Malaysia Airlines : MH : MAS

Jeannot a écrit:MAS pourrait déshabiller Firefly pour créer Sapphire

MAS to start new regional carrier called Sapphire

Malaysian Airline System (MAS) is planning a new regional airline named Sapphire, which will use [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft now operated by its Firefly unit.

After Sapphire is established, Firefly will be branded as a turboprop operator, said an MAS spokesman.

"This is the tentative plan that MAS has drawn up. As the project is still in its early stages, MAS is not prepared to disclose details such as when Sapphire will be established and Sapphire's management structure."

Local media reported that the Firefly management team will manage the Sapphire and Firefly brands. Firefly could not be reached for comment.

Firefly operates 10 ATR 72-500 turboprops, data in ACAS shows. The carrier has five ATR 72-500 turboprops on order and an additional five ATR 72-500 turboprops on option. Firefly also owns two [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft and six [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 737-800 aircraft

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

Malaysian Airlines s’interrogerait sur l’A380 et l’alliance Oneworld


La compagnie aérienne Malaysian Airlines a révélé de nouvelles pertes financières au second trimestre, et réfléchirait au report de la livraison des Airbus A380 et de son accession à l’alliance Oneworld.

La compagnie nationale de Malaisie a annoncé des pertes de 178 millions de dollars entre avril et juin 2011, à peine inférieures à celles de l’année précédente à la même période, et prévenu qu’elle resterait dans le rouge cette année. Des pertes qui pourraient avoir des conséquences sur deux axes de développement: Malaysia Airlines envisagerait en effet de repousser à plus tard la livraison du premier de ses six superjumbos, prévue en avril prochain. Argument avancé selon des sources citées par The Malaysian Insider, la difficulté de remplir l’A380 sur la route Kuala Lumpur – Londres (en remplacement des « vieillissants et gourmands Boeing 747« ). L’utilisation d’un 777 plus moderne et économe mais plus petit serait envisagée, mais l’image de la compagnie patirait alors de la comparaison avec Singapore Airlines, qui déploie ses propres A380 vers Londres et Sydney depuis la cité-état voisine.

L’entrée dans l’alliance Oneworld, annoncée en juin dernier, poserait un autre problème: Qantas Airways, un des membres fondateurs, vient d’annoncer le lancement d’une compagnie premium qui pourrait être basée à Singapour ou même en Malaisie, créant une nouvelle concurrence pour Malaysia Airlines. Du coup rejoindre l’alliance coûterait cher (mise à niveau des systèmes de réservation, accords interlignes et amélioration des salons d’affaires), sans certitude de revenus du même niveau à cause de la nouvelle venue. Cela dit, la compagnie a le temps: le processus d’accession va prendre au moins 18 mois.

Rappelons que la low cost malaisienne AirAsia est entrée dans le capital de Malaysia Airlines, avec justement pour but de lui faire retrouver le chemin des profits – même si sa filiale long-courrier AirAsia X est en concurrence frontale avec la compagnie nationale.

MAS writes down value of A330Fs, blames P2F programme



Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has been forced to write down the value of its Airbus A330-200 freighters, blaming the airframer's recent decision to launch a passenger-to-freighter conversion programme for the type.

The carrier's MASkargo division will take delivery of the last of four new-build freighters this year, dating from a 2010 order. It also operates a pair of Boeing 747-400 Freighters.

However, in its full-year results for 2011, MAS booked an impairment charge of M$314 million ($104.8 million) against the value of the aircraft, citing losses in the cargo operation and the conversion programme which it said will "depress the value of new freighters".

Revenue at MASkargo fell by 14% in 2011, leading to a pre-tax loss of M$19 million, compared with a M$141 million profit in 2010.

MAS also plans to significantly reduce the size of its fleet by 2014, taking it from the current figure of 91 aircraft down to 80.

This will involve the return of some 58 older airframes to lessors, with the majority of these leaving MAS's fleet in 2012, it said.

Fleet reductions will focus on the "older uneconomical 18- to 19-year-old aircraft", it said. According to Flightglobal's Ascend Online database, the bulk of these are 737-400s, with it operating 33 of the narrowbodies built prior to 1995. Just three of its 36 737-400s were manufactured after this date.

