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Ken K. Kour

Air Asia X Given Long Haul Rights Malaysia-Europe

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Perhaps for flightdeck commonality. In the A330 Briefing, it takes just a few days for an A320 pilot to fly the A330. Current A320 pilots can then 'upgrade' and fly further.

 

Then perhaps the landing and parking charges are a bit lower than the B777, which means savings in the long run.

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Perhaps for flightdeck commonality. In the A330 Briefing, it takes just a few days for an A320 pilot to fly the A330. Current A320 pilots can then 'upgrade' and fly further.

 

Then perhaps the landing and parking charges are a bit lower than the B777, which means savings in the long run.

 

How come A330 parking is cheaper? :blink: Can anyone explain to me please....

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Some latest update from bloomberg:

- Will sign agreement on 17 Apr 2007.

- Start flying Oct 2007.

Malaysia's Fly Asian to Buy Planes; May Order Airbus

By Soraya Permatasari and Haslinda Amin

 

March 29 (Bloomberg) -- Fly Asian Xpress, a Malaysian airline that's starting a long-haul budget carrier, plans to sign an agreement on April 17 to order around 15 aircraft, prompting speculation Airbus SAS will win the contract.

The aircraft, valued at as much as $2.9 billion based on list prices, will allow AirAsia X, the new airline, to start flying as early as October, Fly Asian Chief Executive Raja Mohamad Azmi said in a phone interview from Hong Kong today. AirAsia X will pick Boeing Co.'s 777-200 or Airbus's A330-300 aircraft, Fly Asian has said.

 

``I think it's Airbus,'' said Rosnani Rasul, an analyst at TA Securities Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur. ``We just met Boeing and Boeing said that to lease or buy their planes it's going to take some time.''

 

AirAsia X, whose shareholder Tony Fernandez also owns a stake in AirAsia Bhd., Southeast Asia's biggest low-fare airline, will join competition for long-haul services, betting that cost- conscious travelers are prepared to forgo comforts offered by full-service airlines such as Malaysian Airline System Bhd. and Singapore Airlines Ltd.

 

``AirAsia Bhd. is very close to Airbus because they just ordered planes from them, so maybe they can squeeze something to get the planes earlier,'' said Rosnani, who has a ``buy'' call on AirAsia stock.

 

AirAsia Bhd. placed a third order for 50 Airbus A320 planes in January, bringing its total firm orders of the single-aisle aircraft to 150. It also has options for 50 more of the model.

 

Tony Phillips, the Singapore-based spokesman for Airbus, and Raymond Francis, a spokesman for Boeing based in Singapore, declined to comment.

 

Pricing, Reliability

 

``For budget airlines, pricing and reliability of the plane are the two most important factors. They won't want to introduce inefficiencies to their operations,'' said Raymond Tang, who manages $1.7 billion as chief investment officer of CIMB- Principal Asset Management Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Fernandez said on March 8 AirAsia X may have to delay services for as long as a year from an original plan to start in July because of the lack of planes.

 

``Yes, we are finalizing,'' Raja Azmi said today. ``We hope to start earlier than next year, at the later part of this year. We are looking at'' October.

 

AirAsia X will pay AirAsia Bhd. about 5 percent of annual revenue as royalty for using the AirAsia brand name, Rosnani said. The contribution to AirAsia Bhd. ``is probably going to be very small this year,'' she said. The announcement itself ``is not going to affect anything on AirAsia shares.''

 

AirAsia stock, which has risen 15 percent this year, was unchanged at 1.73 ringgit at the 5 p.m. close in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Government Approval

 

Fly Asian Xpress won government approval in January to begin services and flights were initially scheduled to start in July. AirAsia X had planned to lease two or three planes this year and purchase more for delivery in 2008.

 

Asia-Pacific passenger traffic is estimated to grow at 5.7 percent annually between 2006 and 2010, outpacing the global average, according to estimates by the International Air Transport Association, which represents 250 carriers worldwide.

 

An A330-300 aircraft can seat as many as 335 passengers, reach a maximum distance of 5,500 nautical miles (10,186 kilometers) and cost $180 million each, based on catalog prices. Boeing's 777-200, which costs $195 million, can carry as many as 400 people and fly as far as 5,210 nautical miles.

 

Birmingham, Tianjin

 

AirAsia X plans to fly to Birmingham or Manchester in the U.K., Tianjin and Hangzhou in China, India, the Middle East, Australia and the U.S. It may also fly the same long-haul routes as Malaysian Airline, the national carrier, Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy said in January.

 

``AirAsia X will complement AirAsia by bringing all these people that AirAsia could never manage to bring into this airport,'' Fernandez said in an interview at the company's headquarters at the low-cost carriers terminal in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.

 

``They can get off and then get on to our short-haul flights. AirAsia X will be an eight to 12-hour radius, the focus is going to be on India and China,'' Fernandez said. A return flight on AirAsia X to the U.K. from Kuala Lumpur may cost as low as 9.99 ringgit ($2.9), according to the carrier in January.

 

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines Ltd., which became the first low- cost Asian carrier to fly to London last year, is selling one- way tickets to London from as little as HK$1,000 ($128), excluding taxes and surcharges, its Web site said. Oasis operates two Boeing 747-400s, each capable of carrying 359 passengers, according to the Web site.

 

Airbus, the world's biggest commercial plane maker, said on March 12 it plans to boost production on its A330/A340 line to nine aircraft a month in 2009 and is seeking approval for a rate of 10 a month by the end of that year.

 

To contact the reporters on this story: Soraya Permatasari in Kuala Lumpur at soraya@bloomberg.net ; Haslinda Amin in Singapore at hamin1@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: March 29, 2007 05:37 EDT

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Boeing's 777-200, which costs $195 million, can carry as many as 400 people.

 

Isn't this for the -300 ? :huh:

 

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Good news that they are starting earlier than expected! I was hoping for Boeing with better fuel burn, thou the so-call Malaysian analyst talk to Boeing, yea sure like B gonna give'em detail anyway.........there is hope for both manufacturers!

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