ID :
106321
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 18:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/106321
The shortlink copeid
MALAYSIA AIRLINES IN GOOD STARTING POSITION, SAYS CEO
By Muin Abdul Majid
DUBAI, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer Tengku Azmil Zahruddin said the carrier has
earned the "licence to grow" after taking what he described as painful measures
over the past few years to reverse its fortunes.
He said MAS was now in a good starting position as it began to enter a
growth
phase from 2011/2012 onwards, with a fleet of new state-of-the-art aircraft
worth billions of dollars and exciting products being lined up to tempt
customers to fly with the Malaysian flag carrier.
The airline boss reckoned many carriers had flown into turbulence trying to
grow themselves out of trouble and "as far as I know none of them
have succeeded in doing that because if you don't improve your efficiency and
you try to grow, the inefficiency will grow as well".
"So we feel that we've done a lot of the painful things that many other
airlines have not done, and having done the difficult stuff we've earned the
licence to grow," Tengku Azmil said in an interview.
He reflected, among others, on MAS's fleet replacement, growth strategies
as well competition in the aviation business.
Tengku Azmil also said MAS did well when it ordered new aircraft during the
economic downturn in contrast to many other airlines.
"Most other airlines actually placed orders for aircraft when the economy
was at its peak and they probably had to pay quite a lot for them," he
said, adding that airlines had to talk about delivery deferments when the
economic slowdown and financial crisis struck.
"Fortunately for us, we didn't have any jets coming in last year or the
year before. So we're not in that difficult position," he said.
MAS had the foresight of predicting the industry would get into very tough
times, Tengku Azmil said, recalling that some industry players in Asia Pacific
had chided MAS over its pessimistic outlook.
"And they were all ordering aircraft but we said no, we will wait. We think
that we've been quite fortunate in that we've been able to take advantage of the
downturn," said the Chief Executive Officer.
MAS's new fleet will comprise up to 55 B737-800s, 25 A330-300s and six
A380s. It will start taking delivery of several B737-800s at the end of the
year.
Tengku Azmil said the 25 A330-300s cost around US$5 billion at list prices
"but we're getting a discount, so we'll be paying less than US$5 billion".
"We think that it's a deal that works for us. Its a decent enough
discount to make us buy," he said of the A330s, declining to disclose the
actual amount.
At list prices, MAS's six A380s cost US$1.8 billion while the B737-800
costs US$70 million each. Also, joining the MAS fleet are 17 ATR aircraft at
US$19 million a piece.
The carrier recently received shareholders' approval for a proposed rights
issue to raise an expected RM2.67 billion to fund its future fleet growth and
expansion.
"We're really making a commitment in terms of replacing existing fleet as
well as growing into the market," Tengku Azmil said, adding that MAS would own
at least a third of the fleet and lease the rest.
The new aircraft would fit in with MAS's targeted growth areas that
include India, the Middle East, China, North Asia, South Asia, Japan, Australia
as well as Southeast Asia.
All these areas could be reached by the new A330-300s and the B737-800
would basically cover all of Asean, parts of India and China, he said.
"Combined with our existing B777s and the new A380s, the fleet basically
allows us to cover our entire network," Tengku Azmil observed.
To a question, he said growth in Europe as well as the United States by all
accounts had been negative in recent times.
"With Malaysia Airlines being pretty much in the middle of Asia, we don't
see why we should look very far afield when the exciting areas are all around
us," he said.
He said the carrier was also studying the possibility of adding other
Middle East destinations to its network.
Tengku Azmil added competition was not something new to the national carrier
which had collected numerous industry awards and accolades over the years,
including Skytrax's World 5-Star Airline for 2009/2010.
"It's something that we've had to live with for a long time. As you may
know, the Malaysian government has a fairly liberal competition policy.
"But what's important for us is competition is done in a fair and
orderly manner. As long as everyone has a level playing field than you can't
say no to competition," he said.
