Friday, November 7, 2008

UK welcomes Malaysians

2008/11/06

KUALA LUMPUR: Genuine travellers from Malaysia are as welcome in Britain as they have always been.

This was the message from British High Commissioner Boyd McCleary in response to the media coverage of changes to the United Kingdom's visa arrangements.

He said Malaysia "is not being singled out" in the global changes to its visa application process.

"There is, for now at least, no general visa requirement for Malaysians. Malaysian visitors enjoy a six-month visa. Only those who plan to stay longer than six months to work or study require a visa," he said in a statement yesterday.

He also listed some of the changes in the way the British authorities manage its visa regime.
The UK is introducing a Points Based System for assessing visa applications similar to the system used by Australia. It will be introduced in stages. It is expected to simplify procedures by consolidating the 80 current routes for entry into the UK into just five main tiers, which does not mean that more people will require visas.

"Foreign nationals seeking to study, work or settle in the UK will still need to apply for a visa, as they currently do, but should find that the application process is more straightforward."

He said he UK was addressing the problem of illegal migration to the country.

"This separate process is called the Visa Waiver Test. We are working closely with the Malaysian authorities and are receiving excellent cooperation. A decision will be made on the outcome of this process early next year."

Source: NST

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Call home from MAS flights

Wednesday November 5, 2008
PETALING JAYA: Passengers travelling on certain Malaysia Airlines flight will be able to use their mobile phones and Blackberry devices effective immediately.

MAS has teamed up with AeroMobile, the world’s leading in-flight mobile phone operator, to become the first carrier in Asia to offer inflight mobile phone and data services.

The lightweight system was installed on one MAS Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

That aircraft will operate the route to Tokyo’s Narita Airport as flight MH70 today and passengers on board will be able to use the service.

The service will cover selected European routes, Australia, and across the Asian region including China and Japan.

The facility has been extensively tested on the aircraft over the last few weeks, testing all aspects of the system inflight using stan–dard BlackBerrys and mobile phones.

Passengers can only use their mobile phones or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) during the “cruise” phase of the flight and would not affect the aircraft systems and ground telecommunication networks.

AeroMobile supports the general packet radio service (GPRS) mobile data to support BlackBerry and other “push e-mail” services including e-mail attachments, as well as voice calls and SMS.

All four Malaysian mobile operators have agreed to allow their customers to roam internationally on board the aircraft and users would be billed on their regular phone bills as with any other international roaming call.

The GPRS data feature exploits AeroMobile’s unique capability to operate BlackBerry and other e-mail services using Inmarsat’s Swift64 satellite system, which has been added to the trial B777 aircraft.

The aircraft was equipped with the system during a routine maintenance check, and has received aviation safety approvals from both the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation and the European Aviation Safety Agency.

MAS managing director/CEO Datuk Seri Idris Jala said the service was part of its promise of a Five Star Value Carrier.

“The trial will be conducted for a period of time and if the evaluation findings are positive, we aim to have this facility fully operational in the remaining wide body aircraft of our fleet by next year,” he added.

SOurce: The Star

Fly direct to Koh Samui from KL

2008/11/05

KUALA LUMPUR: Now you can fly direct from Subang airport to Koh Samui on Firefly's new route for only RM180.

Firefly, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, is flying direct from Subang airport to the Thai island four times a week.

The service was launched recently with an inaugural flight by the airline's new ATR72-500 turboprop aircraft.

Firefly head of communications and marketing Angelina Fernandez said: "We can now expect many first-time leisure travellers to Koh Samui from KL, now that we are connecting the capital of Malaysia directly through this route.

"More people will be able to experience what Koh Samui has to offer. We are also honoured to be able to encourage the people of Thailand to visit KL and Malaysia."

She said this new route would enable expatriates living in Malaysia to do their "visa runs" and at the same time take the opportunity to explore Malaysia via the new route.

"We expect Koh Samui to be one of our top Thailand destinations and we are happy to provide the service, which is why we have holiday packages via Firefly Holidays," she said.

Firefly Holidays packages start from as low as RM180 per person to RM 2800 for a three day, two night stay.

Firefly Holidays also takes group bookings of ten people or more. The airline also customises packages to suit the needs of clients.

Source: NST

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

AirAsia-X’s new Airbus from Perth hits a glitch

Tuesday November 4, 2008
By ROYCE CHEAH
SEPANG: The anticipated tour of AirAsia-X’s new Airbus A330 ended up as a computer slide show after the plane failed to touch down on schedule here due to a delay in its departure from Perth.

