lincoln76

Now that we know Malaysia Airlines are cutting unprofitable routes namely to Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Dubai and potentially Rome and Frankfurt, does anyone know if they would cut flights to LAX. I have made redemption booking on MH to LAX for 6 pax for june/july 2012 so I'm a bit concerned. Does anyone know if the LAX route is profitable and what are the loads like for the KUL-LAX flight? Many thanks.

mario33

It's not about load factors, it's whether greedy Tony wants the route for his AA-X. Even with 100% load factor, they can still classify it as unprofitable and have it axed, as seen on some route with high load factor but competing with AA being axed.

crazyMRer

If you are implying routes are being cut because of MH's alliance agreement with AA, you are wrong.

Load factor and profitability often do not go hand in hand. A full plane looses money if the the average fare paid is too low. Competion and increased fuel costs mean that on some routes, if you sell tickets high enough for the route to be profitable, your plane will be empty and you loose money. If you sell for lower, you fill the plane and you loose money. If an airline does not think the situation on that market will improve, the logical thing to do is to stop flying that route.

mario33

<redacted>

Are you an MH employee ?

How often do you fly MH or AK ?

Do you even live in Malaysia to understand what goes on around here ?

I fly almost every week (do you ?), and I can tell you MH flights with very healthy load factors (in econ and biz class) and relatively good fares have been axed solely because it competes with Air Asia. Ofcourse TF will tell you a whole load of rubbish, and sadly there are some who believed him.

Tell me why was Firefly (MH subsidiary) jet services axed, when they were barely weeks into service ??? And you believed them it was running losses into hundreds of millions, when they only operated a few 737 for a few weeks !!!

<redacted>

pominoz

Agree 100% with mario33

take a look at Jetstar in oz,the ceo of Qantas said they would not .......ize
qantas to furnish jetstar.Now what have we got.

No qantas flights into regional australia.
No qantas flights into top leisure spots.
Qantas flights cancelled for Jetstar.

Come to oz and fly budget

tycosiao

Although I agree with you on mario33 however you bringing in Jetstar is moot in this issue. It is a different company and Jetstar is a subsidiary of Qantas while Air Asia is not a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines.

I just don't see them axing LAX route. it is their only route to the USA.

Carol202

A bit off the discussion here, but I am trying to plan a trip to Maldives, MLE and Malaysian out of LAX is one of the airlines I'm considering. Can you tell me what awards program you used to get your flight, who you contacted, and what the terms where (how many miles and what fees did you have to pay). i checked on MH tickets from LAX to MLE and the price was around $850, but then they add another $850 in fees! Any advice on getting to MLE in the fall is appreciated. I'm not near a major hub but could fly out of Atlanta, New Orleans, or Orlando. I have some Skymiles I'm willing to burn.

WLGNZ

Any news on the timing of the CPT/EZE route being cut?

februaryfour

I have to say I don't see MAS cutting KUL-LAX either. They need that route, and AirAsia doesn't have to worry about competing with MAS for it because there is just so much demand for that route. That said, even as a an ex-MAS's pilot's daughter, the last time I flew MAS was on a business ticket and the last time I personally flew MAS was when my father still worked for the airline.

Yoshi212

Wiki has been updated to show Jan 30th as the last operational date for the route(s).

EngOnAPlane

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Ailing flag carrier Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) will cut eight loss-making routes from January next year in a bid to stem losses anticipated this year and in 2012.

The affected routes are:

• Kuala Lumpur - Surabaya (B737) from January 6, 2012
• Kuala Lumpur - Dubai (A330) from January 10, 2012
• Kuala Lumpur - Karachi - Dubai (A330) from January 12, 2012
• Kuala Lumpur - Dubai - Damman (A330) from January 13, 2012
• Langkawi - Penang - Singapore (B737) from January 30, 2012
• Kuala Lumpur - Johannesburg (B777) from January 31, 2012
• Kuala Lumpur - Cape Town - Buenos Aires (B747) from February 1, 2012
• Kuala Lumpur - Rome (B777) from February 2, 2012

“Malaysia Airlines regrets for the inconvenience to passengers as a result of these changes and assures that it will honour all forward bookings ticketed to date on the affected routes.

“The company will make alternative carrier arrangements, at its own cost, to ensure minimum discomfort to passengers,” MAS said in a statement today.

Its chief executive, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, said the eight routes account for some 12 per cent of passenger capacity and that their cessation will improve loads, increase yields and boost profit by RM220-302 million next year.

He added that the route rationalisation will have minimal impact on Malaysia’s position as a top tourist destination in Asia as the airline will work aggressively with its code share partners to ensure continued connectivity.

Last week, MAS revealed its turnaround strategy which aims for an RM1.2-1.5 billion swing in performance from cost saving and productivity measures, as well as a return to profit by 2013.

Analysts, however, were sceptical of the airline’s latest round of restructuring, noting that MAS had yet to address operational and structural issues.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/m...outes-in-2012/

crazyMRer

No
Do you have acccess to the actual numbers to determine both MH's CASM and RASM on these routes they axed?

Or are you just assuming because you bought expensive tickets and planes were full when you flew MH was making money?

Competes with Air Asia = lower RASM in most cases

RASM lower than CASM = logical reason to cancel service

lincoln76

Thanks EngOnAPlane that is very informative . So I assume at the moment my kul-lax is safe then

meFIRST

Bring back EWR!

mario33

Then you must be one of those TF admirer who believes everything the local propaganda media tells you and thought he is a genius. Because of him , 'everyone can fly' so we must be grateful to him ? No, if not for him there would be more LCC around and more people would be able to fly ! Just look at Indonesia and Thailand where there are free competition !

I made my judgement based on experience, not from reading aviation websites and statistics from the local propaganda mass media. If you fly certain routes so often, you know the fares the airline was offering and also how much your fellow passengers paid for them. You also do not need fancy reports on the load factor, you see it with your own eyes.

You have still not explained how they can claim the operation of a few jet planes for a few weeks (Firefly) could result in a loss of a few hundred million. Common sense tells you that even if they had zero load factor ( which is not the case), the losses would not have been to that proportion. Oh yes, if you spend $50 million on A&P for a new operation and operate for just 2 months, then you are definitely showing a loss and good enough reason to terminate all jet services.

You are right 'genius', all airlines should give up their routes if their competitor 'appeared' to be making more profit than they do. You sure sound like that fat man with a red cap ...