One of three incidents that happened at Kota Kinabalu Airport last yearFly me to the moon
And let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars
In other words hold my hand
In other words darling kiss me
Fill my life with song
And let me sing forevermore
You are all I hope for
All I worship and adore
In other words please be true
In other words I love you
Fill my life with song
And let me sing forevermore
You are all I hope for
All I worship and adore
In other words please be true
In other words I love you
Fly me to the moon
And let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars
In other words hold my hand
In other words darling kiss me
-- Johnny Mathis, Fly Me to the Moon (1954)
Read how interesting the comments made by Dato' Tony Fernandes during the launching of the SJER, where one of the newly established Tune Hotel is to be built.
When asked, the flamboyant Dato' jokingly said that hotel business is easier to run in Malaysia as there are no problems of oil and "national hotels".
Was he implying the major problem AirAsia is facing is the competitive disadvantage put to them in order for the Government to protect MAS? What utter rubbish!
Has he forgotten how fast the Government approved and subsequently built the temporary RM108 million Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) just to accommodate AirAsia and its sister company. A temporary terminal that costs RM100 million, wow!
And not even after 1 year, Malaysia Airport Berhad had already proposed for Government to build a permanent LCCT nearer to the Main terminal so that it can be easily connected via the ERL. What will happen to the current LCCT?
And how many LCC are there to use the newly proposed LCCT? Even Kota Kinabalu now has its own LCCT.
This is despite the KLIA main terminal being underutilized as previously stated by the former Minister of Transport.Ironically, the present Minister of Transport is very supportive of AirAsia and its business model. Look at how he stamped his approval for the proposed LCC long haul under Tony's FAX (read Bernama, Jan 4), even a day before FAX's own announcement to go global.
"Watch out, Singapore. A strong MAS and AirAsia will pool their strengths and pose a threat to SIA. We will give Singapore a run for its money," said AirAsia group CEO Datuk Tony Fernandes.Even Jeff Oii applauded his comment. That was on March 29, 2006 when MAS and AirAsia pledged to work together under the rationalization of the domestic air sector plan.
That was then, before the historic visit of Mr. Raymond Lim, Singapore Transport Minister. Read excerpt from Borneo Post, September 6, 2006:
"AirAsia has applied for the right to fly to Singapore recently," Fernandes told reporters after briefly meeting Singapore Transport Minister Raymond Lim,who is on a visit to Malaysia.
"The minister is very keen for us to fly in. They are impressed with how we have grown," he said, when asked about Singapore's response to the bid.
Lim, who earlier toured Malaysia's low-cost carrier terminal in Sepang, south of Kuala Lumpur, was heard issuing encouraging words to Fernandes. "We would very much like you to fly to Singapore," he told the AirAsia chief.
AirAsia RM9.99 promotionWell maybe believing that he is not the blue eye boy of Malaysian aviation, Tony is not at fault to build good rapport with personalities that seems close to Pak Lah like Dato' Kalimullah, being co-owner of Tune Hotels. No coincidence that he also regularly plays futsal with ManU buddy, Khairy Jamaluddin. After all, what are friends for?
And what happens to giving Singapore Airlines a run for its money?
Contributed by Taming Sari of MyKMU
you are sharp, one voice, very sharp. see how far the relationship goes. another chapter is to unfold, believe me. and that reinforce how sharp you are.
ReplyDeletebest wishes, one voice.
Rumour amongst futsalers is that Tony plays futsal at ampang point futsal centre with KJ, shazally celcom, some khazanah big wig, one political secretary and his umno boys.
ReplyDeleteMan U KJ? Oh ... yes. AirAsia place Man U logo on their plane. Man U = Air Asia = KJ?
Oh come on!
ReplyDeleteTony didn't forget BUT at the same time you think CKC was going to let the opportunity to build something that helped Malaysia flourish pass him by? That terminal was never going to be a white elephant, and CKC knew it so he put his stamp of approval on it.
The approval for the rail link is also CKC.
It will benefit the economy, the people, and mostly CKC. The legacy? CKC will be remembered as the man that fast-tracked the LCCT and the rail-link, that HELPED AirAsia become the region's leading LCC.
POLITICIANS WILL DO ANYTHING IF THEY CAN GET MILEAGE.
LCCT build just for AirAsia? C'mon, you bought that - hook, line and sinker. The big picture - 'someone' got that contract to build, only for logistics problems to arise. Another 'someone' got contract expansion to run and maintain the LCCT - all this can be solved by using the still under-utilised KLIA MTB. And get everybody forget about Subang.
ReplyDeletembm not happy with those airasia girls' uniform... not asian
ReplyDeleteIs it just a mere "convenient coincidence" that AirAsia ordered 100 plus 50 A320s and the Malaysian Government (oops...the PMBlah!) also ordered an A320 derivative for the VVIP jet, almost the same time 2 years back?
ReplyDeleteMAS was born in 1972, to serve the Malaysian public, especially those in the remote corners of interior Sabah, Sarawak and Kota Bahru. Its international route was allowed to flourish, so that these domestic routes can be subsidised (for the greater Malaysian benefit).
Now, Minster of Transport and the Prime Minister is structurally "killing" MAS for the benefits of AirAsia development programs, which incl programmed growth for MAS to lucrative markets like Indonesia, China and India, to give up their supposed-to-be-extra landing rights for AirAsia.
Now, it seems after AirAsia taking over most of the domestic routes (except 19) from MAS, the Malaysian public and consumers are "subsidising" AirAsia's expansion, program abroad!
BTW, in many domestic journeys nowadays, majority unaware passengers are paying near premium fares for substandard low cost service. Is that fair, especially to the low income Malaysians, trying to make the travel under the pretext of "Now, everybody can fly!"?
Maybe the proper tagline is, "Now, everybody get sucked!".
electrocutioner, you hit the nail on the head!!
ReplyDeleteEveryone else is just too shallow-minded to read the undercurrents. The new LCCT is such a white elephant - and inconvenient at that.
So many LCCTs in other countries have failed and yet, someone in all their glorified stupidity chooses to perpetuate that mistake.
I'm just so impressed Tony Fernandes keeps overcoming these hurdles.