Saving Airasia Group and Airasia X: Covid-19 Recovery Thread

[BC Tam 2]

46 minutes ago, jahur said:

KK itself was even noted by Christoph Mueler for being potentially good as Bali but lacked facility upkeep 0, strategic marketing by tourism ministry

As matter of fact, I for one am happy (and relieved) we not gone the way of Bali, maybe not yet, but place still has some semblence of sanity about it for us locals 😁

[jahur 0]

3 hours ago, BC Tam said:

As matter of fact, I for one am happy (and relieved) we not gone the way of Bali, maybe not yet, but place still has some semblence of sanity about it for us locals 😁

Sabahs main issue it is very low on Manufacturing side and it is heavily reliant on tourism. Sabah has many tourism attractive perks not being made use of even Cebu took advantage in developing that it outranked kk by 2016 and they have also upscale their manufacturing. Back in 2005 KK was way ahead of cebu. Dont forget many Sabahan youths had difficulty finding jobs even prior to the pandemic and resorted to working in Semenanjung. If we keep the lazy pace it wont be long if Sabahans have to start seeking labor work in cebu or bali lol. 

 

 

 

[BC Tam 2]

1 hour ago, jahur said:

..... If we keep the lazy pace it wont be long if Sabahans have to start seeking labor work in cebu or bali lol. 

How certain are you this not already happening now ? 🤔

Edited July 17, 2022 by BC Tam

[flee 5]

Well, Langkawi was a focus for international tourism and the government did not do a good job on it. So what do you expect them to do for Sabah?

Tony Fernandes has always maintained that for Airasia to grow, it has to grow the market rather than grab market share from incumbents. They were successful to a certain extent (see how much pax traffic through the major airports like KUL/BKI/PEN have grown) with AK but without government policy to grow the tourism industry, there is only so much that airlines can do.

Edited July 17, 2022 by flee

[BC Tam 2]

Hands on heart (and I may get flogged and stoned for saying this) I am maybe (with hindsight) a bit relieved the pandemic brought a halt to all the built up chaos within the travel industry locally, specifically in the Sabah scene
Facilities and services were getting stretched beyond what would have been reasonably expected by the paying visitors - that being so, unlikely there will be endorsements when back at home
And some of what we have here - the beaches, the reefs, the hiking trails, etc - were being challenged beyond what could be sustained I believe
Hopefully those in the industry has had a pause to rethink what should be done responsibly hereafter

As for the aviation scene, doesn't seem like AK-MH-OD have launched any back stabbing exercises ..... yet 😁

[JuliusWong 0]

AirAsia X has bungled their PR so badly for the refund I doubt any sensible traveller will touch them anymore. 

https://www.malaysianow.com/news/2022/07/03/line-of-airasia-x-passengers-seeking-refunds-continues

https://www.malaysianow.com/news/2022/07/13/hope-fades-for-airasia-x-passengers-awaiting-ticket-refunds

Now that everyone is being forced to take credit vouchers, because they said "court proceedings do not allow them to do so" would really turn people off. 

Good luck in rebuilding the brand image. AirAsia X is nothing but a vanity project of TF and KM who went jacked up so much debt even financial institutions treat them with caution. There is a reason why their auditors changed from PwC to someone else in recent years.

[jahur 0]

13 hours ago, flee said:

Well, Langkawi was a focus for international tourism and the government did not do a good job on it. So what do you expect them to do for Sabah?

Tony Fernandes has always maintained that for Airasia to grow, it has to grow the market rather than grab market share from incumbents. They were successful to a certain extent (see how much pax traffic through the major airports like KUL/BKI/PEN have grown) with AK but without government policy to grow the tourism industry, there is only so much that airlines can do.

At least langkawi had proper toilets it had arab, russian and german presence bear pantai cenang with proper facilities on my last visit in october 2021.  KK the moment you arrive at the airport you are greeted by defunct dirty toilets(already a major turnoff for japanese cleanliness is on their top end). Something you don't really see in Kuching or Penang airports. Culturewise Sabahan toilet culture is still behind other states and these are not even PTIs yet sabahans displayed the most xenophobic vibe when it comes to pinoys and indons. 

