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Tag: Malaysia Airlines

  • Pilgrims To Fly In Style With Malaysia Airlines’ Six Haj Charter Jets

    Pilgrims To Fly In Style With Malaysia Airlines’ Six Haj Charter Jets

    Malaysia Airlines Bhd’s (MAB) chief executive Peter Bellew has revealed more details on the flag carrier’s plan to offer charter flights for Muslims to perform the Haj and Umrah pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia.

    In an interview with CNN Money, Bellew said six Airbus A380 jetliners will be retired from service and refurbished to include prayer areas and ablution rooms for its passengers.

    “I think this will be the greatest turnaround in the history of aviation and maybe even of any business,” Bellew was quoted saying.

    Bellew said the jumbo jets will carry 715 passengers, compared to 525 people in the usual three-class configuration or 853 in an all-economy class configuration.

    “We are trying to capture 5 to 6 per cent of the global market, which is growing all the time,” said Bellew, a former executive at low-cost Irish carrier Ryanair.

    “People save to go to this for up to 30 years, and we’ve got great interest in the product already.”

    In Malaysia, most Muslims fund their pilgrimages using deposits in Lembaga Tabung Haji, and adhere to a national quota imposed by the Saudi kingdom. The wait could take decades before they actually perform the pilgrimage.

    Last month, Bellew said MAB could form a new airline to serve the Haj and Umrah charter market.

    “Interviews for key positions, for this airline, have already been initiated with plans underway with Airbus to increase the seat capacity to 720 seats on aircraft,” he told state news agency Bernama.

    The airline said it recorded a stronger performance in the fourth quarter of last year on the back of higher bookings and driven by a greater focus on the premium business traveller as well as all-inclusive economy fares.

     

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    Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com

  • MH370 Disappearance Declared An Accident By Malaysian Authorities

    MH370 Disappearance Declared An Accident By Malaysian Authorities

    Malaysia has declared Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 an “accident”, meaning all 239 on board the ill-fated aircraft are presumed dead, but insisted the search for the plane last seen on March 8 last year “remains a priority”.

    Nearly 11 months and up to S$130 million were spent on an unsuccessful search for the plane which mysteriously disappeared without a trace enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

    Malaysia’s civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said that after 327 days “and based on all available data”, “survivability is highly unlikely” for those on the plane that is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia.

    The area is far from any landing site and has “adverse sea conditions with known depths of more than 6,000 metres,” he said.

    “It is therefore with heaviest heart and deepest sorrow, that on behalf of the government of Malaysia, we officially declare MH370 an accident in accordance with standards… and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives,” the Department of Civil Aviation director general said in a pre-recorded statement broadcast live on national television at 6pm.

    Mr Azharuddin added that the search for the Boeing 777 remains a priority for the government but today’s announcement means the process of compensation “whether it is pursued through consultation or through litigation” can begin.

    Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday also called on “the Malaysian side” to fully investigate and settle claims with passengers over a missing Malaysia Airlines jet, Reuters reported. Mr Li made the remarks to reporters, according to a statement on the government’s website.

    Australia is leading the efforts to locate debris of MH370 in some of the remotest and deepest parts of the Indian Ocean in the world’s longest search for a jet in modern aviation era.

    The aircraft’s disappearance on March 8, 2014, on a routine flight to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur has puzzled authorities as no distress signal came from the Boeing 777-200 plane before it went off radar screens.

    Malaysia’s government and the ailing national flag carrier – which also saw a flight on its way home from Amsterdam being shot down over Ukraine on July 17, 2014 – were widely criticised for a disorganised and secretive response to MH370’s disappearance, especially from Chinese citizens, whose countrymen made up the bulk of those onboard.

    A press conference was scheduled earlier in the evening but relatives of those lost had turned up unannounced, forcing authorities to cancel the event as “it was not appropriate to continue”, the department said in a statement, adding that separate arrangements had been made to brief the next-of-kin.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Valuable Lessons From MH17

    Valuable Lessons From MH17

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    AUGUST 25 — If someone were to ask if there was a silver lining to the MH17 tragedy, it would be that the incident has taught us how to pause for a moment, and appreciate life and those around us.

    Although we may have not known those on the plane personally, stories of them which have been shared by their loved ones and friends have enabled us to get to know them a little better.

    For instance, take 30-year-old Angeline Premila Rajandaran, who was the youngest cabin crew member on board the plane.

    Many of us may not have personally known how much she was loved by her neighbours. They had described her as a kind-hearted soul who would never fail to flash a smile at those around her.

    We also learned how much she respected others, regardless of their status in society.

    Her neighbour Low Chee Kim said whenever she left their gated community to board the Malaysia Airlines shuttle van, she would never fail to ask if the guards had eaten.

    “If she was wearing her sunglasses, she would make sure she removed them before speaking to them,” he said.

    We’ve also learned how first officer Ahmad Hakimi Hanapi, 29, would rush home to be with his then eight-month-old son Abderrahman whenever he returned from duty.

    His wife, Asmaa Aljuned, said her husband “Kimi” would relieve her from babysitting chores, and would insist that when he was at home, it was he who is in charge of his child’s needs.

    “When Kimi was at home, he would always hold on to Abderrahman. He wouldn’t put Abderrahman in a high chair or a stroller but carried him all the time,” she said in an interview with an English daily.

    We have also been given an insight into the lives of Shell employee Paul Rajasingam, his lecturer wife Mabel Anthony Samy and their nine-year-old son Mathew Ezeikial who were on board the plane.

    Matthew’s former church teacher, Maria Lorena, had related to the media about the close bond shared by the family.

    Maria had said Matthew and Mable would always follow Paul whenever he travelled abroad and Mabel would never let Matthew out of her sight following the death of the boy’s twin brother a few years ago.

    So deep was her love for little Matthew that she even volunteered as a teacher at Sunday school so she could be with him.

    Then we were given an insight into Noor Rahimmah Mohd Nor who was travelling to her hometown in Tambun to celebrate Hari Raya with her family for the first time in 30 years.

    The 67-year-old mother of two, had made extensive plans with her sister Noor Aini to travel around Malaysia and to also visit Thailand and Bali.

    We also got to know Noor Rahimmah was young at heart when she told Noor Aini through an earlier phone conversation that her younger sister should get down to fencing up their family’s land and build two houses next to each other so they could pass food to each other every day.

    Through a timeline of events, we learned those on the plane were served their last meals by crew members who took care of their every need throughout the journey. The crew members and pilot would probably have done everything they could for the passengers throughout the last moments of their lives.

    We have come to learn about their lives, their bonds with their loved ones and their good deeds for others, but these are just some details of the lives of those Malaysia has lost.

    Many of us had held on to our loved ones a little tighter on the night of July 17. I’ve also heard how certain people had been affected by the incident so much that they have put their jobs on hold to spend more time with their families.

    On Friday, Malay Mail editor emeritus Frankie D’Cruz had in our front page asked: “How do you mourn the death of a stranger? How do we say goodbye to someone we’ve never said hello?”

    While we have all said our goodbyes to those on MH17 in our own way, it’s time we cherish those around us a little more by saying more than just hello.

    Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/opinion/pearl-lee/article/lessons-from-mh17#sthash.JyWDH98N.dpuf

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