KUALA LUMPUR, -- AirAsia X, the low-cost, long-haul affiliate of AirAsia, has made Malaysia proud after being named the winner of the "Best Newcomer" Award at the prestigious 2008 Budgie World Low Cost Airline Awards held last night at the London Queen Elizabeth II Centre.
AirAsia X, whose shareholders include the Virgin Group, was commended for its ground-breaking new business model and excellence in launching its services across Asia Pacific.
AirAsia X beat British Airways subsidiary airline, Open Skies, as well as Jin Air and K-Rabi, to the "Best Newcomer" accolade.
It also received the highest number of nominations among all entries. In total, AirAsia Group was shortlisted in four categories, including "Best Low Cost Airline", "Best Low Cost Airline: Asia Pacific" and "CEO of the Year".
Since its inaugural flight to Australia's Gold Coast in November 2007, AirAsia X has announced daily flights to Hangzhou, China, Melbourne and Perth, with plans to launch services to London as early as next year.
At the ceremony to receive the award, Azran Osman-Rani, CEO AirAsia X, said: "It is a great honour for us to receive this award and be in the same peer group with other winners such as Southwest Airlines, EasyJet and Virgin Blue.
"The recognition of our pioneering model proves that Malaysian companies can succeed in the global marketplace. Were proud to keep the Jalur Gemilang flying high," he said in a statement from London to Bernama Friday.
Azran said despite tough market conditions in 2008, AirAsia X has provided its guests with lowest fares to long-haul destinations many have never had the opportunity to travel before, alongside an enhanced travel experience, including comfortable leather seats and a newly launched "5 star" menu.
"The result has been tremendous and we have already recorded load factors of over 300,000 passengers since inception," he said.
Present was Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Group CEO and founder of AirAsia X. The Budgie World Low Cost Airline Awards recognises leaders, innovators and pioneers in the global low-cost aviation industry.
This years awards were judged by renowned industry consultants including John Hanlon, secretary-general of European Low Fare Airline Association, John Strickland, CEO of JLS Consulting, Jay Sorensen, CEO of IdeaWorks and Peter Harbison, Executive Director of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
Skypark Subang Terminal, will be a new dominating landmark at the refurbished Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah airport, with its awe-inspiring design.
The design accentuates the airport as a modern and contemporary icon under an urban rejuvenation programme.
The overall goal is to transform the airport through design intervention and make it a vibrant destination for travellers.
"Changes in social conventions and the higher demands of discerning travellers, provided the new dimensions for SkyPark Subang Terminal which is being refurbished at RM40 million," said Subang SkyPark Sdn Bhd's chief operating officer, Janardhanan Gopala Krishnan in a statement today.
He said the refurbishment is geared to cater to an initial 2.5 million passenger traffic anticipated in 2009.
"We are working closely with Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd to meet passenger expectations and delights. It will be an airport with a difference," Janardhanan said.
The full refurbishment works of SkyPark Subang Terminal is set to be completed by November this year.
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 -- Community airline, Firefly, aims to become profitable by the next financial year ending Dec 31, 2009, its managing director Eddy Leong said Friday.
He said Firefly's new generation turboprop aircraft would help it save cost, increase seat capacity and help it turn around in the long run.
"Firefly is also targeting 1.5 million passengers next year," he told reporters at the company's buka puasa here Friday.
Leong said the airline has taken delivery of two aircraft and expected another three this year with five more in 2009.
He said the ten new-generation turboprop aircraft cost the company US$186 million (US$1=RM3.42).
Leong said the airline, which faced trying times this year, had no plan to revamp its fare structure.
"We have been maintaining the same fare structure even with the recent fuel increase. There is no need for drastic changes," he said.
He said even with the higher fuel prices, people still preferred travelling by air.
Leong said Firefly would also be adding new routes -- between Subang-Johor Baharu, Subang-Pekan Baru, Subang-Medan, and Subang-Koh Samui -- effective Oct 26.
