SQ to cancel flights to LAX via TPE

[Andrew Ong 1]

There goes SQ27 (LAX-TPE-SIN) and SQ28 (SIN-TPE-LAX) I guess no more SIA 777s are coming to LAX as of Oct 2008

 

 

Edited March 29, 2008 by Andrew Ong

[Andrew Ong 1]

SQ 1 daily too (am I right?)

 

Actually,SQ operates 3 daily flight (now only 2 as of Oct 2008):

 

-SQ12 (SIN-NRT-LAX)

 

-SQ38 (SIN-LAX)

 

-SQ28 (SIN-TPE-LAX)

[Seth K 3]

There nth much MH can do here, having lunchtime departure to LAX and morning flight to KL under MH94/95 everyday is the best they could do there.

 

Isn't this what Jet Airways is planning to do? Use PVG for transpacific west coast flights, hubbing there like what they're currently doing with BRU in Europe for their East Coast ops, they're apparently planning to serve SFO, LAX, YVR from PVG.

It is very interesting to follow 9W progress. I'm not sure how they are doing with BRU hub, but hving PVG as their east hub is a brilliant idea(heard their BRU hub is not doing that well either). I was hoping a bit down under eg. TPE, HKG or BKK. DO know that 9W is not as cheap as I thought, their cheapest option exceed beyond others(SQ/MH). Australia? Finger cross for KUL hub, likely SIN going to win this due to mass connection between Asian cities and SIN.

Edited March 29, 2008 by Seth K

[Mohd. Helmi 0]

There nth much MH can do here, having lunchtime departure to LAX and morning flight to KL under MH94/95 everyday is the best they could do there.

It is very interesting to follow 9W progress. I'm not sure how they are doing with BRU hub, but hving PVG as their east hub is a brilliant idea(heard their BRU hub is not doing that well either). I was hoping a bit down under eg. TPE, HKG or BKK. DO know that 9W is not as cheap as I thought, their cheapest option exceed beyond others(SQ/MH). Australia? Finger cross for KUL hub, likely SIN going to win this due to mass connection between Asian cities and SIN.

]

 

Yeah, it is a brill idea. I think KUL has a running chance. BRU managed to get 9W and BRU like KUL are sandwiched between 2 very large airports, to the north and south. I'm sure other issues will be more important, like 5th freedom rights from Malaysia, govt. to govt. negotiations, MH would probably be lobbying the government to stop 9W, whining about competition. Also wasn't there a little contraversy sometime ago about Malaysia not letting AirIndia Express to fly to KUL, something along those lines?

 

[Izanee 0]

its shocking how MH and MAHB can shoot themselves in the foot. DXB, SIN, CAN, PVG and PEK are expanding year on year...KUL's growth is nowhere near them...

 

All i can say is...if MAS can screw up a cash cow like LHR or ZRH .... i'm not surprised about PVG. I have NO confidence in their abilities... sorry to say that but its true.

[kandiah k 0]

]

 

Yeah, it is a brill idea. I think KUL has a running chance. BRU managed to get 9W and BRU like KUL are sandwiched between 2 very large airports, to the north and south. I'm sure other issues will be more important, like 5th freedom rights from Malaysia, govt. to govt. negotiations, MH would probably be lobbying the government to stop 9W, whining about competition. Also wasn't there a little contraversy sometime ago about Malaysia not letting AirIndia Express to fly to KUL, something along those lines?

 

 

MH will probably do that and go on whinning about the competition like they always have been doing, as such we have lost out to SIN and SQ's benefit. Its a shame that the MoT keeps protecting MH while loosing KUL's potential of becoming an aviation hub in the region. We have lost many times and I think we will loose again with the rise of airports such as CGK, PVG and TPE. I am not surprised if BWN should take the lead in the region leaving KUL far behind. If 9W sees KUL as a potential, just like JQ and others alike, the Malaysian MoT should open it up instead of protecting the local airline which has been in a mess for a long time.

 

On SQ's reduction on their SIN-TPE-LAX vv route, and eventually terminated services, I am not surprised if its also due to the new service by EK on the DXB-LAX-DXB nonstop services. MH is bleeding already I assume or maybe they will simply start a new route to another AK destination to recuperate from the tragic news of EK's new non stop service ? Perhaps MH might start OOL or even Hangzhou ?

