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Ceo Tony named is Travel Personality of The Year

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.

Great news for travelers because AirAsia has been granted landing right in Paris. So, anybody who would like to fly into Paris, “The City of Romance” will have this chance very soon. This new route is made possible after French President, Nicolas Sarcozy has given his approval during his meeting at Elysee Palace in Paris with Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

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.

Jetstar Asia plans to double the frequency of its Singapore-Penang flights to twice a day. The new route was launched on July 1.

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.