Leong Chuo Sheng

Nope, you need to refer here: https://www.malaysiaairlines.com/my/en/enrich/news-promotions/update_of_baggage_allowance/update_of_baggage_allowance.html

Can confirm this. Called MH as well as endured a 2-day Twitter exchange which confirmed that oneworld status pax will get the same as Enrich members on Economy Lite.

For those who are curious, those who hold oneworld Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald on other airlines (i.e. BA, IB, QF, CX, etc.) are also entitled to the same free checked baggage allowance for Enrich Silver, Gold and Platinum on Economy Lite fares. Therefore, a person holding BA Gold (oneworld Emerald, equivalent to Enrich Platinum) will get 15kg on Economy Lite.

Special charter flight to repatriate human remains from WWII currently interred at Butterworth. The aircraft will fly to SIN on its way back to AKL tomorrow. Would love to post a photo of the B789 landing but it appears we don't host Photobucket anymore on this forum?

Average airfares to continue dropping KUALA LUMPUR: Average airfares will continue to drop amid competitive pressure despite higher passenger traffic volumes and increasing capacities and destinations. Revenue growth, however, is expected to remain flat this year. The rise in passenger traffic is also causing congestion at seven airports in the country, and significant capital expenditure is needed to redesign or add capacity at these airports to cater to the growing demand for air travel. The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) is also reviewing the passenger service charge (PSC) for international traffic at KL International Airport 2 (KLIA2), as it believes that it should match KLIA and other airports in the country. The current PSC for international travel at KLIA and other airports in the country is RM70 as opposed to KLIA2’s RM50. “The PSC beyond Asean is lower than KLIA and other airports ... air travellers are subsidising the PSC at KLIA2. “This is unfair and inequitable and that is why we are looking to equalise it,” said Mavcom chief operating officer Azmir Zain after launching the first industry report known as “Waypoint”. However, any matching would only take place in January 2018, he added. Azmir said the commission would look into automatic refunds of PSC for ticket cancellations or a no-show for flights to save consumers the hassle of requesting the same from airlines. Malindo Air is the only airline that automatically refunds the PSC to passengers now. On airfares, Azmir said: “Our expectation is that airfares will continue to decrease even though there is capacity growth. “We have seen signs and indicators that the ASK (average seat per kilometre) will increase and average fares will continue to tumble ... we would expect total revenues of the industry to be flattish.” Mavcom said Malaysia’s air passenger traffic market grew 10.4% from January to July this year, and for the full year, it expected a growth of 7.8%-8.8%, or between 98.3 million and 99.2 million passengers. He said Malaysia is the third-largest market in air traffic and the third-most connected in Asean after Thailand and Singapore. “The capacity increase coincided with the period of decreasing average fares, whereby those for domestic and international routes decreased by 5.9% and 8% per annum, respectively. “This contributed to local carriers’ overall reporting negative spreads between revenue per available seat kilometre and cost per available seat kilometre from 2010 to 2016.” It said that this year, local carriers are expected to add 14.3% new capacity or 17 new aircraft in terms of ASK. Since 2000, the local airline fleet size has grown from 177 to 278 aircraft. The contribution from the aviation industry towards the economy from 2010 to 2015 was RM5.1bil. On infrastructure spending, Azmir could not say how much is needed, as it comes under the purview of the government. However, the Mavcom report said spending is needed for key airports at Penang, Subang, Langkawi, Kota Baru, Miri, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. Asked if Mavcom would be raising landing and parking charges for airlines, he said a study is being conducted. He added that Mavcom is looking to impose penalties for service level quality and a review is in the works. Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2017/08/16/average-airfares-to-continue-dropping/#5seaxGzaTFKO6SKb.99 The Mavcom report is available here: http://www.mavcom.my/en/2017/08/15/malaysia-boasts-third-largest-aviation-passenger-market-asean/

So, if I read this correctly: 1. Redeem most, if not all your Enrich points by 10 June; and 2. Switch over to another oneworld FFP, such as BA (if you can fulfill own-metal requirement), or to AA (no own-metal requirement) Are other oneworld FFPs in this region worth considering, such as QF, CX or JL? I am more concerned about attaining status that using points for redemption at the moment, and I have a one-off long haul return trip with BA to LHR & GVA in I & J class this year. Other than that, it would be the usual domestic runs in Y to East Malaysia. In the long-run though, would I be better off on AA?

I may be going a bit bonkers, but when I was a kid I used to receive these old white plastic MAS 747 models which you had to build yourself. After you were done you could put the stickers for the MAS livery...came with wheels too I guess this was way before snap fit models became normal. Seemed to have about 5 or 6 at one point, always when my parents came back on MH from Subang.

DCA is supposed to be corporatised to become Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM). They will need their own revenue streams for the future.