Depending on when the older types are phased out, it could leave the carrier with as few as 33 of its current fleet this year.

Total cost of the retirements will be M$1.03 billion, with a charge of M$602 million booked in 2011's accounts. A further write-down on the value of aircraft spares cost it an additional M$179 million.

Meanwhile in 2012 MAS will receive 23 new aircraft, it said. According to Ascend this includes two A330Fs, eight 737-800s, three ATR 72-500s, four A330-300s and five A380s, with one as-yet unknown, from a total backlog of 60 at the start of 2012.

By 2014 the average age of its fleet will have been cut to 7.7 years, it said.

Jeannot a écrit:Le programme P2F sur le 330 n'arrange pas les comptes de MAS

MAS writes down value of A330Fs, blames P2F programme

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has been forced to write down the value of its Airbus A330-200 freighters, blaming the airframer's recent decision to launch a passenger-to-freighter conversion programme for the type.

The carrier's MASkargo division will take delivery of the last of four new-build freighters this year, dating from a 2010 order. It also operates a pair of Boeing 747-400 Freighters.

However, in its full-year results for 2011, MAS booked an impairment charge of M$314 million ($104.8 million) against the value of the aircraft, citing losses in the cargo operation and the conversion programme which it said will "depress the value of new freighters".

Revenue at MASkargo fell by 14% in 2011, leading to a pre-tax loss of M$19 million, compared with a M$141 million profit in 2010.

MAS also plans to significantly reduce the size of its fleet by 2014, taking it from the current figure of 91 aircraft down to 80.

• obtenir un 'soulagement fiscal', pour augmenter les pertes en période déficitaire, de toutes façons, en effectuant au niveau de Groupe des sorties de trésorerie diminuées pour l'IS ("Corporation Tax" / "Profits Tax") en appliquant avec une prudence très poussée un principe comptable disponible;
  
• ou obtenir / 'cristalliser' la possibilité d'augmenter le montant des pertes imputables à des profits, actuels & / ou futurs, dans la même intention de réduire légitimement le fardeau de l'IS, et les sorties de trésoreries lors du paiement ultérieur ;
  
• ou, carrément, augmenter le montant des pertes disponibles pour l'application concrète (légitime) de "carrry-back" / 'report en arrière', contre les profits antérieurs, pour diminuer le niveau de l'assiette de calcul de l'IS déjà payé sur ces profits, ..... afin d'obtenir un chèque de l'Administration, pour l'impôt jugé 'trop perçu' , et, par là, avoir une entrée de trésorerie quasi immédiate, ... toujours bonne à prendre, pendant ces périodes difficiles et de ressources liquides 'serrées' ;
  


• bien sûr, exercer une pression sur Airbus, dans les tractations futures en vue d'acquisitions d'avions (passagers ou de fret).
  

This will involve the return of some 58 older airframes to lessors, with the majority of these leaving MAS's fleet in 2012, it said.

Fleet reductions will focus on the "older uneconomical 18- to 19-year-old aircraft", it said. According to Flightglobal's Ascend Online database, the bulk of these are 737-400s, with it operating 33 of the narrowbodies built prior to 1995. Just three of its 36 737-400s were manufactured after this date.

Depending on when the older types are phased out, it could leave the carrier with as few as 33 of its current fleet this year.

Total cost of the retirements will be M$1.03 billion, with a charge of M$602 million booked in 2011's accounts. A further write-down on the value of aircraft spares cost it an additional M$179 million.

Meanwhile in 2012 MAS will receive 23 new aircraft, it said. According to Ascend this includes two A330Fs, eight 737-800s, three ATR 72-500s, four A330-300s and five A380s, with one as-yet unknown, from a total backlog of 60 at the start of 2012.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

Malaysia Airlines in crisis

In announcing the Malaysian flag carrier’s performance for FY2011, Malaysia Airlines chairman Tan Sri Md Nor Md Yusuf said: “The company is in (a) crisis.” The airline group posted a loss of RM2.52 billion (US$841 million).

