A colleague was talking about how awful AirAsia was. Seats are more cramped than many airlines and in recent months, they (AirAsia) have been weighing all cabin luggages and would charge any additional weight above 7kg. She said that she saw how one angry male passenger took out 7 T-shirts and 2 pants from his ‘overweight’ cabin luggage and wore them before he boarded the plane. I usually take Malaysia Airlines as first choice and AirAsia as second choice. I would usually not take other airlines unless the timing is really more convenient or the fare is way cheaper. Yes, the same reason as my Hong Kong colleague who insist on taking Cathay, Singaporean colleagues who insist on Singapore Airlines and even my Thai colleagues who would choose Thai Airways all the time. I could go on but you get the idea.
As for ‘awful’ AirAsia, do note that this is just a business model which they have chosen, that’s all. They have also just won another time as the World’s Best Low Cost Airline. Furthermore, we could choose from so many other airlines within Malaysia. Malindo, Firefly and many other LCCs from other countries too. For AirAsia, they are trying to maximise profits, just like any other airlines out there. Note that when the airline is not profitable, they would retrench a lot of their staffs. Let’s not forget what happened to MAS just a few years back and the recent huge retrenchments at Cathay. Here’s the article. Plus, in Malaysia, there are lots of choices that one could take and there is no longer any monopoly for the skies in Malaysia, unlike in many other countries. These choices contributed to the reason for this ‘cheapest air fares in the world’ result. Many articles about this in google but here’s one for reference, from Australia’s news.com.au It’s around AUD5.63 per 100km for Malaysia. I know, suddenly someone would like to point out that we are cheapest because of the ringgit! Haha. Okay… for Australia, it’s around AUD39.61 per 100km. (7 times higher). It’s AUD1 to RM3.24 currently…. Thailand’s air fares are ranked top 8th in the world and they are 62 percent higher than Malaysia. Here’s an article by bangkokpost.com
AirAsia has chosen their path. I support them even if they are not my first choice. I have forgotten how many times have people asked me about my preference for high-rise. I do not stay or own a landed property currently. 🙂 They usually point out one fact that everyone knows. ‘Landed is better than high-rise because it’s far fewer and land is limited.’ Seriously, I know…. However, I also know that in many by far more advanced property markets, the people’s choice is affordability first instead of the type or the size of the property. I think for Malaysia, affordability has become a big issue. This meant that if I am looking at property as an investment, it does not matter which one would become MOST valuable in future. It matters only whether it would appreciate and whether people would want to buy it in future. Prices of high-rise units would still continue rising, that’s for sure. Here’s one real happening today. Buying a Tesla or an apartment? Happy flying your favourite airlines lah, whichever brand it may be.
written on 21 June 2017
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