AirAsia-X chief executive officer, Azran Osman-Rani told the media, guests and AirAsia staff waiting at the low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) here yesterday that the plane was delayed in the interests of safety.

The plane was to have touched down at the LCCT at 1pm but it only arrived hours later.

“Warning lights for a certain component lit up as the plane was flying here from Perth. The pilot then decided to return to Perth.

“Back there, the onboard computer system was restarted and everything was rechecked. This took six hours, including getting a new time slot to depart,” Azran said.

In an e-mail sent to The Star, a passenger claimed the plane had encountered hydraulic problems.

Asked if he was disappointed with the performance of the first Airbus A330 that AirAsia-X had acquired, Azran said such delays did not necessarily impact the ability of the plane to fly.

“We must test everything. Even if it is going to take three, six or 24 hours, I would not risk it for the safety of the passengers,” he said.

Azran said affected passengers, both from Kuala Lumpur and Perth, were provided with the necessary assistance such as replacement flights and hotel stays.

AirAsia-X had taken delivery of its first A330 on Friday in Toulouse, France. The delivery of the second A330 is expected in mid-December.

Yesterday was AirAsia-X’s first anniversary of commercial service.

SOurce: The Star

Betting on Singapore visitors

2008/11/04

MALACCA: It is going to be "an eye for an eye" for Malacca soon.

When the Eye On Malaysia here officially opens for business on Saturday at the Sungai Melaka rivermouth, the people behind this project along with the state government will be keeping a close eye on Singapore.

They rationalise that it is the Singaporeans who are going to take the Eye on Malaysia here to greater heights.

The more Singaporeans make a beeline for the historical city, the more the state and the project's other stakeholders are going to earn in revenue.

Eye On Malaysia chief operating officer Adam Yong Abdullah said their biggest market would comprise Singaporeans and Malaysians, followed by Indonesians and other foreigners visiting the state.

"We understand that Singapore has the tallest Ferris wheel in the world and a ride costs about RM80 per person. It will set a family of five back at least RM400 and for that amount, they can get a better deal here."

Yong added that many Singaporeans loved "hanging out" here during the weekends and school holidays.

Other attractions planned include a Malaysian International Space Adventure exhibit, the Strange World Screen (the world's largest water screen), two world-class restaurants -- the Eye Cafe and The Eye Seafood Restaurant -- and an entertainment park.

For the first year, Yong said 700,000 visitors were expected. "We would be happy with this figure, but the timing of the opening of the Eye is also important, as it is during the end of the year.

"For those in the tourism industry, the year-end school holiday period is the busiest time."

The Ferris wheel will be run by Eye On Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between MST AD Suria and Kumpulan Melaka Bhd, the investment arm of the state government.

The investment here costs some RM50 million, including the RM6 million spent to buy the land on which the entertainment park site will be built.

Source: NST

Free ride on Eye on Malaysia ferris wheel in Malacca

2008/11/04

MALACCA: Free rides are in store for all with the launch of Eye on Malaysia Malacca on Saturday by Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob.

Standing 60m tall, the Eye will give riders a view of the World Heritage City of Malacca on one side and the Straits of Malacca on the other.

The Eye, which was moved from Kuala Lumpur's Taman Tasik Titiwangsa, has now found its permanent home at the Sungai Melaka rivermouth.

The free rides will begin after the launching ceremony at 9.45pm. The offer will end at 11.30pm and will be conducted on a first-come first-served basis.

Singer Ning Baizura is slated to perform at the launch.

Source: NST

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Airasia X Plans Destinations In Europe And India For Airbus A330

November 03, 2008 20:31 PM

SEPANG, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- AirAsia X, the long-haul affiliate of low-cost airline AirAsia Bhd, plans to expand its destinations to Europe, including the United Kingdom, by March next year and also fly to 10 cities in India in the next five years.

These routes would be served by the new Airbus A330 aircraft that the carrier had ordered, said chief executive officer Azran Osman Rani.

AirAsia X has received its first 25 new Airbus A330 last Saturday, and more are scheduled to arrive from end of this year until 2013.

"There is an opportunity now to accelerate on the orders because some airlines are deferring their orders for financing reasons. If we can get the aircraft sooner, we can open up more routes faster," he told reporters after celebrating the airline's first anniversary at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal here, Monday.

Azran said the airline aimed to cover destinations which are more than four hours in flight duration from Kuala Lumpur, completing the existing AirAsia network.

The 25 new Airbus A330 aircraft ordered by AirAsia X together with AirAsia Bhd's order of 175 aircraft were estimated at a value of about US$6.6 billion.