Edited March 31, 2008 by kandiah k

[Ryan Soh 3]

]

 

Yeah, it is a brill idea. I think KUL has a running chance. BRU managed to get 9W and BRU like KUL are sandwiched between 2 very large airports, to the north and south. I'm sure other issues will be more important, like 5th freedom rights from Malaysia, govt. to govt. negotiations, MH would probably be lobbying the government to stop 9W, whining about competition. Also wasn't there a little contraversy sometime ago about Malaysia not letting AirIndia Express to fly to KUL, something along those lines?

If you ask me, Singapore would be the logical choice over KLIA for the time being. Simply because currently 9W serves SIN from Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi; compared to only Chennai when KLIA is concerned.

 

This would allow 9W to set up a mini-hub in SIN like what Garuda, QANTAS and BA have done.

 

It has also been proven that the ASA's are greener over at Changi's side because SQ is not allowed to cry foul over the government's policies and thus, not influencing any decision to grant freedom flights to foreign based carriers.

[Mohd. Helmi 0]

If you ask me, Singapore would be the logical choice over KLIA for the time being. Simply because currently 9W serves SIN from Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi; compared to only Chennai when KLIA is concerned.

 

This would allow 9W to set up a mini-hub in SIN like what Garuda, QANTAS and BA have done.

 

It has also been proven that the ASA's are greener over at Changi's side because SQ is not allowed to cry foul over the government's policies and thus, not influencing any decision to grant freedom flights to foreign based carriers.

 

I totally agree. SIN, the airport, the government policies, it not only provides the logical choice, But I have a feeling will most likely get any sort of 9W mini hub base set up for Australian flights, I've noted the hurdles for KUL, if only we can get our act together, sayang lah.. KLIA i think has lots of potential. Anyways, Changi really works as a mini hub for so many other airlines. I know.. I've used QF there...

 

Hey ryan... atleast give us Malaysians something to hope for, we know the light doesn't shine very bright for KLIA to be a hub of any stature and size, we're realistic, who would really want to use KLIA as a minihub anyways? Jetstar?? I doubt it. But there is still hope... err... rather wishful thinking..

 

 

[Isaac 0]

If you ask me, Singapore would be the logical choice over KLIA for the time being. Simply because currently 9W serves SIN from Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi; compared to only Chennai when KLIA is concerned.

 

This would allow 9W to set up a mini-hub in SIN like what Garuda, QANTAS and BA have done.

 

It has also been proven that the ASA's are greener over at Changi's side because SQ is not allowed to cry foul over the government's policies and thus, not influencing any decision to grant freedom flights to foreign based carriers.

 

 

I totally agree. SIN, the airport, the government policies, it not only provides the logical choice, But I have a feeling will most likely get any sort of 9W mini hub base set up for Australian flights, I've noted the hurdles for KUL, if only we can get our act together, sayang lah.. KLIA i think has lots of potential. Anyways, Changi really works as a mini hub for so many other airlines. I know.. I've used QF there...

 

Hey ryan... atleast give us Malaysians something to hope for, we know the light doesn't shine very bright for KLIA to be a hub of any stature and size, we're realistic, who would really want to use KLIA as a minihub anyways? Jetstar?? I doubt it. But there is still hope... err... rather wishful thinking..

Yeah. SIN is definately a more promising market than KUL. Sad but that's the truth. EK have publicly saying how good they are doing in KUL but it certainly isn't as good as BKK and SIN because they have almost 3x daily flights into both of the cities respectively. Same with QR. I won't be surprised if 9W suddenly announce BKK or SIN as their mini-hub to Australia/New Zealand.

[KK Lee 5]

 

Many of MH management are arrogant, believe they know the business best. They won’t fill the gap left behind by other airlines especially SQ, it is unlikely they will capitalise on SQ withdrawal of TPE/LAX sector.

 

[Ryan Soh 3]

Hey ryan... atleast give us Malaysians something to hope for, we know the light doesn't shine very bright for KLIA to be a hub of any stature and size, we're realistic, who would really want to use KLIA as a minihub anyways? Jetstar?? I doubt it. But there is still hope... err... rather wishful thinking..

