As most people would have already known, we flew back to M'sia on 12th night via Air Asia. The journey certainly didn't start off very well.
On our way to airport, we thought we were going to be late as we only left my place in Box Hill around 10.30pm. As we had to park in the long term parking, we didn't give allowance to wait for the bus to pick us up.
Luckily, driving right at the speed limit, we made it to the airport check in counter around 11.10pm. And thankfully for web check ins, we actually managed to jump the queues!
Anyway, after proceeding through immigration, my dear wife was thinking about buying gifts, magz, etc that she left our DSLR camera at security check! Luckily i asked her for it as i wanted to take some photos, otherwise we would need to buy a new one again!
Now comes the real nightmare of 'em all. The entry denied, the detention and the deportation.
As I cleared my immigration checkpoint in LCCT easily, my wife on the 'foreign passport' counter is still waiting for a stamp on her passport.
After a few minutes, the officer went away to speak to her manager. This is usually normal as her crap passport couldn't get her smoothly anywhere except East M'sia and Singapore!
This time, she was asked into the immgration office. This reminded me of the incident in Incheon, South Korea.
She was refused entry because she needs a visa to enter West M'sia and we never knew that previously. So we tried to negotiate our way through but the respond we got is 'hantar balik Melbourne'.
This sucks, we just spent 8 crappy hours on Air Asia X and we're not going to like another 8 hours of torture. We asked them whether we could call any embassy for help or internet to get information but all requests were denied.
They asked me to find ways myself to sort this out. Anyway, cut story short, i contacted my parents, my cousin, and friend in M'sia for help & most importantly prayer. We, well at least myself, just kept cool and remind YL to pray for way out.
After a while, the immi officers found out that YL is my wife and i'm a pure m'sian, they started to soften their hearts and try to look for ways to help us through this tiring ordeal.
In the end, they came up with the idea of deportation to Brunei as YL is a Bru PR. We were glad not to return to Melb again so stuff it, we're buying the ticket to Bru. They also provided both of us with lunch (other detainees don't get them), we were able to sit freely in their compound (others were confined into tiny room) and I can walk through security points without a pass! Haha!
However, costs us about RM860 for the ticket....OUCH! Not to mentioned about RM 450 worth of tickets not used (kl-miri, miri-lbg). It's no longer cheap, might as well fly with SIA or MAS. Better service and comfort!
We were at LCCT from 7am, we only left around 6.30pm. From it all started, we were on this experience for over 26 hours!
Nonetheless, we arrived safely to Brunei yesterday. Will be looking to see if the M'sian embassy is open today to get visa for our return ticket. Then heading back to Lbg in the afternoon.
HBK signing off from Brunei :p
Showing posts with label Airlines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Airlines. Show all posts
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Labu Airport - Need or Wish?
Source from Che Det - Dr M
Dated: 17/1/09
1. Air Asia has done well to explain the justification for the so-called KLIA-East in Labu.
2. Not having the facilities and personnel I can only give my very unprofessional view on the justification:
a) Passenger Capacity
I must congratulate Air Asia on its very remarkable success. By 2014 it will handle 26 million passengers. Present terminal at KLIA is handling about 25 million passengers.
KLIA is planned to handle 125 million passengers. It has 25,000 acres of land to build another terminal and four satellites. It can even duplicate these terminals and satellites. But Air Asia wants low-cost terminals with no aero-bridge, no luxury interiors. This is not a problem for KLIA.
There is enough space in the 25,000 acres of reserved land to build the low-cost terminal to accommodate the 60 million Air Asia passengers in the distant future. MAHB (Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad) can do this. (Incidentally Putrajaya has only 10,000 acres of land). However, by 2014 the total number of Air Asia passengers would only be 27 million. Accommodating this number should be no big deal for MAHB.
b) Runway capacity
By 2014 Air Asia will have 77 aircrafts. LCCT capacity will still be for 33 aircrafts. Does Air Asia expect all its aircrafts to be on the ground in LCCT all the time?
Usually some would be in the air and many would be at other airports. Expanding the parking area would not be too difficult. There would still be enough land at KLIA.
As for the runways Times Online reports that Heathrow will now build its third runway to be completed in 2020. Presently Heathrow has only two runways and it still handles almost 70 million passengers.
As stated above, KLIA can build another three runways to handle 125 million passengers. If passengers and aircrafts increase to more than presently handled by Heathrow, a third runway can quickly be built.