Malaysia Airlines carried 1.3 million more passengers on a total of 17 million passengers last year, contributing to a marginal increase in Group revenue of 2% to RM13.9 billion. Expenditure however rose 21% from RM13.41 billion to RM16.20 billion, attributed largely to an increase of 33% in fuel cost.

Traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), grew by 5% against a capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASK), increase of 7%. Consequently the seat factor fell to 72.5%.

The last quarter ending of the year ending December 31st dragged down the performance of the preceding nine months, with expenditure exceeding revenue by 35.6% compared to an average of 9.68%. Net loss for the fourth-quarter of RM1.28 billion accounted for half the year’s total loss. Traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), for the quarter acutely fell by 6% against a capacity growth of 1%, resulting in a lower seat factor of 72.5%.

To state the obvious that Malaysia Airlines suffers a bad case of overspending is an understatement. Group chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the result underscored the urgent need for the airline to adopt strong measures to stop the “bleeding”. These, he announced, would include “staff redeployment, increasing productivity and efficiency, relentless cost control and making further reviews.”

It looks like the whole enchilada. Mr Yahya added: “We are also implementing an aggressive sales and marketing strategy.”

Just what exactly is that strategy? Aware of its ailing state, Malaysia Airlines has previously said it would restructure to focus on the long-haul and to set up a new premium regional carrier that will operate the more lucrative short-haul routes as well as domestic services. The plan was to cut capacity by 12% though it had yet to be achieved. Then, before the publication of the fourth-quarter numbers, Yahya already recognised the dire straits that Malaysia Airlines was in. He said the airline was in a “very, very deep crisis” and must act quickly – the same message that he was to reiterate after the fourth-quarter results were released.

The proposed restructuring plan also called for co-operation with AirAsia, suggesting that both airlines should not compete directly with each other but rather complement their operations. The budget market was to be largely that of AirAsia. It looks like a national agenda to combat regional competition. In August last year, the two airlines swapped shares that gave AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes a 20% stake in the national flag carrier. AirAsia was the white knight come to rescue Malaysia Airlines in distress. The deal would give Fernandes a bigger say in how the aviation landscape would shape up in Malaysia and beyond for both carriers.

Yet how far that cooperation would go and, more importantly, produce positive results is yet to be seen. It was a narrow view to think that reducing the competition between the two airlines would invariably enlarge their individual market shares by redistributing the pie from one to the other since they are not operating in a duopoly. A combined net loss can happen, not discounting how other players too stand to gain from the reduced competition.

Besides, AirAsia has its own basket of challenges in the near term. Although its full-year result showed improved operating profit by 12% to RM1.2 billion compared to RM1.0 billion the previous year – despite a 36% increase in fuel costs – fourth-quarter’s profit fell 56% decline from RM311.1 million a year ago to RM135.7 million. The performance of its Thai joint venture was flat and that of its Indonesian offshoot disappointing. AirAsia had earlier announced it was terminating flights to Europe and India because of high fuel process and weak demand.

Following Qantas’ announcement to launch a regional premium carrier, provisionally dubbed RedQ, in Asia, AirAsia made a similar announcement to set up Caterham Jet. There was no indication that this would be in cooperation with Malaysia Airlines. Qantas’ plan was somewhat scuttled by labour action at home as Australian were concerned about the loss of jobs that shift overseas. Subsequently Qantas said it was looking for a partner to establish the regional carrier, which was likely to be based in either Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. At the same time, Yahya said Malaysia Airlines was exploring the possibility of partnerships for its own regional premium proposal, and speculation was rife that the two airlines were talking.

One would have thought it would make sense for Qantas and Malaysia Airlines – both airlines looking to extend its reach in the lucrative Asian market – to join forces to take on the competition posed by more successful rivals such as Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Cathay Pacific Airways. All the more so, as it would also interest the Malaysia aviation authorities to anchor Qantas at Kuala Lumpur International Airport to boost the airport’s growth. But talks have broken down. Qantas said the two sides could not agree on commercial terms. And Malaysia Airlines has decided to go it alone. It should not come as a surprise as both airlines appear to be ideologically different right from the start even as Malaysia Airlines has decided to join the oneworld alliance. Their only common ground is their desperation to get back into the black. In the end, it is a lose-lose outcome for both airlines.