Hahahaha... Sorry, I didn't mean to rain on your parade. But that being said, KLIA is a fantastic airport, beautiful, HUGE but seriously under-utilised. I was (the operative word here) a very frequent flier with MAS right up till about 3 years ago. KLIA and the Golden Lounge was like a 2nd home to me and as far as I was concerned, that lounge was the lounge of lounges (grabted I have yet to visit CX's Wings in HKIA).

 

Even back then, I was glad I had the lounge to retreat to because God-forbid should I not be flying First Class, what was I to do at the airport?!

 

While the MAS cabin crew was out of this world, the ground staff left pretty much a very bitter taste in my mouth. I like to say you can take them out of Subang, but you can never take the Subang out of them. Laid back, nonchalant, uninterested - some of them even ironically wored a bright yellow badge that said "SERVICE WITH A SMILE".

 

I am not thumbing down the use of Malay here because I know it is the national language of our countries but when you start your conversation with it in an international environment like an airport, what happens if I do not understand it? I am Peranakan so I am conversationally capable and have at times heard things said about me which I found very rude. Case in point?...

 

I arrived on a shuttle flight and these were roughly the words that were exchanged at customs...

 

"Lu dari mana?"

"Singapura..."

"Mana bagasi?"

"Itu aja, tak ada lagi" I promptly show this lady my back pack...

Another of her colleagues walked by and asked here where I was from and she replied..

"Orang Singapore la, mana lagi?"

 

Thereafter she waved me off dismissively. I might be overly sensitive here but it left me wondering what was the premise for that "mana lagi" comment? This is just one of the many examples I have of the many "interesting" encounters with the ground staff of KLIA.

 

Many of MH management are arrogant, believe they know the business best. They won’t fill the gap left behind by other airlines especially SQ, it is unlikely they will capitalise on SQ withdrawal of TPE/LAX sector.

Little wonder why they kicked up a fuss when SQ started flying into KUL and PEN with their 777s. Not to mention the restrictive capacity limit they imposed on the ops to KUC and BKI.

 

Here is also a story I heard while I was with SQ so I don't know if it is true or not. The SQ manager in Penang was hauled up to KL to explain why was SQ marketing their nonstop flights to LHR in Malaysia. Some versions had the manager appearing in the Malaysian Transport Ministry speaking to the minister in charge. Somehow, this manager was smart enough to turn the tables around and say how could SQ compete with MAS' nonstop flights from KUL, whereas the former had a one-stop via SIN. So it was left as it is.

 

[Mohd. Helmi 0]

I arrived on a shuttle flight and these were roughly the words that were exchanged at customs...

 

"Lu dari mana?"

"Singapura..."

"Mana bagasi?"

"Itu aja, tak ada lagi" I promptly show this lady my back pack...

Another of her colleagues walked by and asked here where I was from and she replied..

"Orang Singapore la, mana lagi?"

 

Yikes... They started the conversation like that, I hope you've written to customs, newspapers, public services, KLIA, did you get their name? Anyways, thanks for sharing your Malaysian customs story. I've actually had a bitter experience in Singapore with immigration, when I used to live in SG. Long story short, I arrived from Sydney, and at immigration the malay immigration lady was giving me a treatment along the lines Malaysian customs gave you. These are the words we exchanged....

 

I said "Hello"

replied, "Where did you come from?"

"Sydney".

I put my passport on the counter.

she grabbed my passport to scan the biodata page,

She asked for the immigration card,

So I gave it to her, but then told her, I'm not transiting or visiting SG, told her that I live in SG.

Gave her my SG ID.

All this time she asked in English, and I reciprocated by replies in English.

Then she made a sly comment, about "cakaplah melayu, orang melayu dah tak boleh cakap melayu ke.. " once noticing I was Malay.

I really bit my tongue when she said this. Actually felt annoyed, stunned and suprised, didn't expect I'd get this in Singapore.

She then looked at her terminal then she realised that I had a Visa that allowed me to stay in Singapore, asked why I had given the immigration card to her, it wasn't needed in my case, she's keyed in the information wrongly, blaming me for her error. (hey.. she asked for the damn thing, I just filled out in case it was asked for)

 

It's a little different from your story.. What bugs me was that I was actually told off for not using Malay, I'd use Malay if she had started the conversation in Malay! Selamat datang ke Singapura indeed (do they still have the selamat datang signs + welcome in the other languages at Changi?)

