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Mr.Bandit

MAB Expanding in China in 2017

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Interesting. Some routes are just oddball (PEN-SZX comes to mind). And MH hasn't even loaded KUL-HAK into their GDS yet and they are starting this route next month!

 

And the reason for BKI-TSN is probably because it's within the 738 range.

PEN-SZX will start in Dec 2017 - all these new routes and frequencies are w.e.f. 2017.

 

BKI-TSN will probably have more leisure than business pax.

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PEN-SZX will start in Dec 2017 - all these new routes and frequencies are w.e.f. 2017.

 

BKI-TSN will probably have more leisure than business pax.

PEN - CAN by China Southern, PEN - HKG by KA & in the distance future PEN-SXZ by MH...... I wonder what kind of pax MH are rooting for...business or leisure......as PEN-CAN is mostly now for leisure with connections to other parts of China and HKG is for buss n leisure both.....

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Where we going to get to many birds to fly to those new destinations.....I hope they aint thinking on using B738 for some routes....esp the proposed PEN- SZX

 

Also I'm really wondering what kind of traffic is going to be for BKI - TSN proposed route.....

It's really inevitable. BKI gets foreign airlines coming in from Korea, China and all on narrow body. It's not a problem unique to MH.

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It's really inevitable. BKI gets foreign airlines coming in from Korea, China and all on narrow body. It's not a problem unique to MH.

Yes, FSCs are finding the going tough - even BA is increasing the seating density of their aircraft.

 

BA's A320's will now have 180 seats, same as Airasia!

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Yes, FSCs are finding the going tough - even BA is increasing the seating density of their aircraft.

 

BA's A320's will now have 180 seats, same as Airasia!

 

Hehe. BA is even going BOB for inflight meals for flights up to 7 hours. Who would have thought that?

 

Here is the meal price catalogue. At least it is M&S food.

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/food-and-drink/short-haul-economy-food-menu

 

This could be MH in a near future.

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Well if given a choice between PEN-SZX on B738 (MH) or PEN-HKG on A330 (KA), I would choose the latter any time

If your destination is Shenzen, why fly to HK just to get a widebody? Whatever benefits you get from flying in a widebody will not outweigh the hassle of traveling between the two cities.

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Well...if that is true then best avoid them.....awful to sit in narrow bodies for anything above 2 hours...I did once PEN-CAN on A320 China Southern few years back n once is enough....

 

Why is it awful? I did a 6 hour flight on a 739 & I hardly felt uncomfortable. And it's in Y, too, with no IFE other than the onboard WiFi.

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OT: I'm rather surprised MO1 didn't manage to wrangle a visa-free deal after his momentous visit to the Middle Kingdom. Doesn't seem unreasonable given how Malaysia already has some form of visa-free scheme for the Chinese.

One could apply for apec card for visa free to China, Australia, etc. Alternatively, one year multiple entry visa is available to China.

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Noted on that but my concern is on MH.

 

MAB aspires to get rid of MAS's legacy problem and to be 100% commercially based.

 

It can still be commercially viable, from MH's standpoint...... if either Government supports it with $$$ ;)

 

It's a very normal thing that happens in the industry. Meant to spur the growth.

 

PS: AirAsia gets these incentives too.

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PEN have MH lounge on domestic but none in international as I think MH do not think it is "wise" to resume back PEN-SIN route which is now covered very very well by MI (4-5 flights a day) and the budget carriers

 

Well if given a choice between PEN-SZX on B738 (MH) or PEN-HKG on A330 (KA), I would choose the latter any time

What's wrong with flying NB planes? I did PER-KUL on OD recently, and it was comfortable enough. Much better than flying cramped WB planes. And I did a few NB long flights, VN SGN-NRT (321) TK LGW-IST (738) vv, and IMHO the flights were comfortable enough.

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What's wrong with flying NB planes? I did PER-KUL on OD recently, and it was comfortable enough. Much better than flying cramped WB planes. And I did a few NB long flights, VN SGN-NRT (321) TK LGW-IST (738) vv, and IMHO the flights were comfortable enough.

Believe vn seat pitch is bigger than mh.

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Believe vn seat pitch is bigger than mh.

Yes, VN's A321 is more spacious than MH's B738.

 

IIRC, OD also has an extra 2 inches on their B738/739s too.

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PEN-SZX will start in Dec 2017 - all these new routes and frequencies are w.e.f. 2017.

I am pretty sure the press release said otherwise.

 

One could apply for apec card for visa free to China, Australia, etc. Alternatively, one year multiple entry visa is available to China.

AFAIK, China rarely grants one year visa now. It's 6 months multiple entries. A few years ago they are quite easy on giving 2 years multiple entries. But having that said, a 2-week visa waiver would work for *most* Malaysian tourists to China. 1-week would even work for me.

