Covid-19: Into 2021 and beyond...

[flee 5]

COVID-19 forces major change across Asia-Pacific airline industry

Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region have two priorities at the moment – short term survival, and figuring out how they need to adjust to the post-COVID-19 industry landscape. The first is obviously the most pressing issue for now, but airlines also cannot lose sight of the longer-term picture.

With many aircraft parked and international traffic in the doldrums, airlines are scrambling to negotiate new financing and are looking to defer as many short term aircraft deliveries as possible. The traffic and demand growth assumptions that have formed the basis of airline plans have been rendered obsolete by the pandemic, forcing them to launch business reviews as they recognise the need to streamline their operations.

Across the Asia-Pacific region, some business models and markets are faring better than others. In many cases, governments are providing a vital lifeline. But despite encouraging signs in specific markets, the real disruption to the airline industry could play out over the next few years.

More here: https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/covid-19-forces-major-change-across-asia-pacific-airline-industry-534197

[Li Ren 2]

any idea which carrier and aircraft type that will bring back pfizer vaccine on this 26Feb ?

[Timothy 1]

Just an armchair assessment from me, but it would be interesting to see which airline would be first to become a fully integrated tourism player.

This means cutting out all other players and middle man ie: Travel Agents (Online included), Taxi/Buses, even Hotels. .

JAL had something similar with Hotel Nikko and Airport Shuttles running between the airport. With COVID19, they could take it even further with tour packages going only to their "Properties" ie Hotel, Restaurant, Beaches etc. All minor investments compared to buying a B787 AND it's currently a buyers market if anyone is looking for hotels or tourism related plays.

The local businesses (run by the airline) would contribute tax back to the local Govt. Definitely less competition since your passengers will only stay at your hotel, but standards are able to be kept consistently throughout the trip. If some thing goes wrong, only 1 entity to complain to. It would be something new, say if the hotel room AC broke, and compensation was an upgrade for the flight out the next day 😁

Business travel has likely seen it's peak in 2019, after COVID19 and thanks to Zoom / Online Meetings there is nearly no reason for that "last minute" Business Class + 5* (3 nights stay) + Travel Allowance to LHR for an urgent meeting anymore. Trade off for having more flexible working hours in the new normal.

In terms of the tourism eco-system, Airlines are the most well funded compared to all other player. Even Hotel Chains don't own or even lease most of their properties leaving it to the franchise holder to shoulder all the business risk. Airlines are different, whereby even if a plane is leased, the money is already out of pocket and will continue to be drawn on regardless if that plane is used.

So I expect Airlines have the most incentive to come up with a way to get out of this hole.

 

[BC Tam 2]

On 2/2/2021 at 2:29 PM, Li Ren said:

any idea which carrier and aircraft type that will bring back pfizer vaccine on this 26Feb ?

Malaysia Airlines plane with Jalur Gemilang livery to bring in Covid-19 vaccine on Sunday (Feb 21)

from: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2021/02/18/malaysia-airlines-plane-with-jalur-gemilang-livery-to-bring-in-covid-19-vaccine-on-sunday-feb-21

😃

Edited February 18, 2021 by BC Tam

[flee 5]

IATA: Air cargo demand reaches zenith in March

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/iata-air-cargo-demand-reaches-zenith-march

[Alif A. F. 0]

Aviation industry seems to slowly pick up, in general. I can't comment of latest aviation infra developments in KUL, PEN, KCH and others, but here in BKI there is an obvious on-going construction on the taxiways for the past several months now (Google Earth image attached for reference). Does anyone know what is the construction for? On a more general outlook, I don't think there would not be any airport expansion or relocation for the next decade or so. Passenger traffic has been decimated for more than a year now. If aviation traffic continued similar growth trajectory in 2020 from 2019, passenger numbers could have breached 10 million for the first time.

It could take perhaps at least five or even up to 10 years to reach the 2019 level, give or take. And COVID-19 has altered the way we conduct businesses and meetings. There is no need to travel to KUL or beyond just to attend some 1–2-hour meetings. That can now be done simply using Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams. Leisure trips could pick-up, as many people say - 'revenge tourism', out of lockdown, and in need of mental release. But would the experience be the same as before? In Venice, it is suggested that tourist numbers should have a limit, because the city was, in pre Covid era, overly touristed. During lockdown, nature seems to thrive, but with tourists slowly coming back, some people fear that the calm that came with covid will be gone. What about in Malaysia, especially tourism dependent Sabah?

Therefore, I could imagine a secondary airport like BKI will maintain its size for decades to come, with minor expansion. For one thing, the airport is conveniently close to KK. I live only 10 minutes away from the terminal. Most of us in KK do live some 30 minutes away from the airport, traffic conditions permitted. If one issue emanating from BKI towards overall development challenge in KK (height restriction), is the runway position, not the terminal. I think the present runway should be decommissioned, and a new one should be built further out at sea, away from heading directly towards KK CBD. Or shortened present runway to just half of its length (leaving southern portion only) to accommodate lighter planes like ATRs or small business jets (like LCY) operations. And full-length runway (4,000M) could be built further out at sea.