If KLIA LCCT is not connected by rail and bus, the thing to do is to provide all these. Extension to the Express Rail Link line can be built. Terrain is no problem. We have sliced through higher hills to build roads.
If the waiting time for taxis has increased due to the huge airport layout (I don't understand this), whatever solution for this problem is proposed for Labu, the same solution can also be applied to KLIA LCCT.
c) Number of Gates
Since Air Asia will not be using the main terminal why should the small number of gates there be of concern to Air Asia?
If Air Asia will be putting more than 55 Gates at Labu to cater for its large number of aircrafts and movements, why cannot LCCT at KLIA be expanded to have maybe 100 Gates to avoid any shortages? Will Labu be provided with 100 Gates? If so, when? Again, why be bothered about KLIA Terminal being equipped with aero-bridges etc when Air Asia does not want to use it?
3. The comparison with Dubai and Jackson Atlanta International Airport is misleading.
4. The picture shows four runways (no indication which airport). Multiple runways is common but they are operated by one airport with one control tower. The picture and the layout does not suggest separate towers for different runways. You cannot have multiple runways close to each other but controlled by different towers.
5. Perhaps Air Asia can show documents that separations between different airport runways of 2km are permissible. Is there any example of two major airports operating separately but located 2km from each other? I don't know. Please enlighten me.
6. The problem prompting the idea of a new airport is the allegedly high charges by MAHB for the use of LCCT by Air Asia. MAHB is owned by Khazanah and it is believed Khazanah has a stake in Air Asia. Both are therefore GLCs. The Government can tell them to negotiate fair charges. Or is it the Government that wants this airport at Labu for reasons other than need?
7. Or is it that Sime Darby now wants to go into airport business?
Dated: 17/1/09
1. Air Asia has done well to explain the justification for the so-called KLIA-East in Labu.
2. Not having the facilities and personnel I can only give my very unprofessional view on the justification:
a) Passenger Capacity
I must congratulate Air Asia on its very remarkable success. By 2014 it will handle 26 million passengers. Present terminal at KLIA is handling about 25 million passengers.
KLIA is planned to handle 125 million passengers. It has 25,000 acres of land to build another terminal and four satellites. It can even duplicate these terminals and satellites. But Air Asia wants low-cost terminals with no aero-bridge, no luxury interiors. This is not a problem for KLIA.
There is enough space in the 25,000 acres of reserved land to build the low-cost terminal to accommodate the 60 million Air Asia passengers in the distant future. MAHB (Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad) can do this. (Incidentally Putrajaya has only 10,000 acres of land). However, by 2014 the total number of Air Asia passengers would only be 27 million. Accommodating this number should be no big deal for MAHB.
b) Runway capacity
By 2014 Air Asia will have 77 aircrafts. LCCT capacity will still be for 33 aircrafts. Does Air Asia expect all its aircrafts to be on the ground in LCCT all the time?
Usually some would be in the air and many would be at other airports. Expanding the parking area would not be too difficult. There would still be enough land at KLIA.
As for the runways Times Online reports that Heathrow will now build its third runway to be completed in 2020. Presently Heathrow has only two runways and it still handles almost 70 million passengers.
As stated above, KLIA can build another three runways to handle 125 million passengers. If passengers and aircrafts increase to more than presently handled by Heathrow, a third runway can quickly be built.
If KLIA LCCT is not connected by rail and bus, the thing to do is to provide all these. Extension to the Express Rail Link line can be built. Terrain is no problem. We have sliced through higher hills to build roads.
If the waiting time for taxis has increased due to the huge airport layout (I don't understand this), whatever solution for this problem is proposed for Labu, the same solution can also be applied to KLIA LCCT.
c) Number of Gates
Since Air Asia will not be using the main terminal why should the small number of gates there be of concern to Air Asia?
If Air Asia will be putting more than 55 Gates at Labu to cater for its large number of aircrafts and movements, why cannot LCCT at KLIA be expanded to have maybe 100 Gates to avoid any shortages? Will Labu be provided with 100 Gates? If so, when? Again, why be bothered about KLIA Terminal being equipped with aero-bridges etc when Air Asia does not want to use it?
3. The comparison with Dubai and Jackson Atlanta International Airport is misleading.
4. The picture shows four runways (no indication which airport). Multiple runways is common but they are operated by one airport with one control tower. The picture and the layout does not suggest separate towers for different runways. You cannot have multiple runways close to each other but controlled by different towers.