How to book your tickets: 1. Via its website www.fireflyz.com.my 2. Via its call center at +603 7845 4543 (opens daily 8 am - 9 pm) 3. Via Penang Sales Office 4. Via appointed Malaysia Airlines Ticketing Offices in KLIA and KL Sentral in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi, Kota Bharu, Kuala Terengganu and Kuantan 5. Via appointed Airline Marketing Representatives in Phuket and Koh Samui 6. Via any travel agents registered with Firefly
This slide gives technical definitions of a wing's geometry, which is one of the chief factors affecting airplane lift and drag. Actual aircraft wings are complex three-dimensional objects, but we will start with some simple definitions. The figure shows the wing viewed from three directions; the upper left shows the view from the top looking down on the wing, the lower right shows the view from the front looking at the wing leading edge, and the lower left shows a side view from the left looking in towards the centerline. The side view shows an airfoil shape with the leading edge to the left.
Top View
The top view shows a simple wing geometry, like that found on a light general aviation aircraft. The front of the wing (at the bottom) is called the leading edge; the back of the wing (at the top) is called the trailing edge. The distance from the leading edge to the trailing edge is called the chord, denoted by the symbol c. The ends of the wing are called the wing tips, and the distance from one wing tip to the other is called the span, given the symbol s. The shape of the wing, when viewed from above looking down onto the wing, is called a planform. In this figure, the planform is a rectangle. For a rectangular wing, the chord length at every location along the span is the same. For most other planforms, the chord length varies along the span. The wing area, A, is the projected area of the planform and is bounded by the leading and trailing edges and the wing tips. Note:The wing area is NOT the total surface area of the wing. The total surface area includes both upper and lower surfaces. The wing area is a projected area and is almost half of the total surface area.
Aspect ratio is a measure of how long and slender a wing is from tip to tip. The Aspect Ratio of a wing is defined to be the square of the span divided by the wing area and is given the symbol AR. For a rectangular wing, this reduces to the ratio of the span to the chord length as shown at the upper right of the figure.
AR = s^2 / A = s^2 / (s * c) = s / c
High aspect ratio wings have long spans (like high performance gliders), while low aspect ratio wings have either short spans (like the F-16 fighter) or thick chords (like the Space Shuttle). There is a component of the drag of an aircraft called induced drag which depends inversely on the aspect ratio. A higher aspect ratio wing has a lower drag and a slightly higher lift than a lower aspect ratio wing. Because the glide angle of a glider depends on the ratio of the lift to the drag, a glider is usually designed with a very high aspect ratio. The Space Shuttle has a low aspect ratio because of high speed effects, and therefore is a very poor glider. The F-14 and F-111 have the best of both worlds. They can change the aspect ratio in flight by pivoting the wings--large span for low speed, small span for high speed.
Front View
The front view of this wing shows that the left and right wing do not lie in the same plane but meet at an angle. The angle that the wing makes with the local horizontal is called the dihedral angle. Dihedral is added to the wings for roll stability; a wing with some dihedral will naturally return to its original position if it encounters a slight roll displacement. You may have noticed that most large airliner wings are designed with diherdral. The wing tips are farther off the ground than the wing root. Highly maneuverable fighter planes, on the other hand do not have dihedral. In fact, some fighter aircraft have the wing tips lower than the roots giving the aircraft a high roll rate. A negative dihedral angle is called anhedral . Historical Note: The Wright brothers designed their 1903 flyer with a slight anhedral to enhance the aircraft roll performance.
Side View
A cut through the wing perpendicular to the leading and trailing edges will show the cross-section of the wing. This side view is called an airfoil, and it has some geometry definitions of its own as shown at the lower left. The straight line drawn from the leading to trailing edges of the airfoil is called the chord line. The chord line cuts the airfoil into an upper surface and a lower surface. If we plot the points that lie halfway between the upper and lower surfaces, we obtain a curve called the mean camber line. For a symmetric airfoil (upper surface the same shape as the lower surface) the mean camber line will fall on top of the chord line. But in most cases, these are two separate lines. The maximum distance between the two lines is called the camber, which is a measure of the curvature of the airfoil (high camber means high curvature). The maximum distance between the upper and lower surfaces is called the thickness. Often you will see these values divided by the chord length to produce a non-dimensional or "percent" type of number. Airfoils can come with all kinds of combinations of camber and thickness distributions.