I walk in teluk likas beach and i see a local lady just dumping trash on the beach side when theres a proper dustbin in like 50meters infront of her. I collected the trash she disposed and she looked at me like im some kind of alien. Over and over the locals always blame immigrants on social media but many times if you actually turun padang and observe it is actually the locals themselves who are dirty. As a Sabahan i really wonder are we really that behind. 

 

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by jahur

[Craig 0]

16 hours ago, jahur said:

Sabah has many tourism attractive perks not being made use of even Cebu took advantage in developing that it outranked kk by 2016 and they have also upscale their manufacturing. Back in 2005 KK was way ahead of cebu.

I've been to Cebu. Lovely new airport (at least for the international wing) but once you leave the airport, it goes down the drain. KK is way cleaner than Cebu and traffic can be horrendous (I've been to KK a few times but I have yet to experience the notorious traffic that KK residents complain about). Cebu is not a pleasant city and IIRC, there aren't many nice hotels around. It's more of a gateway city to get to other islands around Cebu (mainly to Bohol or Malapascua) or other smaller places around Cebu.

 

2 hours ago, jahur said:

At least langkawi had proper toilets it had arab, russian and german presence bear pantai cenang with proper facilities on my last visit in october 2021.  KK the moment you arrive at the airport you are greeted by defunct dirty toilets(already a major turnoff for japanese cleanliness is on their top end). Something you don't really see in Kuching or Penang airports. Culturewise Sabahan toilet culture is still behind other states and these are not even PTIs yet sabahans displayed the most xenophobic vibe when it comes to pinoys and indons. 

I walk in teluk likas beach and i see a local lady just dumping trash on the beach side when theres a proper dustbin in like 50meters infront of her. I collected the trash she disposed and she looked at me like im some kind of alien. Over and over the locals always blame immigrants on social media but many times if you actually turun padang and observe it is actually the locals themselves who are dirty. As a Sabahan i really wonder are we really that behind. 

I feel like clean toilets aren't a Malaysian culture?  You can be in Pavilion Bukit Bintang, Suria KLCC and their toilets aren't the cleanest and it's always wet (and KLCC toilets smell so bad). Doesn't help when cleaners use the same mop for the area beneath the urinals and mop it all over the toilet including the sink area without rinsing it - they are basically spreading pee all over the whole toilet. However, the new toilets at KLIA are nice and clean.

I've hiked trails around Langkawi before. Locals love to leave their rubbish behind at the waterfalls or BBQ pit close to the waterfall. And when the rainy season is here, all the rubbish will be washed into the river/sea. You''ll find rubbish even in something as pristine as the "blue lagoon" (OK more like a small pool, not a lagoon) in Langkawi. People bring their food up the hill, eat them and just leave their rubbish behind.

[JuliusWong 0]

1 hour ago, Craig said:

I feel like clean toilets aren't a Malaysian culture?  You can be in Pavilion Bukit Bintang, Suria KLCC and their toilets aren't the cleanest and it's always wet (and KLCC toilets smell so bad). Doesn't help when cleaners use the same mop for the area beneath the urinals and mop it all over the toilet including the sink area without rinsing it - they are basically spreading pee all over the whole toilet. However, the new toilets at KLIA are nice and clean.

I've hiked trails around Langkawi before. Locals love to leave their rubbish behind at the waterfalls or BBQ pit close to the waterfall. And when the rainy season is here, all the rubbish will be washed into the river/sea. You''ll find rubbish even in something as pristine as the "blue lagoon" (OK more like a small pool, not a lagoon) in Langkawi. People bring their food up the hill, eat them and just leave their rubbish behind.

Time to bring back moral and civic studies in schools in Malaysia. Sorry, off topic, just got to do it.

