Aviation.MY

Malaysia Airlines Possible Acquisition: Go or No-go?

In late 2019, Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) began to appear in Malaysian news headlines again. It was reported that the government has received several proposal with the aim of being a strategic partner to the ailing airline. The Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has reportedly said that all options need to be considered and some of the proposals is considered as “no-go”. The airline has been struggling to be profitable with years of transformation programme have yet to demonstrate significant success.

Focus Malaysia reported that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said the government has received 5 proposals. While the newspaper has named the first four of them as AirAsia Group Berhad (AAGB), Japan Airlines (JAL), Air France-KLM SA and Malindo Airways Sdn Bhd (Malindo). The fifth proposal has yet to be ascertained from the news reports.

Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL)

Japan Airlines is proposing an RM 1.12 bil of cash injection into Malaysia Airlines. In return, it will have a 25% stake in MAB. However, it was reported that the synergy will not be sufficient to cover losses incurred by MAB.

AirAsia Group

Focus Malaysia reported that AAGB estimates synergies of RM 1.4 bil per year. Besides, the synergy is also expected to solve industry’s overcapacity as well as enabling access to AirAsia’s digital and other aviation business.

There are several concerns on the merger or synergy. The first one is a possible monopoly, given the significance of market share both of them have for Malaysian domestic and Southeast Asia regional destinations. The second one is about the access to AirAsia’s digital and other aviation business. This part of AAGB is expected to bring in more revenues compared to the AirAsia airline business itself. Therefore, MAB may not have a bright future as far as profit is concerned.

Air France-KLM

Being a European carrier, the synergy is expected to bring in more benefits to the airlines in terms of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO).

Malaysia Airlines has been seeing itself in red for so many years already. IN 2014, it was taken private by Khazanah as part of a multi-year restructuring exercise by the Malaysian government.

Malindo Airways

Malindo offers a one-year “trial period” before the final decision on merger takes place. It hopes that the scale of economies will help both airlines save cost and earn a better revenue.

Go or No-go?

The first foreign CEO appointed during the restructuring exercise was Christoph Mueller, who then resigned before his contract tenure ends with Malaysia Airlines. The optimists may think that he will be successful in bringing the necessary changes to the airline. However, his premature resignation has led the skeptics into believing that he was not successful in turning around the company to profitability.

With MAB now is having a Malaysian as its CEO, we can only hope for the best for the airline. Perhaps it is the best time for everyone in the airline to think of what will be the best solution for the company to be profitable.

Sources

How JAL proposes to turn around Malaysia Airlines – Focus Malaysia

Roast Chicken With Cream Sauce – AirAsia In-flight Meal

AirAsia in-flight meals can be something to be looked forward to whenever you travel with the budget airline. It “empowers” you to choose your own meal (and of course you have to pay for it).

The pack comes in the usual red-coloured aluminium packaging. The net weight is 260g. Listed ingredients for Roast Chicken with Cream Sauce includes checken, potato, pumpkin, broccoli, carrot, fresh milk, whipped cream, flour, butter, onion, garlic, leek, salt, sugar, chicken powder, spices and herbs.

Allergen information: May contain wheat gluten, dairy, nut, soy, egg and seafood.

If you purchase the combo in advance via the AirAsia website or mobile app, a small container of Spritzer mineral water will be included together in the meal to you for free.

This is the view that you probably would want to see before you order the food. The portion is quite generous for an in-flight food. However, it is only sufficient if you are not looking forward to have a heavy meal due to the absence of rice in the set.

How Much is the AirAsia Wheelchair Charge?

Updated on 14 July 2019

Answer: If you look for the information on AirAsia wheelchair charge on search engines, most probably you will end up on this page. However, there is no external link specified in the page.

On September 29th 2017, AirAsia has published an article about wheelchair charges on the Support section of its website. The answer can be a bit complex and different

Steps to find the AirAsia wheelchair charge

Step 1: First, read about the airline’s types of special guests.

Step 2: Then, read another article about additional charges for passengers in wheelchairs.

Step 3: For the particular flight that requires a wheelchair service, choose its origin and destination and look at the charges on this page.

For example, you can find the wheelchair charge for flights between Kota Bharu (KBR) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) will cost you RM 63.60 if you pre-book the service or RM 127.20 if you book it at the counter. So, be smart and book early to lighten up the load on your wallet.

Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Kuching (KCH): The wheelchair service from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching is RM 63.60 (if you book early) or RM 127.20 (if you book at the counter). Therefore, if you are going to use the wheelchair service, please ensure that you book earlier to avoid the extra charge.

Note: This post is a follow-up post for the previous one, AirAsia Wheelchair Fee: Is It Still Relevant?

Revision Notes

Revision 2: 14 July 2019, edited some text and ensured information is updated
Revision 1: 30 October 2017, original information published.

Usage of aerobridge in Miri Airport

To my understanding, whenever possible, AirAsia will not use aerobridge for its flights. Nevertheless, the airline is forced to use aerobridge for its operation at KLIA2 terminal in Kuala Lumpur.

During my recent trip to Miri, I discovered that AirAsia uses aerobridge for both inbound and outbound flights. Probably because of a construction job taking place nearby.

Najib and Wife Trying to Flee the Country?

KUALA LUMPUR, 12 MAY 2018: Astro Awani news portal has reported that an Indonesian-registered private aircraft is scheduled to land at Subang Skypark Terminal (SZB) tomorrow (12 May 2018) at 6:00am local time. The aircraft is scheduled to depart Subang Airport later at 10:00am. Awani cited an anonymous source saying the passengers include a former Malaysian leader with his wife.

A check on Lowyat.net, a popular forum site has also reported a similar news. A photo was also published on the portal, containing some information about a flight. While the details are similar to the one published on Awani, we are not able to independently confirm whether it is the same flight or not. Here is the information:

Please find below new schedule Legacy650/PKRJX to WMSA as follow
12 MAY 2018
WIHH – WMSA ETD.06:00LT — (repo and pic up pax)
WMSA – WIHH ETD.10:00LT
Passengers
Mr Najib Razak
Mrs Rosmah Mansor

The flight concerned is between WMSA and WIHH. WMSA is the ICAO code for Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport (SZB) located in Subang, Selangor while WIHH is the ICAO code for Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport (HLP), located in East Jakarta, Indonesia.

The aircraft, ERJ-135 is manufactured by Embraer. It has two engines and a VIP seating configuration. It was registered on 20 August 2016. Source: Planefinder.net

Update 1, 12:20 AM: Malaysiakini has reported that a source close to Najib said he is taking a two-day break beginning tomorrow and he will be back afterwards. The source also mentioned that there is nothing hideous about the flight.

With the enforcement of Anti Fake News Act 2018, we shall be more vigilant in reporting news. While we try our best to ensure the authenticity of our sources, we are not able to confirm its accuracy. Disclaimer and Terms and Conditions of this website applies.