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发表于 4-8-2011 08:15 AM
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3-for-1 arrangement no longer determines route allocation
Local airlines free to fly By B.K. SIDHU
bksidhu@thestar.com.my
PETALING JAYA: The 3-for-1 parallel route arrangement will no longer determine the allocation of routes to local airlines. This means the carriers will be free to fly to any global destination provided there are sufficient traffic rights under bilateral agreements with the particular countries, sources said.
The lifting of the arrangement, however, does not include the KL-Sydney route, which will remain temporarily closed to competition and will only be plied by Malaysia Airlines (MAS). That means AirAsia X (AAX), no matter how eager they may be to get on this route, will have to wait longer.
Sources said the 3-for-1 arrangement was formulated by the National Economic Council a year ago. Under the rule, a Malaysian airline will first have to fly three non-parallel routes before it is allowed to operate a parallel route. A parallel route is one on which two or more airlines operate, and competition often keeps fares and margins down.  AirAsia X will still have to wait for the KL-Sydney route
For example, if AAX wants to ply the KL-Sydney route, it needs to first fly three other routes not flown by MAS, say, KL-Gold Coast, KL-Tianjin and KL-Hangzhou. The 3-for-1 arrangement applies to both airlines.
AAX has been demanding for more parallel routes for some time now to balance it route network with core and secondary routes. It has asked for rights to fly to Beijing, Osaka, Shanghai, Jeddah, and Sydney. These, except for Istanbul, are also some of the cities that are listed in the Economic Transformation Programme that are underserved in terms of flights from KLIA when compared with flights from Changi and Bangkok.
Those in the know claimed on Monday that AAX have secured approval to fly to five new destinations Beijing, Osaka, Shanghai, Jeddah and Istanbul but not Sydney. For most of the new destinations AAX would be able to fly seven times a week, the source said.
“It is somewhat a trade-off to allow AAX to fly more points and keep KL-Sydney closed for at least another year. The lead time is intended to allow MAS to feed traffic into its A380 superjumbo aircraft, which it intends to use on the Sydney-KL-London routes,” the source added.
MAS will take delivery of the first of six A380 in April next year. Each A380 can seat nearly 500 passengers.
With five more routes, AAX now can fly to 37 routes but has thus far only operated 15 routes. An earlier statement from the Transport Ministry said AAX had not fully utilised all the traffic rights granted to four destinations, namely Tianjin, Melbourne, Taipei and Teheran, and had withdrawn from Abu Dhabi.
“Lifting the 3-for-1 arrangement bodes well for both airlines and that gives airlines flexibility to ply routes that they think is economically viable. It is also good for the traveller as he will now have a choice of a premium airline and a low-cost airline plying the routes. Hopefully competition will drive airfares down and quality of service up,'' said an analyst.
Singapore Airlines is preparing to launch its own long haul, low cost carrier and that would intensify competition in the long haul market. The lead time to plan given by the lifting of the 3-for-1 arrangement will hopefully allow the two local carriers to stay ahead of the competition.
But the question is how soon would AAX ply these new routes?
Both AirAsia boss Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and the CEO of AAX, Azran Osman-Rani, were not available for comment.
The approval of the routes also depends on the traffic rights availability and the receiving country's rules and regulations and other restrictions that may have been imposed on AAX.
“Getting slots that fall within a busy wave would be a challenge for both Beijing and Jeddah even though for the other three destinations it is not an issue. Beijing is the second busiest airport in the world and every airline wants to land there during the peak hour flight wave. However, they may be able to manage with non peak hours slots,'' said an analyst. |
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