[jahur 0]

1 hour ago, Craig said:

I've been to Cebu. Lovely new airport (at least for the international wing) but once you leave the airport, it goes down the drain. KK is way cleaner than Cebu and traffic can be horrendous (I've been to KK a few times but I have yet to experience the notorious traffic that KK residents complain about). Cebu is not a pleasant city and IIRC, there aren't many nice hotels around. It's more of a gateway city to get to other islands around Cebu (mainly to Bohol or Malapascua) or other smaller places around Cebu.

 

However, the new toilets at KLIA are nice and clean.

I've hiked trails around Langkawi before. Locals love to leave their rubbish behind at the waterfalls or BBQ pit close to the waterfall. And when the rainy season is here, all the rubbish will be washed into the river/sea. You''ll find rubbish even in something as pristine as the "blue lagoon" (OK more like a small pool, not a lagoon) in Langkawi. People bring their food up the hill, eat them and just leave their rubbish behind.

Few resorts are sprouting out in Cebu. Cant discount kk is getting 2-3 as well but nothing on east coast. Philippines toilet cleanliness is behind Msia at most, but they have manpower to cleanup. Kkia toilet bowl at landsite arrival is also gone ya gotta squat, flush switch is broken cause ya know our people insist on using feet to turn on the toilet flush and squat on a sit down toilet seat. On my last airside visit on the apron the ceiling was also collapsing just waiting for a small tail typhoon weather for it to hit any ground crew or aircrafts. According to some of the ground crew the fragile ceiling issue was already there since 2015.

https://www.dailyexpress.com.my/read/4805/sabah-does-not-deserve-this-mab-/

Even if MAHB overhauls the hard product if people continue to behave like this it will just deteriorate in 1-2years. 

Klia toilets are clean only because there are near 247 toilet cleaner surveillance staff behaving like personal butlers standing outside. This is something budget prohibitive on other smaller airports and malls. In other Asean countries like Thailand and Indonesia this is not something that is required to maintain cleanliness lol. I dont see any kakaks standing outside the toilet rushing in after each persons toilet business when i was BKK, DMK, SGN. Even small airport like Tarakan is cleaner with no personal cleanup crew visible.

In regards to lgk dirtiness, Wait til you see what east coast sabah hiking trail has for you. 🤣 Literal human poop and pee on your walkway. Plastic bottles everywhere. Not done by PTI as what most Sabahans like to claim. Recent football match in kk already highlight the same thing. Pretty much cleanliness education during primary school by our education ministry is lacking but again this is something not required at our neighbouring country the parents are the ones that teach. On the other hand neighbouring Sarawak can somehow maintain better toilet cleanliness in Kuching than what Sabah can do for kk and this is something good i observe over there.

 

Back to topic, am not sure if d7 should maintain more than 12 widebody aircraft even after pandemic recovery. Purely due to our local market. Might be better to slot excess the 330neo towards thai aax instead. 

Edited July 18, 2022 by jahur

[JuliusWong 0]

43 minutes ago, jahur said:

Back to topic, am not sure if d7 should maintain more than 12 widebody aircraft even after pandemic recovery. Purely due to our local market. Might be better to slot excess the 330neo towards thai aax instead. 

I think they will need the 12 A330ceo cause they throwing darts on world map blindly. 

In 2021/2022, they are planning to fly to:

1. Tokyo
2. Sapporo
3. Osaka
4. Honolulu
5. Seoul
6. Jeju
7. Busan
8. Sydney
9. Perth
10. Melbourne
11. Auckland
12. New Delhi
13. Dubai
14. Istanbul
15. London

Not sure if the Honolulu, Dubai, Istanbul and London will make any money for them. EK is enough to kill them with high density 500-600 seats A380s. Let's not forget QR and TK too. With 15 destinations, they need at least 30 A330s plus two or three as spare. 12 A330s are really stretching it for D7, XJ has only 8 A330s. Good, very good the best luck to them. 

A339neo delivery will only start in 2026. A321XLR delivery date unconfirmed for now.

Edited July 18, 2022 by JuliusWong

[jahur 0]

21 minutes ago, JuliusWong said:

I think they will need the 12 A330ceo cause they throwing darts on world map blindly. 