The shopping mall argument is a red herring to the overall situation. I stand by what I said, that a shopping mall is not integral to an airport terminal's everyday operations. Shopping mall rental income at klia2 would enter MAHB's profit and loss statements, and not directly into klia2's operating income / budget as it is a group revenue stream. It would not be under 'core operating income' - it would be something like 'supplemental / ancillary income' as shopping mall rental is not MAHB's core operating business. Again, the argument MUST be split into a passenger and a visitor / shopper parts. One will use all the facilities, one will not. The problem is, and will continue to be (unless something is done): Airline A at klia2 pays RM 32 / RM 6 for PSC Airline M at KLIA-MTB pays RM 65 / RM 9 soon to become RM 71 / RM 10 for PSC With klia2, the facilities and customer service standards will be at least similar or better than at KLIA-MTB. Airlines at KLIA-MTB are essentially unable to move to klia2 as MAHB does not give preference to them. Thus they will be stuck with at least RM 33 - 39 or RM 3 - 4 price disadvantage just because they are at different terminals at KUL. And that is why IATA is making this call. An example of what IATA wants is Changi-style: all terminals at Changi are levied the exact same price for PSC, regardless of airline business model. Thus the playing field is level and fair to all airlines at SIN.

Dear flee, The passenger may or may not shop at the numerous retail outlets MAHB has forced upon them when they depart/arrive. The portion of that revenue is not related in any way to the operations of an airport terminal. What MAHB earns is rental of facilities / space to the retailer / tenant. An airport terminal can fully function without a shopping mall Passengers nowadays may check-in online, which also may eliminate the need to physically check-in at the counter. Also, even at KLIA-MTB you still have to navigate the gamut of numerous retail outlets, especially so at the Satelite Building. You said that the biggest improvement is that there is a lot more space airside - however this contradicts your sentence earlier about crowds and confusion (even that, will dissipate over time as passengers familiarise themselves to the terminal's layout). You must split this argument into a fare paying passenger versus a casual visitor / shopper. One will use all the facilities which klia2 offers, whilst the other will not (shoppers and visitors will not be using aerobridges, security checks, etc.). That is what PSC stands for - Passenger Service Charge aka Airport Tax. The crux of IATA's argument is this - that a certain airline will be paying less PSC versus another at KLIA-MTB. Coupled with MAHB's proposal to increase PSC at KLIA-MTB further is tantamount to cross-subsidization by having them pay for the shortfall in which, MAHB got themselves into with a certain airline which will be using klia2. IATA is not agreeable to have airlines to continuously have a pricing advantage against others at KLIA-MTB simply because of an airline operating at different terminals at KUL.

The (soon to be defunct) LCCT's charges are justified with the lack of facilities and service standards versus KLIA-MTB. However, as MAHB stated, "klia2 is not a low-cost terminal, it is a low cost airline's terminal". Those who have seen klia2 can clearly observe the huge leap in improvements of terminal facilities and service standards versus the current LCCT and even to an extent, KLIA-MTB. IATA's position is reasonable. Carriers using KLIA-MTB should not be cross-subsidizing those who are using klia2. If MAHB agreed to have a certain airline pay a certain amount of PSC at klia2 and thus created a RM 70 million shortfall for themselves, it is their own fault. If the current PSC disparity continues, those at klia2 will continue to have a price advantage versus the carriers at KLIA-MTB. And it seems that the price advantage will increase with the increment of PSC at KLIA-MTB to RM 71 / RM 10. Thus the playing field will not be level for all at KUL, and that is the crux of IATA's argument. Why don't carriers move over from KLIA-MTB to klia2 then? Because MAHB said "all carriers are welcome to move operations to klia2, but preference will be given to low-cost carriers instead". Go figure what that means then

The photo in this article looks familiar...does it belong to anybody? http://www.gulf-times.com/opinion/189/details/381860/end-of-the-road-of-a-workhorse-and-blessing-for-an-old-timer The tree line, runway looks too familiar...

On my recent trip to HKT on QR, it was quite obvious that some of the crew were very stressed. Lots of frowny faces when serving pax and can observe dark circles under their eyes. If I recall, the crew would do DOH-KUL / KUL-HKT-KUL / KUL-DOH and restart from there. On the inbound to KUL, I did stop to chat a bit on the way out. Simple stories and jokes were enough to brighten their day, and I guess I made one happy enough to give me an amenity kit

Hi Uncle Pieter, Thanks It is still publicly accessible and there were plenty of tourists from neighbouring hotels. I was led away from being near the fence when the soldiers saw me. They were very friendly though, and with a bit of sign language made their positions on photo taking clear. *Pointing towards the open water/beach* - Photo OK! *Pointing towards the airport* - Photo no OK! After the RTAF A319 landed they all disappeared and I went back to shoot more departures. Heavy departure action... It's a dangerous game we spotters play all round the world One Transaero 744 out, another one comes in... More TG heavies...apron is getting crowded! A333 from ICN B77W from CPH And lastly, this SV B772ER came in. I suspect it was a diversion as SV don't fly here. That's all folks

Day 2: Bright and early. No cloud cover with max temperature of 33 C. On apron are 2x Thomson B763(W) from GOT & ARN and 1x B788 from LGW PG leased A320 to BKK For Waiping: UTAir B757-200ER (W) TG 201 from BKK on B744 Finnair A343 from HEL RTAF A319CJ. Security was tight with 2 platoons of army troops and 1 navy destroyer offshore because of this aircarft. Another Nordwind Airlines B763