The remaining decommissioned parts of the airport could be redeveloped into something else, like large public park (something KK really lacks, despite being marketed as nature resort city). 

Anyway, this is my point of view specifically on BKI though. 

[jahur 0]

On 7/25/2021 at 8:37 PM, Alif A. F. said:

Aviation industry seems to slowly pick up, in general. I can't comment of latest aviation infra developments in KUL, PEN, KCH and others, but here in BKI there is an obvious on-going construction on the taxiways for the past several months now (Google Earth image attached for reference). Does anyone know what is the construction for? 

Most of us in KK do lI think the present runway should be decommissioned, and a new one should be built further out at sea, away from heading directly towards KK CBD. Or shortened present runway to just half of its length (leaving southern portion only) to accommodate lighter planes like ATRs or small business jets (like LCY) operations. And full-length runway (4,000M) could be built further out at sea.

Mahb approved a small project in bki to add more remote bays near the maskargo hangar(it has been long overdue) like what bali and phuket did to ease arrival congestion in peak hours. So the remote bay will accommodate planes that have no immediate flights scheduled so the main terminal has empty gates for arrival. The taxiway adjustment near the terminal building is just surface strengthening.

The idea to expand the terminal with a new building may work but the last time runway 02 was extended it met with a lot of local resistance regarding land reclamation. Even TAED project had issues after revamping much of the initial planning and til this day no progress update has been given by the gov. Another issue i see was sabah tourism and malaysia tourism marketing is poor or really not subpar. For Sabah it has been heavily promoting towards China and South korea but marketing towards Japan and Australia has been severely trimmed off. Marketing in EU almost non existent. A friend living in seattle USA caught a few tv ads on his local sports channel promoting visiting Indonesia and thailand but no tv ads promoting Malaysia. Meanwhile Malaysia is promoted quite a lot in China. Now with covid and China unlikely to open up its border compared with other countries  along with South China Sea tension with its neighbors, Sabah will suffer for a few years.

Edited July 27, 2021 by jahur

[Chris Tan 0]

On 7/26/2021 at 7:09 PM, jahur said:

A friend living in seattle USA caught a few tv ads on his local sports channel promoting visiting Indonesia and thailand but no tv ads promoting Malaysia. Meanwhile Malaysia is promoted quite a lot in China. Now with covid and China unlikely to open up its border compared with other countries  along with South China Sea tension with its neighbors, Sabah will suffer for a few years.

Strange. I have a friend in Seattle who hasn't seen any adverts for Europe, yet it seems to be chock full of Americans. Maybe it's a Sabah thing.

[Alif A. F. 0]

3 hours ago, Chris Tan said:

Strange. I have a friend in Seattle who hasn't seen any adverts for Europe, yet it seems to be chock full of Americans. Maybe it's a Sabah thing.

Plenty of information sources about Europe outside any of those formal (TV/Newspaper) ads.

[jahur 0]

18 hours ago, Chris Tan said:

Strange. I have a friend in Seattle who hasn't seen any adverts for Europe, yet it seems to be chock full of Americans. Maybe it's a Sabah thing.

Tv Ads on sports channel promoting tourism in thailand and indonesia. Bet how much is msia promoting almost NIL and lack of vital marketing except for keen foreign YouTubers and vloggers.

Bear in mind unlike Sabah, states like Sarawak and even Melaka has at least adequate manufacturing economy exports and tech. Meanwhile Sabah has been relying solely on tourism and agriculture with no input to grow beyond that from 2 different gov. Sabah has already lost its aussies and japanese tourist numbers over the years due to lack of exposure.

Edited July 28, 2021 by jahur

[jahur 0]

15 hours ago, Alif A. F. said:

Plenty of information sources about Europe outside any of those formal (TV/Newspaper) ads.

Erm i think i mightve written my comments in the wrong way or you've missread what i wrote. I am talking about promoting Malaysia through tv ads in Europe. Before 2005s we marketed a lot in these ads. Now 2019 pre pandemic not much about malaysia is promoted while our neighbors even during covid period are still actively promoting in a lot of formats.

Edited July 28, 2021 by jahur

[Alif A. F. 0]

6 hours ago, jahur said:

Erm i think i mightve written my comments in the wrong way or you've missread what i wrote. I am talking about promoting Malaysia through tv ads in Europe. Before 2005s we marketed a lot in these ads. Now 2019 pre pandemic not much about malaysia is promoted while our neighbors even during covid period are still actively promoting in a lot of formats.

I see, ok.

[Izanee 0]

It’s a shame cos Malaysia was big on marketing many years back. But because of corruption and mismanagement, money was channeled for other reasons.

to save money, the government closed down tourism Malaysia offices in many major cities across us and Europe. Very premature, and with complete lack of foresight. 
 

they decided to concentrate fully on China alone, but places like Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam carried on promotion in Europe as well as Asia. 
 

It’s this complete lack of foresight and inappropriate penny pinching that has made me despair! 
 

tourism is our third biggest money earner - they should be putting money there in order to maintain our lead in terms of arrivals etc etc. This is especially so since we’ve lost practically most direct air links from Europe and USA. they are the biggest spenders worldwide. 
 

oh well, what do I know?