In 2021/2022, they are planning to fly to:

1. Tokyo
2. Sapporo
3. Osaka
4. Honolulu
5. Seoul
6. Jeju
7. Busan
8. Sydney
9. Perth
10. Melbourne
11. Auckland
12. New Delhi
13. Dubai
14. Istanbul
15. London

Not sure if the Honolulu, Dubai, Istanbul and London will make any money for them. EK is enough to kill them with high density 500-600 seats A380s. Let's not forget QR and TK too. Good, very good the best luck to them.

A339neo delivery will only start in 2026. A321XLR delivery date unconfirmed for now.

Believe Sapporo is a pretty good route for them so as Seoul. Cant say the same for Tokyo Osaka Jeju and Busan. Sydney and Melbourne are doable provided they limit the frequency to just a 1x daily thing which they have already started in 2018 i believe. Only good move they've made is advancing towards india which has the volume on premium and low cost demand. Funny they've not increased their presence in China its a Lcc goldmine actually.

Like you said anything on east europe is still a what if. Highly doubt London via dubai would work. Still find it weird thai aax is not getting the benefit. Youre more likely to fill up the 330 in Thailand and fly it towards europe than doing it in Malaysia. 

Edited July 18, 2022 by jahur

[JuliusWong 0]

1 minute ago, jahur said:

Believe Sapporo is a pretty good route for them so as Seoul. Cant say the same for Tokyo Osaka Jeju and Busan. Sydney and Melbourne are doable provided they limit the frequency to just a 1x daily thing which they have already started in 2018 i believe. Only good move they've made is advancing towards india which has the volume on premium and low cost demand. Funny they've not tested China its a Lcc goldmine actually.

Like you said anything on east europe is still a what if. Highly doubt London via dubai would work. Still find it weird thai aax is not getting the benefit. Youre more likely to fill up the 330 in Thailand and fly it towards europe than doing it in Malaysia. 

They did wanted to set up AirAsia China with Evergrande Group, however the plan failed in the end as both sides could not agree on the capital distribution. They did dodged a bullet there as Evergrande is now in deep financial trouble due to China property market crash. AirAsia Group prior to pandemic had huge exposure to China market too, but full loads but yield is not consistent.

1. Beijing                    
2. Changsha                               
3. Chengdu    
4. Chongqing                            
5. Hangzhou                  
6. Lanzhou                                   
7. Shanghai    
8. Tianjin    
9. Wuhan 
10. Xi'an

With 15 planned destinations, they need at least 30 A330s plus two or three as spare. 12 A330s are really stretching it for D7, XJ has only 8 A330s. I think a lot of the listed destinations have more potential from BKK than KUL as Thailand attracts higher volume of travelers compared to Malaysia. XJ may consider returning to Tbilisi as a scissor hub for European flight, but with war raging in the East Europe, not sure if it is safe now.

[flee 5]

Frankly I don't think going to Europe should be a priority - and maybe they know that too. But they want to make announcements so that it appears sexy on the media.

[BC Tam 2]

AirAsia X CFO resigns to pursue other opportunities | The Star
Like in 24 hours notice ..... ? 🙄

[flee 5]

11 hours ago, BC Tam said:

AirAsia X CFO resigns to pursue other opportunities | The Star
Like in 24 hours notice ..... ? 🙄

This position isn't an easy one - it calls for great integrity because D7 has been performing some serious financial acrobatics. Some of their financial and accounting policy practised by D7 are highly dubious. A CFO worth his salt should resign if he does not agree with the attack on his professional and ethical integrity.

[Tom/PER 0]

With the recommencement of services announcements made earlier this week to MEL, SYD, PER, AKL, New Delhi, Seoul, Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka, HNL, London, DXB and Istanbul is it safe to assume D7/AAX will reactivate those 8 stored A333’s currently at KUL?

They only seem to have these 4 in active service -XXF, XXQ, XXR and XXZ + VAA which AK is using. 