5. Perhaps Air Asia can show documents that separations between different airport runways of 2km are permissible. Is there any example of two major airports operating separately but located 2km from each other? I don't know. Please enlighten me.
6. The problem prompting the idea of a new airport is the allegedly high charges by MAHB for the use of LCCT by Air Asia. MAHB is owned by Khazanah and it is believed Khazanah has a stake in Air Asia. Both are therefore GLCs. The Government can tell them to negotiate fair charges. Or is it the Government that wants this airport at Labu for reasons other than need?
7. Or is it that Sime Darby now wants to go into airport business?
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Will U Plz Shut Up?
Thanks to the ever growing modern technology, now you can use your Blackberry or mobile phone on certain Malaysia Airlines flight! I believe it's the first in the world for any airlines to allow the use of mobile phones on board.
Do they really think we can be fooled that even up to today's technology the Boeing & Airbus planes couldn't come up with a technology to shield the cockpit from the mobile interference? What's the difference between using a mobile while inside the plane body and inside the departure hall (normally staffs workers who is on mobile chatting)? Will the mobile wave recognizes that "oh, you're in the plane body, so I'm going to interfere with the system. Oh I'm in the building, so I can't interfere"? It doesn't make sense. (Maybe I'm ignorant..haha). I'm not denying the mobile radiowave can affect the systems or 2-way radios used by pilots though. I'm just saying, they should have figured out how to shield radiowave from the cockpit.
Imagine the plane traveling at nearly 900-1000KM/hr, how many different satellites or mobile
exchange towers would it have gone through in just a minute? Not sure? Say you travel in your car, if your mobile shows you which areas you are in, it'll display the mobile exchange you are using. For example, "Melbourne, Carlton, Royal park, Footscray, etc". How fast can you switch from different exchange to another? That's travelling at an average speed of 60KM/hr. Imagine how messed the system would be with 200 travellers cruising at 1000KM/hr with their mobiles on. If the exchanges are all local to a single operator, it's fine but not international unless prior agreements were made.
Sounds amazing huh? NOT. Imagine all the uncles & aunties chit chatting with their kids, talking loudly, non-stop all the way through your flight! How are you going to sleep? Have your peace & quiet enjoyment? Nowadays, for a few babies on board, you'd be scare of not getting any sleep. What about 200 travellers talking on their mobile? Ok, maybe it's over exaggerating, let say 20% talks on their mobile? That's also 40 people talking! Imagine in a tram where only 1 or 2 people talk on their mobile, how annoying can it be? Everyone would look at the person straight into the eye, some may even "SSshhhHHhhh"!
I would be really worried next time I get on a MAS airplane from Melbourne! 7 hours of annoying chit chatting & ringtones! Maybe even repeating the same thing, "I'm on a plane". Sigh....Perhaps MAS should create a special room to talk mobiles in! Like how they did for smokers.
MAS is still struggling to be a profit making airline. Will this move gives more advantage to MAS or disadvantage? With more passengers more concerned about safety & comfort, I believe this will strongly disadvantage MAS.
The main reason for not allowing the use of mobile phones on flight is not because of "safety- it might affect navigation panels and computers in the cockpit". It was mainly the cost of international roaming and also messing up the billing system for the mobile provider!PETALING JAYA: Passengers travelling on certain Malaysia Airlines flight will be able to use their mobile phones and Blackberry devices effective immediately.
MAS has teamed up with AeroMobile, the world’s leading in-flight mobile phone operator, to become the first carrier in Asia to offer inflight mobile phone and data services.
The lightweight system was installed on one MAS Boeing 777-200 aircraft. The service will cover selected European routes, Australia, and across the Asian region including China and Japan. More
Do they really think we can be fooled that even up to today's technology the Boeing & Airbus planes couldn't come up with a technology to shield the cockpit from the mobile interference? What's the difference between using a mobile while inside the plane body and inside the departure hall (normally staffs workers who is on mobile chatting)? Will the mobile wave recognizes that "oh, you're in the plane body, so I'm going to interfere with the system. Oh I'm in the building, so I can't interfere"? It doesn't make sense. (Maybe I'm ignorant..haha). I'm not denying the mobile radiowave can affect the systems or 2-way radios used by pilots though. I'm just saying, they should have figured out how to shield radiowave from the cockpit.
