Malaysians stuck in Thailand

Thursday November 27, 2008

BANGKOK: At around 10am yesterday, as she was getting ready to return home to Malaysia, Dr Mary Makanjang received an SMS from AirAsia.

The SMS read: “Urgent. AK681 flight to Johor Baru has been cancelled because Suvarnabhumi Airport has been closed due to riot.”

“I was shocked as the situation in Bangkok was ‘cool’, nothing (untoward) was happening,” said the gynaecologist who is based in Kota Kinabalu.

Not knowing whether to believe the SMS, she called AirAsia and the Malaysian Embassy but could not get through.

She then called her Thai tour guide who confirmed that the People’s Alliance for Democracy protesters had seized the airport on Tuesday night.

“I panicked as I didn’t know when we could go back to Malaysia,” said the 38-year-old Malaysian, who was in Bangkok on holiday with her husband and two children aged eight and 11.

Dr Makanjang was also worried about the extra cost that she and her husband would incur.

“I don’t know what will happen next. I’m so afraid that something will happen that I dare not wander out of the Pratunam area where my family and I are staying.”

When she finally managed to speak to an AirAsia official she was told that the airline had rescheduled her flight to Friday.

“But AirAsia cannot guarantee that we will be able to board that flight as they don’t know when the airport will reopen,” she added.

The Star’s marketing services manager Fong Ten Chee and his family were more fortunate as they managed to get on a flight back home in the nick of time.

Had his taxi been 10 minutes late he would have been trapped at the airport that was shut down by demonstrators, some of whom were carrying weapons.

“I was a little concerned,” said Fong, 58, who was travelling with his wife and child.
Fong was on the way to the airport when his taxi driver told him protesters were converging on the old Don Muang International Airport.

“A friend then called him to say the protesters were making their way to the new airport,” he said.

Fong, who had been on holiday from Friday, said when his taxi got near the airport, there was tension and chaos.

“Traffic was at a standstill for at least 5km from the airport. The four-lane highway was reduced to a single lane as the rest was taken up by protesters.

Despite the chaos, the Fongs got through immigration and on the flight home.

Source: The Star

Firefly stopover service a big hit

Friday November 14, 2008

By CHOI TUCK WO

LONDON: Firefly is tapping the international stopover market by offering its much-touted “low-fare and incredible value” offer for long-haul travellers.

More than 20 international travel firms have registered with the airline to act as agents to provide stopovers in Malaysia.

Marketing and communications head Angelina Fernandez said the stopovers could allow the passengers to take the airline’s direct connecting flights to other domestic destinations or to Thailand and Indonesia.

She said they were overwhelmed by the response from travel agents from countries such as Britain, the United States, Sweden, Germany, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and India.

“One agent from the Maldives even pledged to bring the first batch of travellers for stopovers in Subang and Penang next week,” she said at the four-day World Travel Market at Excel London which ends today.

Angelina said they had provided a new venue for travel agents who faced connecting problems domestically such as high costs, long travelling time and distance.

She also said agents were surprised with Firefly’s 20kg baggage allowance for domestic flights, compared with the usual 10kg or 15kg.

The airline also provided assigned seating and complimentary in-flight refreshments and snacks which were a welcome change for an airline offering low fares.

“We’re not a low-budget airline but we offer low fares at extremely incredible value.” Angelina said most agents requested for popular diving destinations such Redang, Perhentian, Penang, Bandar Aceh, Koh Samui, Phuket and Johor Baru.

She said they also offered competitive pricing where long-haul travellers could fly to any destination within Malaysia for as low as £10 (RM60).

From there, they could take connecting flights to Langkawi or Koh Samui for a few days, before flying to Terengganu or Medan

Source: The Star

No Fuel Surcharge, Thai AirAsia Hopes To Carry More Passengers

November 11, 2008 17:20 PM

By D. Arul Rajoo

BANGKOK, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- With the prolonged Thai political crisis and worldwide economic slowdown hampering its business, Thai AirAsia hopes that the abolishment of fuel surcharge would enable it to achieve its target of 4.7 million passengers this year and expand its routes to Bali, Guangzhou and two Indian cities in 2009.

Its chief executive officer, Tassapon Bijleveld, said the number of passengers would rise as the cost of flying would be cheaper without the fuel surcharge, which was introduced when the jet fuel went above US$80 (US$1=RM3.54) per barrel and reached almost US$150 few months ago.

"Since the oil price has come down to between US$65 and US$70, we are doing away with the fuel surcharge. With this, we hope the cabin load factor will rise to between 80 and 90 percent within two months," he told a press conference here Tuesday.

Tassapon said he was confident that Thai AirAsia, 49 percent owned by AirAsia Bhd, would be able to carry 5.2 million passengers in 2009 despite the projected recession worldwide and the domestic political crisis which has affected the tourism industry.

He said the airline, which carried 10 million passengers since it started operations four years ago, was on track to expand its route to Bali in Indonesia and China's Guangzhou in January, as well as adding two cities in India in the second half of 2009.

Starting today, AirAsia, its subsidaries in Thailand and Indonesia, and AirAsia X would abolish the fuel surcharge for all its international and domestic flights. In Thailand, the fuel surcharge is 550 baht (100 baht=RM9.39) for domestic sector and 700 baht for international routes.

AirAsia is also giving away 500,000 free seats, including 65,000 in Thailand, with travelling period between June 22 and Oct 24, 2009.

Asked if the no-fuel surcharge would be a permanent feature, Tassapon said it would depend on the world oil price.

He ruled out introducing net price in their advertisement as passengers would get the chance to get a lower fare if they book early, as well as adding other extras like express boarding, insurance and check-in baggage.

"Passengers need only pay the administration fees, airport tax and the fare. The rest are optional," said Tassapon, adding that without the fuel surcharge, the company's revenue would not be affected as more passengers were expected to fly, as well as income from onboard services such as food and drink.

Thai AirAsia currently flies domestic routes from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Hat Yai, Krabi, Narathiwat, Nakhorn Si Thammarat, Phuket, Surat Thani, Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani while overseas destinations includes Phnom Penh, Macau, Xiamen, Shenzen, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Baharu, Yangon, Singapore, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong.

-- BERNAMA

More AirAsia flights to Ho Chi Minh City

2008/09/30

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia has announced additional flights to Ho Chi Minh City from here and Bangkok.

The decision was in response to strong demand for air travel between Ho Chi Minh City and the Malaysian and Thai markets, AirAsia said.

Effective Oct 26, the frequency of flights from Kuala Lumpur will increase from seven to 11 weekly.

There will also be seven weekly flights from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City from the present four.

To celebrate the extra flights, AirAsia has introduced special fares.

It also announced extra flights from Kuala Lumpur to Bintulu (11 times weekly), Penang (six daily flights) and Bali (five daily flights).

It introduced a new destination, from Johor Baru to Bali, with three weekly flights.

For details, visit www.airasia.com or mobile.airasia. com.

Source: Bernama