 

A friend of mine had bad immigration story at LHR.

 

Immigration officer looks at my friends passport

"Krishnan, this doesn't seem like a Malaysian name"

My friend being the witty guy that he is points at the officers name badge and says

" Well Singh, doesn't sound very English to me".

hahaa...

replies sternly "don't you be cocky with me".

 

All these experiences pales in comparison to my highschool friend who really got harrased at JFK.. very very long story..

But the short end of it was that He's 20 something, His name Usama (a fairly typical Arab name I think) and He's Saudi, so those combinations probably gave the Americans the creeps.

 

Ahh... they joys of dealing with the civil service around the world.... There are bad apples everywhere, personally I've never had a bad experienced with the ground staff at KLIA, guess I've been lucky. Even those girls in that dress like flight attendants with those "may I help you" signs, we're all very polite, not to mention hot.

Edited April 1, 2008 by Mohd. Helmi

[Ryan Soh 3]

Hahahahahah good one...

 

Here's another story of mine. I flew up to KUL on another shuttle fliight on MAS First Class but the check in in SIN had forgotten to give me the Express Lane card. Lo and behold when I arrive, I think KLM also arrived at the same time with GF so you can imagine the sudden surge of crowd during the normally yawn-inducing afternoon at KLIA.

 

KLIA being KLIA, has probably 4 out of 400 counters manned during this surge so the lines grew very long expectedly. There were 2 Express Counters open. Not wanting to wait in line, I headed towards the orange and blue carpets and explained my situation to the pakcik that was sitting there. I even showed him my boarding pass to prove that I had arrived on an MH flight in First Class.

 

He actually had the audacity to raise his voice at me...

 

"KALAU TAK ADE KAD, TAK BOLEH PAKAI! PERGI!" and he shooed me off like a pariah...

 

Not wanting to back down, I left the counter and approached one of the officers on patrol and explained my predicament to him. Now he was nice enough and ushered me back to the very same counter of the pakcik that shooed me away earlier. So he looks at my passport and again gave me attitude...

 

"Awak orang Singapore..."

I kept quiet...

"Singapore ke KL kenapa nak naik First Class? Orang kaya ke?"

He stamped and forcibly slammed my passport on the counter and thumbed me towards baggage claim.

 

I was embarrassed and angry at the same time. I have learnt during my travels never ever to offend an immigration officer because they hold the key that allows you to enter the country you are travelling to. So I guess I chose to endure rather than snip back a witty retort and get my ass deported. My many experiences of such nature at KLIA leads me to think sometimes that my red passport is a curse up north that attracts these verbal whippings.

 

I am a nice guy, honestly...

[Seth K 3]

Lol, immigration officer also can influence the whole trip. I barely see the officer's face, I dun even talk to them, they do their job, I'll do mine.

[Yuh Loh 0]

This might be my last ride with SQ 777 from LAX.

 

Sat, May 17

Flights: SINGAPORE AIRLINES, SQ 0027

From: LOS ANGELES, CA (LAX) Departs: 12:55am

Sat, May 17

To: TAIPEI, TAIWAN (TPE) Arrives: 6:05am

Sun, May 18

Departure Terminal: TOM BRADLEY INTL TERM Duration: 14 hour(s) and 10 minute(s)

Arrival Terminal: TERMINAL 2 Class: Economy

Seat(s): Check-In Required Status: Confirmed

 

 

Sun, Jun 1

Flights: SINGAPORE AIRLINES, SQ 0028

From: TAIPEI, TAIWAN (TPE) Departs: 10:55pm

To: LOS ANGELES, CA (LAX) Arrives: 8:10pm

Departure Terminal: TERMINAL 2 Duration: 12 hour(s) and 15 minute(s)

Arrival Terminal: TOM BRADLEY INTL TERM Class: Economy

Seat(s): Check-In Required Status: Confirmed

 

[Keith T 2]

Suspension officially confirmed. Effective Oct 2008.

 

Will post release here when I find it.

 

I feel sad for my friend who flies this route quite regularly. He is going on NH or NH/SQ via NRT now (*A miles).

Edited April 3, 2008 by Keith T

[Ryan Soh 3]

The freed up 777-200ERs will be used to up frequencies around the region (Australia, NZ, Vietnam, China and India)