This is because KTM Bhd’s electric train services (ETS) are scheduled to start operations then with five sets of six-car trains. The ETS will also ply the Ipoh-Seremban route in less than three hours.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, who received the first ETS set yesterday, said commuters could look forward to having comfort, quality and efficiency while travelling on the two routes.

Although the fares would be slightly higher, he said the 350-seat electric train would have better facilities.

“Resorts World Sentosa is working closely with the authorities to obtain approvals for Universal Studios Singapore, which will open next,” the company said in a statement.

Genting Singapore, a unit of Malaysia’s Genting Bhd, said it will announce the start date for the casino when it receives the licence from Singapore authorities.

Singapore legalised casino gambling in 2005 and said it will allow two casino-resorts to be built as part of ambitious plans to double visitor arrivals to 17 million by 2015.

The city-state’s other casino-resort, Las Vegas Sands’ US$5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands, is scheduled to begin its phased opening in April, although many analysts doubt if the firm can meet the target date.

Casino operators in Singapore will pay an effective tax of around 12 per cent on net revenue from gamblers, giving them an incentive to draw Asian high rollers away from Macau where the tax is just under 40 per ent.

Genting declined to provide estimated start dates for its Singapore casino or Universal Studios theme park, Southeast Asia’s first, although a spokesman said testing and commissioning of the various rides had started in early November.

A spokeswoman for Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority said Genting made an initial submission for a casino licence in October 2009 and the completed application package was received in December. Singapore casino laws are based on regulations in the United States and Australia.

Such applications typically take more than three months to process as they involve vetting casino owners and managers, casino industry officials have said. — Reuters

The record turnout and sales, about 30 per cent higher than last year, gave a welcome boost to the Express Bus Agencies Association (EBAA) which organised the event jointly with Tourism Malaysia.

Companies operating cross-border express coach services have seen their business slashed by as much as 30 per cent since low-cost carriers like AirAsia and Jetstar Asia started flying between Singapore and Malaysia in February last year.

From just one route and 56 to-and-fro services a week, low-cost carriers now operate more than 450 flights between Singapore and destinations such as Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Langkawi, Penang, Ipoh, and Kuala Terengganu.

Just this week, the two governments announced the all-clear for air routes between Singapore and Labuan and Sibu islands, as well as the towns of Alor Star, Kota Baru, Kerteh and Bintulu.

Sebastian Yap, executive director of Transtar express coach company and chairman of the sub-committee that oversees events promotion and terminal operations at the EBAA, said the overwhelming response to the travel fair was a shot in the arm for land-based travel services.

The company, which launched its Transtar Classic service at the fair, offered 9,900 one-way Singapore-Kuala Lumpur tickets at S$9 each, and has already sold 85 per cent of the seats, Yap said.

Unlike its high-end buses that come with just 18 reclining seats and individual entertainment screens, Transtar Classic, which takes to the roads next month, has 61 seats and eight shared screens.

One-way bus tickets usually cost anything from about S$20 to more than S$60 each, depending on the level of services on board. All-inclusive air tickets, when on offer, can cost about the same.

Despite the competition, coach operators are not worried about being squeezed out of the market.

While flying to Kuala Lumpur, for example, may take just 45 minutes compared with about five hours by bus, some travellers like Richard Ee, 57, a regional manager in a construction company, still prefers taking a coach. That is because there is no waiting at the airport and buses take people straight to their hotels in the city, said Ee, who has experienced several delays on budget airlines.

The economic slowdown, which has made Malaysia a more popular destination for Singapore travellers keeping an eye on their wallets, has also increased the pie for all, said a spokesman for the Tourism Malaysia office here.

In September, Malaysia saw more than 1.1 million visitors from Singapore — a 35.5 per cent leap over the same month last year. This comes to about 9.4 million visitors from Singapore in the first nine months of the year — about 16 per cent higher than the arrivals last year.

To cash in on the traffic, more than 100 companies from Malaysia, including hotels and travel agents, took part in the travel fair. — Straits Times

The route was launched on July 1 and marked the 17th destination for the low-cost airline that serves four Malaysian cities – Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Penang.

“The Jetstar service on the Singapore-Penang route will expand to double daily or 14 times weekly,” said Jetstar Asia chief executive officer Chong Phit Lian in a media statement.