It would be interesting to know what else Malaysia Airlines would do to get out of the crisis. More specifically, the airline plans to retire and return to lessors 58 aircraft from now through 2014. This will result in capacity reduction which should in turn improve the break even factor if the airline’s load does not slip. On the flipside is the issue of growth, which though always desirable in a competitive market, may not figure in the near term as the soaring fuel price is likely to continue to hurt its pocket.

For ailing Malaysia Airlines, it is not just regional competition that it must be concerned about, but also the internal discipline to better manage its costs and improve productivity.

Jeannot a écrit:Je ne pense pas que cela soit le but d'Aspire Aviation.

Ils veulent plutot commenter le résultat de MAS et montrer que la crise touche toutes les compagnies traditionnelles de notre planète bleue.

Malaysia Airlines has taken delivery of its first Airbus A380 which it will use on the London Heathrow-Kuala Lumpur route from 2 July.

The A380 will be flown to Kuala Lumpur today where it will be used for staff training. It will return to Toulouse in June for completion of its paintscheme.

Configured with a total of 494 seats, the aircraft has a three-class layout. This comprises 350 economy-class and eight lie-flat first-class seats on the lower deck and 66 lie-flat business-class and 70 economy-class seats on the upper deck.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]

Airbus

"The A380 showcases our latest premium offering. This will be our flagship aircraft offering new levels of comfort, luxury and convenience for long-haul travel," says Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, Malaysia Airlines' chief executive.

Malaysia has six Rolls-Royce Trent 900-powered A380s on order, with the second due to be introduced on the London-Kuala Lumpur route in August.

The carrier is due to join the Oneworld alliance in the last quarter of 2012.

Malaysia Airlines is evaluating whether to standardise on the Airbus A330 for its widebody operations, and could order a longer-range version if Airbus decides to develop one.

"We want to rationalise the fleet - I hate running an airline with too many aircraft types," says Malaysia Airlines group chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.

Speaking in London at an event to mark the introduction of the carrier's A380 on Kuala Lumpur-Heathrow services, Yahya said that this will see the airline focus on ATR turboprops and Boeing 737-800s for its regional and narrowbody operations, but the plan for the widebodies was still being evaluated.
"We are looking at the widebodies. We have 15 A330s on order, but the question right now is how will we replace our Boeing 777-200ERs, which are pretty long in the tooth," says Yahya.

Although some of the airline's 777 routes could "easily be flown by the A330", Yahya says that he is waiting to see what Airbus decides to do about developing the twinjet to operate longer-haul flights. "The A330 is a good 11h aircraft, and the question we are asking Airbus is whether it can be used on longer missions. We'd like hear what Airbus is going to say at Farnborough about this."

MAS currently operates 21 A330-200 /300s and 17 777-200ERs. Yahya says that if Airbus says "something poitive" about the creation of a longer-range A330 "there's no reason why we couldn't order more aircraft to replace the 777s".

As Malaysia Airlines' second A380 is put through its paces in the flying display at Farnborough, the carrier's first aircraft is now earning money on the Kuala Lumpur-London Heathrow route.

MAS, which put the 494-seater into service on 1 July, has ruled out earlier plans to offer premium-economy seating in its A380 fleet. Its A380s are in a three-class layout, comprising eight first class on the main deck, 66 business class on the upper deck, and 420 economy seats split between both decks.

The airline had originally planned a more spacious "super-economy" cabin in the rear of the upper deck, but this cabin now has 70 seats offering similar leg-room to the 350-seat economy cabin on the main deck. The change enabled around two more rows of business seats to be installed, says MAS group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.

"We took premium economy out because we thought it would be easier for us to sell business class, and we think we can manage the yield better through business class," he said, speaking during the A380's Heathrow debut on 2 July.

One novelty is the MAS policy to discourage economy passengers with children from booking seats in the upper-deck cabin until all the main-deck places are allocated, due to concern that noisy children could disturb business-class passengers seated in front of them.