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 -- Kuwaits Al-Aqeelah Group will be investing US$400-500 million over a period of time to set up an international aviation school, World Aviation Academy, in Malaysia in response to the growing demand for industry personnel.
Through its aviation arm, Aqeeq Aviation Holding, the group will initially put in US$100 million to jumpstart the academy which will train those involved in almost every aspect of the industry, from pilots to technicians and crew.
Aqeeq Aviation president and chief executive officer, Captain Abdullah Bastaki told Bernama that by 2020, the requirement for both civil and military pilots will exceed 300,000 personnels and that did not even include the technicians, cabin crew, or even air traffic controllers.
"The growth is hitting all sides. The academy is a necessity for the aviation industry today," he said in an interview here, recently.
More importantly, Abdullah said the academy would serve the needs of the middle eastern countries, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as well as this region.
"All these regions are thirsty for a proper and well established (aviation) education. It is different from than just taking a license. Now the aviation language is in English, which is standard and mandatory. Malaysians have a good command of the English language, which really brings it in line with the aviation industry requirement today," he said.
He added that they were also looking to produce more number of students, about 1,000 personnel yearly, with the help of state-of-the-art training technology such as the latest simulators and equipments. There will be less emphasis on using aircrafts which are subjected to unavoidable factors like weather, he added.
The group is in the midst of scouting for the perfect location to set up the academy and has identified several locations including Senai in Johor, Kuantan in Pahang and Batu Berendam, Melaka.
Abdullah said when the time is right, the aviation group intends to upgrade the academy into a university where they might outsource an existing aviation university to be the operator instead of starting from scratch.
"When we are ready, we will discuss with the Ministry of Higher Education to get the approval. But I don't see that (getting university status) as more than two-three years after we start. By then, we should be ready to give a university education in the academy and we are looking (to tie-up with) those from North America and Europe," he said.
Abdullah stressed that it will be also necessary for trainees to not only learn the technical side of the industry but also the management and financial aspects of it.
The courses offered at the university would see the students getting an aviation degree, and they would be also given special courses which will cover the areas of running an airline "It will be a mix of the financial, operational and technical parts," he said.
According to Abdullah, the academy will be the group's biggest project by far and expect it to contribute significantly over a period of time.
"Now the group owns four airlines, and we are also running an airport in Iraq. But by comparison, the academy supercedes all the others. It is the jewel in the crown. The academy can contribute more than 80 percent to the group in the next five years," he said.
In addition to the academy, Aqeeq Aviation would also be setting up a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Centre and a Completion Centre in the vicinity.
In likening the academy and these centres to a medical school and its affiliate hospital, Abdullah said the centre would serve as training ground for technicians besides being open for business.
"With the delay in aircraft orders, people tend to keep old airplanes. And once it passes five years, you need a lot of maintenance for it. So the MRO is a good business as it will attract aircrafts here, but at the same time, you will educate technicians," he said.
The MRO market today is estimated at US$58 billion, and is expected to grow US$60-70 billion in the next five to 10 years. Abdullah said the good thing about aviation was that the market was not dependent on the local business. If a plane from US makes a stop over in Malaysia, the aircraft can have its MRO done here, he pointed out.
"We are also adding a Completion Centre, something which we already started in Oman. We will bring used airplanes and convert them into an executive VIP aircraft.
"We found that in order to get a new aircraft these days, the waiting is six to seven years sometimes, and the minimum payment US$40-200 million. If you refurbish a used aircraft, within six months to a year you can get a complete executive airplane which can be used in a much shorter time," he said.
Abdullah said Aqeeq Aviation was also looking at partnering or acquiring local aviation academies and small MRO businesses in order to strengthen the academy's operation and make it uniquely Malaysian.
"Even for the simulator software firms, they can come in together with us and build up the academy so that it will be built by existing Malaysian industry personnel and services. We are looking at acquisitions or participation from them, and this can reduce the lead time required to start the academy to within just a year," he said.