“This service will create real low-fare access for Singaporeans and the growing number of passengers travelling through Singapore on the Jetstar and Qantas (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Jetstar Group) network.

“Malaysia is a vital player in Jetstar’s growing Pan Asian network and we are thrilled to begin our new daily service to the historic city of Penang,” she added. – The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Bhd was named the “Best Asian Low-Cost Carrier” while chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes was named “Travel Personality of The Year” by leading Asia-Pacific travel news publisher TTG.

AirAsia received the award for being the best in service, network and schedules; in dealings with travel agents for reservations, confirmations and commission payments; and in sales and marketing team professionalism. It won the same award in 2005 and 2008.

“AirAsia was unanimously named ‘Best Asian Low-Cost Carrier’ by the readers of TTG Asia, TTG China, TTGmice and TTG-BTmice who cast 43,000 votes in a poll held from June to August this year,” the company said in a statement yesterday.

“The award reflects the airline’s popularity among travel trade insiders and the travelling public.”

Meanwhile, TTG’s editorial board named Fernandes the “Travel Personality of The Year” for being the “most outstanding individual for taking proactive steps to develop the travel industry and for demonstrating innovation in his field.”

File picture shows Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes holding up a miniature AirAsia plane at a press conference in Colombo on August 18. – AFP

“Tony has led the airline in revolutionising air travel and popularising low fares that now allow everyone to fly,” the company said.

In the same statement, Fernandes said the award reflected AirAsia’s commitment to growing tourism in the region.

“While other airlines are contracting, AirAsia is expanding, believing that it is vitally important for Asia to receive as much support as it can get for the sustenance of its economies, including through growth in tourism.

“We have championed tourism in Asia by offering flights that are truly accessible to everyone,” he said.

The awards were held at the 20th Annual TTG Travel Awards 2009 Ceremony and Gala Dinner in Bangkok yesterday. About 700 travel industry professionals attended the event.

PARIS: AirAsia Bhd has been granted landing rights in Paris, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said here.
He said this was conveyed to him by French President Nicholas Sarkozy during their meeting at Elysee Palace in Paris on Wednesday.

“The details will be worked out by the officials later,” he told Malaysian journalists before flying home later Wednesday night.

The French leader had given his approval for the budget airline to land at Orly Airport, southern Paris, barely 24 hours after Najib had raised the matter with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

Najib had noted in that meeting that AirAsia was the Airbus A320’s biggest customer in the world.

Definitely, there will be a zero fare promotion by AirAsia to celebrate this new route. So, get ready to pack your bag and fly to the city of romance.

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) “Everyday Low Fares” is back. Book your air tickets from 5th to 9th oct 2009 to enjoy your everyday low fares. Travel period is from 5th Nov 2009 to 10 Sep 2009.

I would like to put a table of low fares reference from MAS website but unable to do so because it’s too tedious to adjust the table which may not display correctly on this website.  Anyway, to make life easier for me, you may refer the attractive low fares by clicking Malaysia Airlines All-in Everyday Low Fares ..

NEW YORK: The 19-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur which took off from here at 10pm on Thursday (10am Friday, Malaysian time) turned out to be a sentimental journey for many passengers and crew.

MH91 was Malaysia Airlines’ farewell flight from the Big Apple as Malaysia’s national carrier has decided to suspend its Kuala Lumpur-New York route.

As the plane prepared for take-off from the Newark Airport, it was given a water salutation normally reserved for aircraft making their debut at an airport.

A total 188 passengers boarded the flight, including eight members from the Malaysian national darts team who had just won a bronze medal at the World Darts Championship in North Carolina.

“We are happy to catch the last flight home but at the same time, disappointed that MAS will stop flying from New York after tonight,”said team member Sazali A. Rahman from Labuan.

Pilot Kapt Badrul Hisham Zainal Abdin said he hoped MAS would change its mind about suspending the flight.

“The United States is Malaysia’s largest trading partner but direct acccess has now been reduced to just Los Angeles,” he noted.

MAS area vice-president (Eastern USA) Malkit Singh and station manager Kamili Md Amin were present to ensure that things went smoothly. MAS airport staff and those from its Manhattan office were also there.

The New York-Kuala Lumpur flight has been operating since 1998, initially transiting in Dubai and since Nov 2004, in Stockholm. In July this year, the airline announced that it was suspending the flight from Oct 1 due to a drop in demand following the global economic crisis.

