AirAsia taunts MAS
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AirAsia pioneer Tony Fernandes owns the crown in Asia, and yesterday he lashed out at Malaysian Airlines and Singapore Airlines.
“Don’t hold us back anymore. We have done Malaysia proud. I have 5,000 staff. We need Singapore. We can’t be a hub without Singapore,” he told reporters after a Citibank-AirAsia campaign launch in KL.
The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route is dominated by (MAS) and Singapore Airlines, with both operating more than 200 flights a week. The monopoly stems from a 34-year-old deal prohibiting new players.
Fernandes has always advocated open skies, saying restrictions hinder progress in becoming a global leader. He added the same limits impede his Singapore rival, Tiger Airways.
“Five years of not allowing us to operate some routes is enough,” he said. “It’s time to open up the aviation industry. What is the point of spending millions of ringit in ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’ when I can’t even fly to Singapore?…End of the day, the country and consumers should benefit.”
Fernandes has repeatedly requested the route be opened earlier than the 1 Jan 2009 date set by the ASEAN open sky agreement. Malaysia and Singapore have hinted at the possibility, but so far, it has only been lip service.
MAS has said it is not in favour of opening the KL-Singapore route earlier than 2009, as this would jeopardise its business turnaround plan.
Fernandes retorted, “We want two flights to Singapore; how can that possibly affect MAS?” (Bernama)
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