According to Azran, AirAsia X is confident that it will be able to source the fund to finance the order given its positive cashflow.

"We have already generate positive cashflow since April this year and this is the reason why we managed to convince the finance institution," he said.

The airline, he added, had clinched the deal to finance the first few planes and would talk with banks, both local and foreign, for the other aircraft.

In conjunction with AirAsia Xs first anniversary, the airline will be giving away free seats to all its destination, including the Gold Goast, Perth and Melbourne in Australia and Hangzhou in China.

Launched in January 2007, the company currently flies four times weekly to the Gold Coast, six times weekly to Perth and five times weekly to Hangzhou.

Source: BERNAMA

Monday, November 3, 2008

1.1 Million Thais Visited Malaysia In First Nine Months Of The Year

November 03, 2008 15:35 PM

By D. Arul Rajoo

BANGKOK, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- There was only a slight dip in the number of Thai tourist arrivals in Malaysia in the first nine months of the year, despite the increase in travel cost, high oil price, economic slowdown and political crisis in the Kingdom.

Iskandar Mirza Mohd Yusof, Tourism Malaysia's senior deputy director (research and industrial division), said about 1.1 million Thais visited the country between January and September, as compared to 1.14 million during the same period last year.

"It was a slight decrease and was basically due to the high oil price which affected world travelling, and the political situation in Thailand.

"But this is minimal and we hope to target more Thai tourists, with more promotional programmes being undertaken now," he said after leading a delegation to participate in the 14th Discovery Thailand and Discovery World expo here.

He said Malaysia, which received 20.97 million visitors from throughout the world last year, with tourist receipts of RM46.1 billion, saw a 14.1 per cent decrease in Thai arrivals from 1.89 million to 1.62 million last year.

Thailand remained the third biggest market for Malaysia as Singapore again topped the ranking in the first nine months of this year, with 8.1 million visitors, followed by Indonesia's 1.7 million.

Iskandar, who was accompanied by Tourism Malaysia for Thailand director Sani Sham Ahmad, tourism officials from Perak, Selangor, Penang, Melaka and Langkawi, as well as travel agencies, also met representatives from Thai travel associations, tour agencies and the media during his visit.

He said a survey undertaken by Tourism Malaysia showed that Thai tourists preferred sight-seeing, visiting cultural and heritage sites, shopping and soft adventure activities like trekking in places such as Taman Negara.

"During the expo, we highlighted more attractions in Langkawi, Perak, Selangor and Penang, as these are states which have high impact on Thai tourists and can be easily accessed by road and flights.

"We have special packages and products catered for Thais," he added.

Other key segments promoted in Thailand include MICE and special interest promotions like education or possibly exclusive services that cater for the high-end and niche market, said Iskandar.

"Unique experiences like the cable car in Langkawi are popular among Thais. But we realise that the lack of direct flights is hampering our promotion of Langkawi, especially after Thai AirAsia cancelled its flight there...but we are looking at charter flights," he said.

Source: BERNAMA

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Airasia X Flying From Kota Kinabalu?

November 01, 2008 22:27 PM

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 1 (Bernama) -- In future, Sabah may see AirAsia X, the long-haul franchise of AirAsia, commencing its service from the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), according to an AirAsia top official.

AirAsia Bhd chairman Datuk Aziz Bakar has not denied this possibility but declined to elaborate on those destinations they were eyeing.

While not specifying the time period to achieve this, he said: "I am sure AirAsia X will look into it.

"But right now, the airline probably does not have sufficient aircrafts (to accomodate the flights)," he told reporters at the launch of the Kota Kinabalu-Singapore route at Terminal 2 of KKIA here Saturday.

Aziz was asked if the airline was interested in introducing long-haul services from KKIA, such as Australian destinations. AirAsia X's inaugural flight was on Nov 2, last year to Gold Coast, Australia.

The airline currently operates with just one A330-300, which undertakes four return flights a week between Kuala Lumpur and Gold Coast, as well as China's Guangzhou.

The long-haul budget airline is 48 per cent owned by Aero Ventures (a venture of AirAsia's chief executive Datuk Tony Fernandes and several of his business associates), followed by 16 per cent by Virgin Group and 16 per cent owned by AirAsia.

AirAsia X has also secured rights to land in China, Korea and West Asia and future destinations, include those in India, the Middle East and Europe.

AirAsia X is expected to launch its second Australian destination which is Perth Airport tomorrow, with six flights a week between the two cities, and services to Melbourne expected from Nov 12.

It is also expected to fly to Britain in the first quarter of 2009.

Source: BERNAMA