"We are looking at partners who are not just purely investing, but can contribute to the business," he said.
He added that the group has identified its partners from Kuwait who can bring added value to the project. "We insist to have well-known international partners, like people who are in the equipment business, or in the training business, people who can do other part of aviation training like air traffic control."
At the same interview, Captain Lars Mydland, a partner and consultant in the academy said history showed that the current high-priced fuel issue clouding the aviation industry was temporary.
"If you look from 1972 until now, we have lots of crisis, such as oil crisis and September 11. But, if you look, it has been a continuous expansion (for the aviation industry) from 1972 until now. The industry is very quickly adapting and based on what has been put in order, the industry needs qualified personnel," he said.
CAA International offer JAR FCL & Part 66 exams from our UKCAA question banks, to aviation authorities and to candidates direct worldwide.
Examination Services
CAA International provides exam centres in global venues enabling candidates to sit JAR FCL and EASA Part 66 exams which will credit towards a UK CAA/EASA licence in conjunction with UK CAA approved training where required.
We have access to extensive question banks, which are continuously updated to ensure a vast databank of questions. This not only meets the demand from industry, but also produces well motivated, professional, and above all, safe pilots and engineers graduating with the well-recognised training standards associated with JAR-FCL and EASA Part 66.
Malaysia Venue
Our Malaysian venue is available from December 2008. The centre is based at the British Council offices and will offer identical exams to those sat in the UK following the UK exam timetable.
Kuala Lumpur Centre British Council Ground Floor, West Block Wisma Selangor Dredging 142C Jalan Ampang 50450 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
Telephone +60 (0)3 2723 7900
Car Park
There is a car park in Wisma Selangor Dredging and an open air parking area between Wisma Selangor Dredging and Hotel Maya.
Examination services to Departments of Civil Aviation
CAA International also offers an exams service to Departments of Civil Aviation who need to issue their own professional licenses and ratings but don’t have the required resources or expertise to develop their own question bank and exams system.
The task of developing a national flight crew licensing system can be both costly and time consuming. The examination service offered by CAA International is designed to assist states with the operation of their own national licensing system, removing the need for pilots and engineers to rely on foreign licences. Contact us for further information.
MIRI: A light passenger aircraft crashed after overshooting the runway while landing at the Ba?Kelalan airport, about 120 miles east of here, on Saturday. All 14 people onboard are safe.
The DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, belonging to Malaysia Airlines? subsidiary MASWings, crashed at the end of the runway at the short take-off and landing airport (STOLport) as it came in to land at 9.34am, said Ba?Kelalan state assemblyman Nelson Balang Rining who was briefed by officers of the Lawas Department of Civil Aviation.
The pilot, co-pilot and all 12 passengers were unhurt in the incident, which badly damaged the aircraft, he said when contacted by Bernama.
Nelson, who is now in Lawas, said the weather was ?considerably fine? when the aircraft took off from Lawas STOLport at 8.45am.
In KUCHING, MASWings managing director Dr Amin Khan, when contacted by Bernama, said the aircraft, on a Miri-Lawas-Ba?Kelalan flight, skidded about 10 metres from the runway.
?There were no casualties or serious injury. It is the standard procedure to ensure flight safety. We took all the safety measures,? he said.
He said an investigation would be made on the cause of the accident and that MASWings engineers based in Miri would be flown to Ba?Kelalan to assist in the probe.
Dr Amin said the accident did not affect MASWings schedule of flights and that the runway at Ba?Kelalan airport remained open.
MASWings makes three flights a week to BA?Kelalan, which is reached easily by air. The land route requires the use of a timber track from Lawas town.
The 19-seater Twin Otter aircraft was one of the five operated by MASWings for its rural air services (RAS) in Sarawak.
To move an airplane through the air, we have to use some kind of propulsion system to generate thrust. The most widely used form of propulsion system for modern aircraft is the gas turbine engine. Turbine engines come in a variety of forms.