Also on the flight were Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman and 13 Malaysian delegates who were in New York to attend the United Nations general assembly.

The new route marked the 17th destination for the low-cost airline that now ser­­vices four Malaysian cities — Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Penang.

“Jetstar services on the Singapore-Penang route will expand to double daily or 14 times weekly from tomorrow,” said Jetstar Asia chief executive officer Chong Phit Lian in a media statement.

“These services will create a real low-fare access for both Singaporeans and the growing number of our passengers travelling through Singapore on the Jetstar and Qantas (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jetstar Group) network.

“Malaysia is a vital player in Jetstar’s growing Pan Asian network and we are thrilled to begin our new daily service to the historic city of Penang,” she added.

SEPANG, Sept 28 — AirAsia, Asia’s leading low cost airline, will fly to Kochi, Trivandrum and Kolkata come December, in a move to expand its network in India.

AsiaAsia Group’s Regional Head of Commercial Kathleen Tan said AirAsia was flying now to Tiruchirappalli and would spread its wings to other destinations in India this year.

“Last year we were very busy working in China and we are now extensively covered in China. At present, AirAsia flies to Chengdu, Guangzhou, Guilin, Haikou,  angzhou, Shenzhen and Tianjin in China.

“For the fourth quarter and next year, AirAsia will focus on building our network in India where there is huge demand,” she told Bernama in an interview  today in conjunction with AirAsia’s 48-hour sales.

The two-day promotion, offers a 20 per cent discount on fares to all destinations, excluding London and Thailand, for the travel period beginning today until Nov 30.

It covers all domestic and international destinations across 20 countries and over 130 routes.

Elaborating on the Indian sector, Tan said AirAsia was looking at tapping destinations like Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and AirAsia’s long-haul affiliate, AirAsia X, would look further at Mumbai and Delhi.

She said the Tiruchirappalli sector received overwhelming response from the population in Southern India who visited Kuala Lumpur and used it as a gateway to enter Southeast Asia.

On whether AsiaAsia was experiencing a dip in sales due to the economic downturn, Tan said AirAsia was not really affected due to the airline’s strategic commercial initiative to encourage people to travel.

“Because of the economic downturn, people are downgrading but corporate travellers still want to fly. AirAsia offered alternative solutions to get people to fly,” she said.

Tan said AirAsia’s market was huge covering the corporate, youth, retired, labour, family and student segments, adding that travelling during an economic crisis was best because of low prices offered by hotels.

“Because of our low cost model, the fares are affordable. We are changing the travel dynamics in Asia and we see more Malaysians flying now. In the past, people in East Malaysia will not come to Kuala Lumpur because of the expensive airfare,” she said.

Tan said the low cost carrier had opened up the flying experience as people not just travel for holidays but also for shopping or medical treatment.

She said AirAsia’s low cost model also boosted domestic tourism as the airline’s huge network enabled more Malaysians to take short domestic holidays to Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Miri and Tawau.

“We see 2009 as a challenging year for the aviation industry. We removed fuel surcharge and administration fees because we want to keep flying at affordable prices to stimulate travel.

“AirAsia today is more than just about low fares. We are selling romance,

lifestyle and holiday dreams,” Tan said.

Asked on AirAsia’s sales target for 2010, Tan said the economy was recovering and people are beginning to spend.

“The worst is over, so let’s see. Our bookings have been very encouraging,” said Tan, adding that AirAsia was still expanding despite the challenging economy.Saying that the low cost model was more matured and gaining acceptance, Tan added that online booking was no longer an issue because people were more tech-savvy now.

On AirAsia’s 48-hour sales campaign, Tan said the airline rarely offered such a promotion.

“The campaign will encourage people to travel because this year was a tough year due because of the H1N1 pandemic and challenging economic factors,” she explained.

Asked on the sales expectation, Tan said: “I would not be able to give figures, it depends on the response, but I think the response will be good. We are running into the peak travel period now and people want to start planning their holidays.”

During the two-day promotion, AirAsia will offer a 20 per cent discount on fares to all destinations, excluding London and Thailand, for the travel period beginning today until Nov 30.

It covers all domestic and international destinations across 20 countries and over 130 routes. — Bernama