Yahya says that the A380 will go to a daily frequency on the London route from mid-August when the second aircraft arrives. Four A380s will be delivered this year, and the final two follow in 2013. Their arrival will allow MAS to retire its nine Boeing 747-400s by March next year. Other early destinations earmarked for the MAS A380s include Sydney, Tokyo Narita and Beijing.

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has reached agreement with state-owned Turus Pesawat for a financing arrangement of up to MYR5.311 billion ($1.72 billion) to purchase eight Airbus aircraft.

The bond will fund the acquisition of six Airbus A380-800s, one A330-200F and one A330-300.

MAS took delivery of its third A380 on Nov. 15, part of its current order for six (ATW Daily News, May 30).

In August the carrier reported second-quarter net losses of MYR348.7 million ($109 million), up 34% year-over-year and a net loss of MYR520.1 million for the six months ended June 30, a 32% improvement from the year-ago period (ATW Daily News, Aug. 14).

Turus Pesawat is wholly owned by the Malaysian Ministry of Finance.

Malaysia Airlines today announced a small operating profit of RM4 million and a Net Income After Tax (NIAT) of RM37 million for the third quarter ended 30 September 2012.

The profit achieved in this quarter was the best performance to-date for the national airline following 6 consecutive quarters of losses.

The operating profit and NIAT for the third quarter compared favourably against an operating loss of RM192 million and a loss after tax of RM478 million in the same period in 2011.

The improvement in performance quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) at the operating level was mainly due to the Route Rationalisation Programme which saw a 7% reduction in ASK (Available Seat Kilometre).

This resulted in a 9% decrease in fuel costs and a 7% decrease in non-fuel costs in line with capacity cuts. At the same time, the Group’s total revenue reduced by only 2% to RM3.5 billion.

Fuel spending, which accounted for 38% of expenditure, fell to RM1.3 billion for the quarter following a 9% drop in consumption.

The same quarter also saw a drop in jet fuel price from USD137 per barrel in the third quarter of 2011 to an average USD131 per barrel in 2012.

For the nine months ended 30 September 2012, the Group’s operating loss stood at RM405 million compared to a loss of RM975 million in 2011.

Net loss after tax for the nine months ended 30 September 2012 improved 61% to RM484 million against a loss of RM1.247 billion in the same period in 2011.

Commenting on the performance, Malaysia Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said, “Revenue initiatives have started to gain traction in the market, and combined with the improved utilisation of the fleet and our manpower, we are beginning to see the results of all this hard work show in our quarterly results.”

Malaysia Airlines carried 3.30 million passengers in the third quarter of 2012 compared to 3.35 million q-o-q. On Time Performance (OTP) for the quarter averaged 87%. Seat load factor was 74.5% compared to 75.9% in the same period last year.

In September, Kathmandu became Malaysia Airlines newest destination. Just 2 months on, the number of frequencies between Kuala Lumpur-Kathmandu has been increased from 3 flights a week to now 5 flights weekly. This increase in frequency is in line with Malaysia Airlines’ strategy to deepen our footprint regionally to tap the growing market for travel.

Some earlier suspended routes per the Route Rationalisation programme have since been reviewed. Regional routes offering high potential for growth have seen an increase in frequency, such as Bangkok, Chennai and Taipei. Malaysia Airlines also announced the resumption of 2 international routes from Kota Kinabalu by year’s end to Perth and Osaka, and an additional frequency to Hong Kong.

Despite intense competition and sluggish markets particularly in Europe, Revenue per Available Seat Kilometre (RASK) was up marginally by 1% as a result of improved yield management and pricing segmentation. Yields improved 3% in the third quarter of 2012 q-o-q.

The airline’s flagship A380 aircraft continues to see excellent demand following entry into commercial service in July 2012.

Just days ago on 24 November, Malaysia Airlines began a second A380 daily service on the Kuala Lumpur-London Heathrow in response to market demand for a more comfortable ride on a newer aircraft. Among the many plus points of Malaysia Airlines’ A380 are its wide seats.

First Class’ 40 inch seats are the widest in the sky whilst Economy seats at a wide 18 inches with forward-recline functionalities are a big hit with passengers.