Alan B. 5 Report post Posted December 22, 2006 Just heard that AK plans to start low fare flights to London and Manchester in July using A340's. Fare to start at RM500. Anyone heard about this and any truth to this? Are you willing to fly 12hours in 29" seat pitch? Or will AK provide better leg room, meals and assigned seating i.e. Oasis Hong Kong? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Seth K 3 Report post Posted December 22, 2006 (edited) Omg, hahhahaha, really.....I dun mind at all! RM500 29", I'm not that big either.................btw, can LCC handle the A340 Alan, can I know what is the source you heard from....... Edited December 22, 2006 by Seth K Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khaled 2 Report post Posted December 22, 2006 Hmm...i heard about this too from A.Asia pilot friend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Ong 1 Report post Posted December 22, 2006 (edited) Just heard that AK plans to start low fare flights to London and Manchester in July using A340's. Fare to start at RM500. Anyone heard about this and any truth to this? Are you willing to fly 12hours in 29" seat pitch? Or will AK provide better leg room, meals and assigned seating i.e. Oasis Hong Kong? Is AK buying or leasing the A340? Didn't see any news in AK's website Edited December 22, 2006 by Andrew Ong Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lawrence L 0 Report post Posted December 22, 2006 Is AK buying or leasing the A340? My guess will be buying 2nd hand planes.... BTW, many say alot of guys leaving or wanna leave Air Asia and are very short of pilots at current situation... Sounds though for them to expand... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin P K 0 Report post Posted December 22, 2006 MAS would so go bankrupt if this ever happens....i'm sure LHR is one of MAS most profitable route, no? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TW Teo 0 Report post Posted December 22, 2006 (edited) RM500? Whoa... will it be under AK itself or a subsidiary company under Tune Air? Edited December 22, 2006 by TW Teo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin P K 0 Report post Posted December 22, 2006 It's probably going to be like RM500 one-way, minus tax and all those! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TW Teo 0 Report post Posted December 22, 2006 It's probably going to be like RM500 one-way, minus tax and all those! Current one-way prices are almost 5 times that! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandeep G 1 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 Can add a little more to this. If anything, it would be a new brand, but with connections to AK and FAX. In the short term, possibly A343s, or even some old ex-South American 772s may come out from the US desert. Ops will be to MAN and Stansted/Gatwick - NOT LHR. Any new intl. carrier from Malaysia is not allowed to directly compete with MAS on any of its routes. By order of the MOT Malaysia. Birmingham/Doncaster-Sheffield also possibilities in the UK. Ireland another possibility. Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Munich, Madrid, Milan, South of France, Athens, Berlin all other possible choices. The world is ther oyster. In Asia, quite possibly will pick up some of the "unprofitable" MAS routes like Fukuoka, Nagoya, Busan (Korea), I believe the airline will start very soon. Plans have been around for a long time and kept out of the public eye. Would be a great boon to the local travel and tourism industry and certainly would boost pax numbers at KLIA. I think it would be a great step. ALso, Imagine AKs ability to provide regional connectivity from hubs in BKK and KUL. However, expect all long-haul traffic to be ex-KUL, with the chance of services in the late late future from BKK too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Ong 1 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 In the short term, possibly A343s, or even some old ex-South American 772s may come out from the US desert. Do you mean by ex-Varig B772s (not sure)? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandeep G 1 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 Do you mean by ex-Varig B772s (not sure)? :D Use your imagination :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alan B. 5 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 Alan, can I know what is the source you heard from....... heard from a friend at AK. There was somekind of briefing for AK staff on the plans. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Seng Lim 0 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 Current one-way prices are almost 5 times that! You can get special promo fare to London at around RM1800-2200 returned (exclude taxes & surcharge). Gulf Air is currently having promotion for London at RM1880 returns while TG is having the promo for London at RM2040 returns (both excluding taxes and surcharge). These fares as usual have lots of restriction + availability is limited. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Smith 1 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 (edited) As much as LCC's can benefit from X-crew flying through an all Airbus fleet, the current 343's on the market would create headaches for AK, they're better off introducing a completely new type such as the 777 and benefit from its reliability. Just ask, Mr Imran "EK" Khan (world famous cricketer, come plane geek), however his airline of choice had no choice, it was the only thing available quickly. Edited December 23, 2006 by Liam Gibb Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naim 6 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 I'll believe it when I see it. +++ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KK Lee 5 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 Understand LCC business model doesn’t work on long haul. I would be surprise if Air Asia is serious to start inter-continental service. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandeep G 1 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 Understand LCC business model doesn’t work on long haul. I would be surprise if Air Asia is serious to start inter-continental service. Check out Tony Fernandes' quote from the recent EY (MALAYSIA) Young Entrepreneur of the Year award: “If you don't dream, you'll never get there†Very admirable words! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonathan Kong 0 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 Did i mention July 2007? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alan B. 5 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 Understand LCC business model doesn’t work on long haul. I would be surprise if Air Asia is serious to start inter-continental service. maybe AK is looking at Oasis Hong Kong's low cost long haul services to see if it is a sucessful and fine tune it and make it better. Skytrain by Laker airways in the late 70's was the pioneer in low cost travel and it was a long haul service between the UK and the US. The reason it failed was because the big boys i.e. BA, Pan Am and TWA dropped their fares in their bid to kill it. When it failed.... they just raised their fares back again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alan B. 5 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 Do you mean by ex-Varig B772s (not sure)? saw a photo of the first of 2 ex-Varig B772 being cut up. I think it's the first B777 to face the chop at the scrap yard in the desert. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Desmond Loo 0 Report post Posted December 23, 2006 Just heard that AK plans to start low fare flights to London and Manchester in July using A340's. Fare to start at RM500. Anyone heard about this and any truth to this? Are you willing to fly 12hours in 29" seat pitch? Or will AK provide better leg room, meals and assigned seating i.e. Oasis Hong Kong? Really hope this will be a reality. Looking forward to trips to Manchester. I am sure the 29 inch seat pitch will be worth it if the cost is kept low. Fingers and toes crossed!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alan B. 5 Report post Posted January 1, 2007 http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?f...&sec=nation Makes more sense now that Easyjet, Virgin Express and AirAsia will coorporate on the flights to LON and MAN. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Isaac 0 Report post Posted January 1, 2007 Just heard that AK plans to start low fare flights to London and Manchester in July using A340's. Fare to start at RM500. Anyone heard about this and any truth to this? Are you willing to fly 12hours in 29" seat pitch? Or will AK provide better leg room, meals and assigned seating i.e. Oasis Hong Kong? May be they will follow JQ International business model ... Oasis HK got a huge section of Business Class with 50" of pitch if i'm not mistaken. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tze Shan 0 Report post Posted January 1, 2007 Is AK buying or leasing the A340? Didn't see any news in AK's website they gonna buy, still remember 100 firmed 320 + 30 optional airbuses? internal sources, tony gonna order 330/340 for the optional plan. lawrence l. shortage of pilots in AK recently? mayb im wrong but i dun think so, what i heard from flight ops., they require captain to operate but not co-pilot. they have sufficient numbers of co-pilot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