MAS mounts some 110,000 flights per year to more than 2,000 destinations,
including codeshare and special priority agreement arrangements.
-- BERNAMA
DUBAI, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer Tengku Azmil Zahruddin said the carrier has
earned the "licence to grow" after taking what he described as painful measures
over the past few years to reverse its fortunes.
He said MAS was now in a good starting position as it began to enter a
growth
phase from 2011/2012 onwards, with a fleet of new state-of-the-art aircraft
worth billions of dollars and exciting products being lined up to tempt
customers to fly with the Malaysian flag carrier.
The airline boss reckoned many carriers had flown into turbulence trying to
grow themselves out of trouble and "as far as I know none of them
have succeeded in doing that because if you don't improve your efficiency and
you try to grow, the inefficiency will grow as well".
"So we feel that we've done a lot of the painful things that many other
airlines have not done, and having done the difficult stuff we've earned the
licence to grow," Tengku Azmil said in an interview.
He reflected, among others, on MAS's fleet replacement, growth strategies
as well competition in the aviation business.
Tengku Azmil also said MAS did well when it ordered new aircraft during the
economic downturn in contrast to many other airlines.
"Most other airlines actually placed orders for aircraft when the economy
was at its peak and they probably had to pay quite a lot for them," he
said, adding that airlines had to talk about delivery deferments when the
economic slowdown and financial crisis struck.
"Fortunately for us, we didn't have any jets coming in last year or the
year before. So we're not in that difficult position," he said.
MAS had the foresight of predicting the industry would get into very tough
times, Tengku Azmil said, recalling that some industry players in Asia Pacific
had chided MAS over its pessimistic outlook.
"And they were all ordering aircraft but we said no, we will wait. We think
that we've been quite fortunate in that we've been able to take advantage of the
downturn," said the Chief Executive Officer.
MAS's new fleet will comprise up to 55 B737-800s, 25 A330-300s and six
A380s. It will start taking delivery of several B737-800s at the end of the
year.
Tengku Azmil said the 25 A330-300s cost around US$5 billion at list prices
"but we're getting a discount, so we'll be paying less than US$5 billion".
"We think that it's a deal that works for us. Its a decent enough
discount to make us buy," he said of the A330s, declining to disclose the
actual amount.
At list prices, MAS's six A380s cost US$1.8 billion while the B737-800
costs US$70 million each. Also, joining the MAS fleet are 17 ATR aircraft at
US$19 million a piece.
The carrier recently received shareholders' approval for a proposed rights
issue to raise an expected RM2.67 billion to fund its future fleet growth and
expansion.
"We're really making a commitment in terms of replacing existing fleet as
well as growing into the market," Tengku Azmil said, adding that MAS would own
at least a third of the fleet and lease the rest.
The new aircraft would fit in with MAS's targeted growth areas that
include India, the Middle East, China, North Asia, South Asia, Japan, Australia
as well as Southeast Asia.
All these areas could be reached by the new A330-300s and the B737-800
would basically cover all of Asean, parts of India and China, he said.
"Combined with our existing B777s and the new A380s, the fleet basically
allows us to cover our entire network," Tengku Azmil observed.
To a question, he said growth in Europe as well as the United States by all
accounts had been negative in recent times.
"With Malaysia Airlines being pretty much in the middle of Asia, we don't
see why we should look very far afield when the exciting areas are all around
us," he said.
He said the carrier was also studying the possibility of adding other
Middle East destinations to its network.
Tengku Azmil added competition was not something new to the national carrier
which had collected numerous industry awards and accolades over the years,
including Skytrax's World 5-Star Airline for 2009/2010.
"It's something that we've had to live with for a long time. As you may
know, the Malaysian government has a fairly liberal competition policy.
"But what's important for us is competition is done in a fair and
orderly manner. As long as everyone has a level playing field than you can't
say no to competition," he said.
MAS mounts some 110,000 flights per year to more than 2,000 destinations,
including codeshare and special priority agreement arrangements.
-- BERNAMA