Imagine the plane traveling at nearly 900-1000KM/hr, how many different satellites or mobile
exchange towers would it have gone through in just a minute? Not sure? Say you travel in your car, if your mobile shows you which areas you are in, it'll display the mobile exchange you are using. For example, "Melbourne, Carlton, Royal park, Footscray, etc". How fast can you switch from different exchange to another? That's travelling at an average speed of 60KM/hr. Imagine how messed the system would be with 200 travellers cruising at 1000KM/hr with their mobiles on. If the exchanges are all local to a single operator, it's fine but not international unless prior agreements were made.In addition, mobile companies say using phones on planes can play havoc with their ground networks, because the antennae can't cope with relaying the signal from a phone which is travelling at 500mph. MoreHence why this part explains it all:
All four Malaysian mobile operators have agreed to allow their customers to roam internationally on board the aircraft and users would be billed on their regular phone bills as with any other international roaming call.
The GPRS data feature exploits AeroMobile’s unique capability to operate BlackBerry and other e-mail services using Inmarsat’s Swift64 satellite system, which has been added to the trial B777 aircraft.
Sounds amazing huh? NOT. Imagine all the uncles & aunties chit chatting with their kids, talking loudly, non-stop all the way through your flight! How are you going to sleep? Have your peace & quiet enjoyment? Nowadays, for a few babies on board, you'd be scare of not getting any sleep. What about 200 travellers talking on their mobile? Ok, maybe it's over exaggerating, let say 20% talks on their mobile? That's also 40 people talking! Imagine in a tram where only 1 or 2 people talk on their mobile, how annoying can it be? Everyone would look at the person straight into the eye, some may even "SSshhhHHhhh"!I would be really worried next time I get on a MAS airplane from Melbourne! 7 hours of annoying chit chatting & ringtones! Maybe even repeating the same thing, "I'm on a plane". Sigh....Perhaps MAS should create a special room to talk mobiles in! Like how they did for smokers.
MAS is still struggling to be a profit making airline. Will this move gives more advantage to MAS or disadvantage? With more passengers more concerned about safety & comfort, I believe this will strongly disadvantage MAS.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Discounts & Freebies!
FREE small slurpee on Friday 7th November, 2008 from 7am – 11pm @ 7-Eleven
FREE SMALL SLURPEE* ON 7-ELEVEN DAY
Just wish your local 7-Eleven store operator a ‘Happy 7-Eleven Day’ on Friday 7th of November and a free Slurpee is all yours!
*Limit of 1 FREE small Slurpee per person per store. Offer limited from 7am – 11pm on Friday 7th November, 2008
http://www.slurpee.com.au/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AirAsia X turns ONE - Melbourne-KL ($182), Perth-KL ($157), Gold Coast-KL ($171)
Booking starts tonight (12 AM Msian time, 1 AM Perth, or 3 AM Melbourne)
Booking Period : 4 Nov 2008 - 9 Nov 2008
Travel Period : 1 Aug 2009 - 24 Oct 2009
The fare quoted is one way and includes tax and surchages, valid for both outbound and inbound.
As usual, add ons (baggage, meals, choice of seats) are extra. But it’s still damn cheap.
Connect to other destinations across Asia from AirAsia hub, Kuala Lumpur.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's all get slurpy this Friday, yeah?
FREE SMALL SLURPEE* ON 7-ELEVEN DAY
Just wish your local 7-Eleven store operator a ‘Happy 7-Eleven Day’ on Friday 7th of November and a free Slurpee is all yours!
*Limit of 1 FREE small Slurpee per person per store. Offer limited from 7am – 11pm on Friday 7th November, 2008
http://www.slurpee.com.au/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AirAsia X turns ONE - Melbourne-KL ($182), Perth-KL ($157), Gold Coast-KL ($171)
Booking starts tonight (12 AM Msian time, 1 AM Perth, or 3 AM Melbourne)
Booking Period : 4 Nov 2008 - 9 Nov 2008
Travel Period : 1 Aug 2009 - 24 Oct 2009
The fare quoted is one way and includes tax and surchages, valid for both outbound and inbound.
As usual, add ons (baggage, meals, choice of seats) are extra. But it’s still damn cheap.
Connect to other destinations across Asia from AirAsia hub, Kuala Lumpur.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Let's all get slurpy this Friday, yeah?
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