Air Asia Flying To Jeddah Starting 2010

17 November 2009

PUTRAJAYA-- Air Asia Bhd will be flying to Jeddah starting next year, said its Group Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes at the Youth Engagement Summit 2009 (YES 2009) held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) Tuesday.

According to Fernandes, the low-cost carrier was now in the midst of waiting for approval from the Saudi government to start its operations for the route.

"The Saudi government has been very kind and I am pretty sure that everything will take place by next year," said Fernandes during the summit's economy roundtable session.

--BERNAMA

New LCCT To Be Ready By End Of 2011

17 November 2009

KUALA LUMPUR-- The building of a new Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) will be completed by the end of 2011 although its construction faced some delay, said Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri.

This was established at a weekly meeting between the project's management consultant and the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) on Nov 10, he said when replying to a supplementary question by Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (BN-Pasir Salak) in the Dewan Rakyat here Tuesday.

"The project's progress should be 15.5 per cent but right now it is 13.5 per cent. Based on the current status the delay is two per cent or 18 days," he said.

The delay was caused by the delay in approval by the Finance Ministry for certain packages besides delay in design and procurement for the control tower, said, Abdul Rahim.

In that regard, he said the ministry will monitor the progress of the project which was now in the design preparation stage.

When answering the original question by Datuk Ab Halim Ab Rahman (PAS-Pengkalan Chepa) as to whether the number of AirAsia passengers would be between 10 and 15 million by 2015 as well as the government's action to build or expand the LCCT, he said the new LCCT could handle up to 30 million passengers a year.

The government agreed to the project after we found the number of AirAsia passengers was rising and we estimated it can reach up to 15 million by 2015," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Lotus feel weight of famous name

17 November 2009

The bosses of the new Lotus Formula 1 team admit they are feeling the pressure to succeed that comes from bearing such a famous name.

The Lotus brand, now owned by Malaysian car company Proton, is returning to F1 for the first time since 1994, when the team collapsed for financial reasons.

Design boss Mike Gascoyne said: "There is a pressure to perform and you feel it. Group Lotus want us to perform.

"But I think we will because of the quality of people we're attracting."

The brand won seven world drivers' titles in its former incarnation of Team Lotus before going out of business in 1994, and Gascoyne said the heritage of the name was creating great interest in the new team, which is backed by a consortium of Malaysian businesses.

Team boss Tony Fernandes, founder of the low-budget airline Air Asia, said he was determined to live up to the responsibilities that come with bearing such a famous name.

"We are very wary of the historic heritage and we want to support that," he said.

"It is a very special heritage. Even the choice of the colour [of the car] is going to evoke enormous debate. We are trying to make sure we keep that heritage from a marketing and branding aspect."

And Gascoyne believes the drive to cut costs in F1, and the pull-out of car manufacturers Honda, BMW and Toyota, is bringing the sport back closer to the way it was when Lotus were successful in the 1960s and '70s.

"F1 has changed over the last few years and is changing to reduce costs," said Gascoyne, who has carved a strong reputation in F1 as technical boss of the Renault, Toyota, Jordan and Force India teams.

"Really over the last 10 years it had become a spending competition.

"Lotus and [founder] Colin Chapman were about engineering innovation. I think it is the right moment for Lotus to be coming back because hopefully that's the way F1 is going to go.

"Small teams, being innovative and good engineering, is really my background, that's what excites me about coming back to F1 with a new team, and that is how we want to work."

We won't be at the front realistically, but we have a great platform to build on Tony Fernandes Lotus F1 team principal

The Lotus car company has no stake in the team, but it has given them permission to use the name - and, further emphasising the links with the past, the Chapman family has provided some historic cars to display in the factory in Norfolk.

The team is located not far from Lotus Cars' UK headquarters and the original base of Team Lotus.

Lotus were only given an entry in September, and there is a distinct last-minute feel about the base.

The small, ageing industrial unit on the edge of the village of Hingham - formerly the base of the TOM'S Toyota Formula Three team and the Bentley Le Mans programme - is an incongruous setting for a 21st century F1 team.

The entrance is still a distinctly old-fashioned self-locking revolving door, operated by a manual switch behind the reception desk. And there was wet paint on the floors when BBC Sport visited last week.

It is a long way from the state-of-the-art factories of teams such as McLaren and Renault, but it is only a small part of the Lotus F1 structure.

There is also a design office in Cologne in Germany, the aerodynamics are being done by a company in Bologna in Italy and the team are setting up a new headquarters at the Malaysian Grand Prix circuit outside Kuala Lumpur.

Lotus's new car has undergone wind-tunnel testing in Italy

Eventually, the entire operation will be based in Malaysia, with a satellite base in the UK for logistical and technical reasons - that is where much of the F1 industry is based.

And while Gascoyne and Fernandes are aware of the ad hoc nature of their set-up, there is no mistaking the seriousness of their venture.

Fernandes says: "We are coming from where there wasn't a team, so that is a victory already - the fact that Lotus is back on the grid.

"Of course we'd like to be winning, but we have to be realistic - that's not going to happen.

"Lotus had their highs and towards the end some lows, and then disappearing.