 

 

MAB aspires to get rid of MAS's legacy problem and to be 100% commercially based. To me, this does not look like one. A 3 weekly flight to most of the new destinations are not viable, let alone a daily flight. It would probably make sense as a seasonally run flight.

Highly likely that these flights are incentivized by the Chinese government. Just like how they provide incentives to BA and AY to fly into secondary Chinese cities. Once these incentives go away, so does the route (BA's LHR-CTU is a great example).

Edited by Craig

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What's wrong with flying NB planes? I did PER-KUL on OD recently, and it was comfortable enough. Much better than flying cramped WB planes. And I did a few NB long flights, VN SGN-NRT (321) TK LGW-IST (738) vv, and IMHO the flights were comfortable enough.

I agree... I flew OD 738 and TK 739 before, their configuration on the NB is actually much better than those on the WB of some other airlines. The issues I have with NB are the queue for toilet can be quite long and the overhead compartment gets fills up very quickly.

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If your destination is Shenzen, why fly to HK just to get a widebody? Whatever benefits you get from flying in a widebody will not outweigh the hassle of traveling between the two cities.

Correct - the time wasted on the ground is significant enough.

 

PEN-SZX may be attractive to the tech industry personnel who may need to shuttle between the two high tech industry cities.

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It's great to see MH expanding again.. hope they can make this routes profitable. Would love to see they expand more to indonesia and also india..

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Correct - the time wasted on the ground is significant enough.

 

PEN-SZX may be attractive to the tech industry personnel who may need to shuttle between the two high tech industry cities.

 

Well, true, the tech hub in SZ is in Nanshan district, which is relatively close to SZX airport.

 

If you fancy to fly into HKG, you can catch a private 7 seater Toyota Alphard from HKIA's T2 all the way to Shenzhen Bay Immigration Checkpoint into Nanshan district for around HKD $250 per way. You can remained at the seat of the Toyota Alphard where crossing the immigration booths of HK and China.

 

Wonder if their China expansion all uses B737-800... yikes!!

Edited by S V Choong

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Well first NB toilets are far end of the plane and one need to squeeze its way through if the cart is there. Secondly, the experience I had on CZ was not pleasant in terms of the seat pitch which was tighter than MH or others, food quality is awful, the coffee I had was awful too....lastly I tend to move around when in the plane so in a NB not much space to walk around n stretch compared to a WB


Last I check there isn't really significant SZX manufacturing companies operating in Penang. The Chinese manuf companies that are here do not originate from SZX. If they are looking into feeding pax into other cities in China fr SZX I believe CZ is now doing a great job at that for many years.

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It's great to see MH expanding again.. hope they can make this routes profitable. Would love to see they expand more to indonesia and also india..

I think OD has used up what remaining bilateral rights there are to India. So MH will have to wait till the govt. manages to renegotiate the bilaterals.

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Well first NB toilets are far end of the plane and one need to squeeze its way through if the cart is there. Secondly, the experience I had on CZ was not pleasant in terms of the seat pitch which was tighter than MH or others, food quality is awful, the coffee I had was awful too....lastly I tend to move around when in the plane so in a NB not much space to walk around n stretch compared to a WB

There's a perfect solution for your disdain of narrowbodies:

 

If you fancy to fly into HKG, you can catch a private 7 seater Toyota Alphard from HKIA's T2 all the way to Shenzhen Bay Immigration Checkpoint into Nanshan district for around HKD $250 per way. You can remained at the seat of the Toyota Alphard where crossing the immigration booths of HK and China.

Fly the spacious KA A330 into HKG, then spend an hour and half in a narrowbody Alphard.

 

50km and USD250 later, you'll arrive in Shenzen ready to take on the day (or whatever's left of it), after a restful 3-hour flight in a widebody.

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Highly likely that these flights are incentivized by the Chinese government. Just like how they provide incentives to BA and AY to fly into secondary Chinese cities. Once these incentives go away, so does the route (BA's LHR-CTU is a great example).

I think that the easiest way to do that is to grant visa free entry. A lot more Malaysians are now visiting Japan since the need for a visa was removed.

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I fly OD regularly now to/from PER and I can assure you their B738's and the lone B739 I've flown on in the past 3 months are far more comfortable than the MH B738's I've flown on this year, both the MS* and MX* series, a good couple of inches more on OD.

 

Does MH have enough aircraft for these newly announced routes, I'd heard recently they were looking for more P&W powered A333's?

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Does MH have enough aircraft for these newly announced routes, I'd heard recently they were looking for more P&W powered A333's?

I think only PVG and HKG needs A333s - this will probably max out the fleet usage of A333s.

 

I am not sure why PB said they are looking at PW powered A333s - there are very few of these flying around. The new ones are spoken for, so all that is left will be aircraft over 15 years old. How long are they planning to lease these additional A333s? They have excess A380s - slotting them into routes like KUL-SYD should free up one or two A333s for use on the regional routes.

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