[flee 5]

1 hour ago, Tom/PER said:

With the recommencement of services announcements made earlier this week to MEL, SYD, PER, AKL, New Delhi, Seoul, Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka, HNL, London, DXB and Istanbul is it safe to assume D7/AAX will reactivate those 8 stored A333’s currently at KUL?

They only seem to have these 4 in active service -XXF, XXQ, XXR and XXZ + VAA which AK is using. 

I think they are hedging their bets a little concerning the market recovery. At the creditors' restructuring meetings, they were forecasting a fleet of 15. Perhaps some lessors were no longer patient to wait for the resumption of flights and took back the planes. However, this may help them as they can look to lease some A339s for their London services, if necessary.

[BC Tam 2]

On 7/22/2022 at 10:36 PM, Tom/PER said:

..... + VAA which AK is using. 

I think you meant -VVA 

(But yes, AK is surely using -VAA too)

Also, -XXF has recently been doing exclusively KUL-BKI-KUL runs for AK

Edited July 24, 2022 by BC Tam

[JuliusWong 0]

Jeng jeng jeng....AirAsia X may have a headache soon.

Lion Air Group eyes long-haul foray to Istanbul with network ramp-up (Behind paywall)

https://www.flightglobal.com/networks/lion-air-group-eyes-long-haul-foray-to-istanbul-with-network-ramp-up/149672.article

An outdated news article: https://ftnnews.com/news-from-turkey/40189-lion-air-to-launch-flights-to-istanbul-appoints-apg

[BC Tam 2]

Fair to say author of that has little understanding of subject matter ..... ? 🙄

source : AirAsia X catat untung bersih RM32.8 bilion (msn.com)

Edited August 21, 2022 by BC Tam

[V Wong 0]

8 minutes ago, BC Tam said:

Fair to say author of that has little understanding of subject matter ..... ? 🙄

Or the person needs to learn from a particular person the difference between million and billion ? 

[Zamir 0]

AirAsia parent to add three A321 freighters to fleet

https://www.zawya.com/en/business/aviation/airasia-parent-to-add-three-a321-freighters-to-fleet-y0l3p9p0

 

Quote

 

 Jamie Freed, Reuters News

September 12, 2022

Capital A Bhd, the parent of Malaysian budget airline AirAsia, said on Monday its Teleport cargo arm would add three Airbus SE A321 freighters to its fleet starting in the first quarter of 2023.

The freighters would be leased from BBAM Limited Partnership, Capital A said in a statement.

Teleport last year began operating its first freighter, a Boeing Co 737-800 based in Bangkok, as the parent company looked to diversify revenue and take advantage of a boom in e-commerce.

Francis Anthony, head of commercial cargo at Teleport, said the A321s would allow it to serve such key markets as China from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

A321 freighters are converted from passenger aircraft into dedicated cargo carriers.

BBAM last year ordered freighter conversions of at least 20 of A320s and A321s through to 2025 in a deal with Elbe Flugzeugwerke, a joint venture between Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd and Airbus. (Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney; Editing by Tom Hogue and Bradley Perrett)

 

 

Edited September 12, 2022 by Zamir

[JuliusWong 0]

AirAsia to enlarge Indonesian and Philippine operations, says Fernandes

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/node/636526

Salient points:

1. Plans to enlarge its Indonesian and Philippines operations beyond their pre-pandemic levels by Q1, 2023, riding on better tourism and connectivity prospects.
2. Will not cut its fleet operations in Malaysia and Thailand.
3. Current fleet size of 205, will increase to 300 planes over the next five years.
4. Will begin to take delivery of 362 Airbus 321neo starting 2024.
5. On its cargo operations, he said AirAsia’s logistic-arm Teleport will contribute significantly to the group’s growth in the next five years, with 50 freighters in service. 
6. The group is resuming their order for four Airbus 321 full freighters, with the first delivery expected in December 2022, which they had put on hold earlier due to the pandemic.

 

[Craig 0]

D7 received permission to operate 4x weekly KUL-IST flights to begin in November. Let's see. TK's 3 additional weekly flights seem to be doing really well too. Can't imagine the sudden surge in EU-MY travel.

Edited September 16, 2022 by Craig