well other than pasting a few faces of multicultural Malaysians on the billboard (that's great, but most tourists aren't here to meet friendly diverse Malaysians). 

We used to have 40 nuri helicopters. The gov ordered 24 puma for the air force without taking account to end users recommendation which were either the s-70 blackhawk or s-92 which cost 1/4 of the puma. Fast forward to today only 12 puma delivered as the gov cancelled the remaining 12 after worldwide grounding. Among our commercial casualty were MHS and Awan inspirasi as they have no replacement heli and lost the PETRONAS contracts due to association to the helicopters. Their helicopters were all bundled gov to gov trades with the french along with the air forces. How bad it turned out 

Now the gov so called band aid involves leasing 6 aw-139s and another 6 more currently on tender lookout. Problem these aw-139 do not even have the underslung load capability of the puma and Nuri. The only good signs was the gov did not sign RAFALE and Eurofighter for the MRCA fighters which is good. Would you imagine a 2005 circa european based fighters being obsolete now compared to some random mid 1980s fa-18 hornet that is upgraded. That is the case with most of the podcast interviews with the french air force pilots and engineers. They say the french make good flashy equipment that do not last beyond a decade.

Back to topic msia's travel pattern has changed. Not more than 40% vying for direct flights now citing cost as the main issue. If MH wants to retain its premium outlook it needs high paying passengers which Malaysia lacks and a strong ringgit currency and corporate background. Former passengers who would pay large buck have fled due to MH poor product. Msia gov could've put effort in attracting but they've put most of it on the China basket which does not benefit full service carriers. Even our food is not widely known compared to viet, Thai and Indon and is often mistaken as Singaporean. Our airlines price have gone up is just a poor attempt of inflation cover without solving the actual problems being yield. Its all volume sales now. 

Edited by jahur

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