"We won't be at the front realistically, but we have a great platform to build on, we have a great brand and a name, and we're saying to the fans: hang in there, ride with us and enjoy the revival, because there is nothing like being an underdog and rising up.

"I don't feel a lot of pressure, to be honest. I'm thrilled we're be on the grid - thrilled we'll see a Lotus car and we're involved in it and hopefully that will evoke Lotus road cars to come back into fashion in a big way."

"I hope we'll go from strength to strength, but nobody should think we'll be challenging McLaren or Ferrari in Bahrain - but we will. We're in it to win, but it will take time."

Gascoyne added: "We have set a clear target of being the best of the new teams on the grid, and I think we should be able to do that. We want to be going into Q2 in Bahrain. We'll have to beat one or two of the other [established] teams to do that, but that's where I want to be from day one.

By Andrew Benson

Thai AirAsia – Siam Ocean World released Brown-Banded Catshark to the sea in Phuket

16 November 2009

Thai AirAsia together with Siam Ocean World, yesterday organised a “Brown-Banded Catshark Release”. An event took place at Panwa Cape, Phuket by the the support of Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC). Two Thai stars, Chatayodom Hiranyatsathiti (Chai) and Cherman Boonyasak (Ploy) were special guest that could draw many attention from the press.

Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia said 5 three year-old Brown-Banded Catshark were released back into the sea. The event is the beginning for people to create conscious awareness about peace and the environment just like Thai AirAsia who started with only 2 airplanes providing service from Bangkok to Chaing Mai and to Phuket.

Thai AirAsia is now most welcome by the passengers who seeking for an acceptional low-cost airline.

November 15th is also a special occasion for passengers since Thai AirAsia decided to make Phuket its second hub launching total 8 routes direct flight daily from Phuket to Bangkok, Chiangmai, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta and Medan.

AirAsia sets record with 900,000 seats sold in 48 hours

14 November 2009

PETALING JAYA: Local low-cost carrier AsiaAsia has recorded a new international sales record with 402,222 seats snapped up in 24 hours after the launch of its “one million free seats” campaign on Nov 11.

The airline said another 489,000 seats were taken up on the second day.

AirAsia group deputy chief executive officer Datuk Kamarudin Meranun lauded the achievement.

“This is amazing news. We are blazing new trails, and our brand has gone global,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Regional commercial head Kathleen Tan said AirAsia’s website had registered over 300 million hits in the first 11 hours of the campaign alone.

“The success of the campaign is attributed to the power of our blog and social network platform with over 100,000 Facebook followers and more than 10,000 Twitter followers,” she said.

Tan said the overwhelming response confirmed its belief that consumers were both online savvy and embracing AirAsia’s low-fare revolution.

She also said the expanding route network and the frequency of flights allowed the guests to plan their itinerary to hop around Asean in particular, but also around Asia, Australia and Europe.

Malacca airport to offer incentives to carriers

12 November 2009

MALACCA: The Transport Ministry has agreed to provide the Malacca International Airport several incentives to help spur its usage by air carriers.

This includes considering granting AirAsia rights to six destinations in Indonesia.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the state hoped to see several low-cost carriers establish operations at the airport which would be officially opened by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Jan 15 next year.

Mohd Ali said he received a letter from Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on Thursday.

“He (Ong) said the airport will enjoy benefits under the Government’s incentives schemes to promote tourism in Malaysia,” he told reporters during a break at the State Legislative Assembly here Thursday.

This include a RM25 incentive for each incoming passenger for the first 12 months for new airlines flying to new routes or increasing flight frequency.

Another benefit is the RM10 to RM15 incentive for each incoming passenger after the period, depending on the performances of the air carriers.

Also included is a deferment of landing charges for three years and six-month rent-free office space for those setting up operations at the airport.

He also said the ministry would also consider AirAsia’s request to fly to six destinations in Indonesia once the governments of both countries concluded their air rights agreement.

Among the destinations AirAsia is looking at are Jakarta, Padang, Palembang, Pekan Baru, Medan and Denpasar.

Mohd Ali said Malaysia Airlines, its subsidiary Firefly and low-cost carriers from Indonesia and the Philippines had indicated interest in using the airport here.

Airasia X Begins Daily Direct Flight To Cochin Thursday

12 November 2009

KUALA LUMPUR-- AirAsia X on Thursday began daily direct flights to Cochin, the commercial capital of Kerala, following successful expansion to the South Indian city of Trichy last year, said Chief Executive Officer Azran Osman-Rani.

He said the low cost long-haul airline affiliate of AirAsia will also start flying to Trivandrum and Kolkata next week.

"We expect strong demand from customers, especially business travellers," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Third Kuala Lumpur International Trade Forum here Thursday, an event concurrently held with Intrade Malaysia.

He also confirmed AirAsia X's inaugural flight to Abu Dhabi was on Nov 23.

Azran said AirAsia X's business operations were on track despite the current global economic downturn which has affected many airlines' profit margin.

"We hope to register good financial performance this year and continue our route expansion programme," he added.

The AirAsia Group achieved RM288 million operating profit in the first half of this year, accounting for five times higher than the same period last year.

It also recorded 24 per cent passenger growth year-on-year.