This page shows computer drawings of four different variations of a gas turbine or jet engine. While each of the engines are different, they share some parts in common. Each of these engines have a combustion section (red), a compressor (cyan), a turbine (magenta) and an inlet and a nozzle (grey). The compressor, burner, and turbine are called the core of the engine, since all gas turbines have these components. The core is also referred to as the gas generator since the output of the core is hot exhaust gas. The gas is passed through a nozzle to produce thrust for the turbojet, while it is used to drive the turbine (green) of the turbofan and turboprop engines. Because the compressor and turbine are linked by the central shaft and rotate together, this group of parts is called the turbomachinery. The operation of the turbojet,afterburning turbojet,turbofan, and turboprop engines are described on separate pages.
Because of their high power output and high thermal efficiency, gas turbine engines are also used in a wide variety of applications not related to aeronautics. Connecting the main shaft of the engine to an electro-magnet will generate electrical power. Gas turbines can also be used to power ships, trucks and military tanks. In these applications, the main shaft is connected to a gear box (much like the turboprop) and the resulting power plant is called a turboshaft engine. In the late 1960's, turboshaft powered race cars competed at the Indy 500.
You can explore the design and operation of different turbine engine by using the interactive EngineSim Java applet. You can select the engine type and vary any of the parameters which affect thrust and fuel flow.
Airplanes are transportation devices which are designed to move people and cargo from one place to another. Airplanes come in many different shapes and sizes depending on the mission of the aircraft. The airplane shown on this slide is a turbine-powered airliner which has been chosen as a representative aircraft.
The fuselage, or body of the airplane, is a long hollow tube which holds all the pieces of an airplane together. The fuselage is hollow to reduce weight. As with most other parts of the airplane, the shape of the fuselage is normally determined by the mission of the aircraft. A supersonic fighter plane has a very slender, streamlined fuselage to reduce the drag associated with high speed flight. An airliner has a wider fuselage to carry the maximum number of passengers. On an airliner, the pilots sit in a cockpit at the front of the fuselage. Passengers and cargo are carried in the rear of the fuselage and the fuel is usually stored in the wings. For a fighter plane, the cockpit is normally on top of the fuselage, weapons are carried on the wings, and the engines and fuel are placed at the rear of the fuselage.
The weight of an aircraft is distributed all along the aircraft. The fuselage, along with the passengers and cargo, contribute a significant portion of the weight of an aircraft. The center of gravity of the aircraft is the average location of the weight and it is usually located inside the fuselage. In flight, the aircraft rotates around the center of gravity because of torques generated by the elevator, rudder, and ailerons. The fuselage must be designed with enough strength to withstand these torques.
This page shows the parts of an airplane and their functions. Airplanes are transportation devices which are designed to move people and cargo from one place to another. Airplanes come in many different shapes and sizes depending on the mission of the aircraft. The airplane shown on this slide is a turbine-powered airliner which has been chosen as a representative aircraft.
For any airplane to fly, you must lift the weight of the airplane itself, the fuel, the passengers, and the cargo. The wings generate most of the lift to hold the plane in the air. To generate lift, the airplane must be pushed through the air. The jet engines, which are located beneath the wings, provide the thrust to push the airplane forward through the air. The air resists the motion in the form of aerodynamic drag. Some airplanes use propellers for the propulsion system instead of jets.
To control and maneuver the aircraft, smaller wings are located at the tail of the plane. The tail usually has a fixed horizontal piece (called the horizontal stabilizer) and a fixed vertical piece (called the vertical stabilizer). The stabilizers' job is to provide stability for the aircraft, to keep it flying straight. The vertical stabilizer keeps the nose of the plane from swinging from side to side, while the horizontal stabilizer prevents an up-and-down motion of the nose. (On the Wright brother's first aircraft, the horizontal stabilizer was placed in front of the wings. Such a configuration is called a canard after the French word for "duck").
At the rear of the wings and stabilizers are small moving sections that are attached to the fixed sections by hinges. In the figure, these moving sections are colored brown. Changing the rear portion of a wing will change the amount of force that the wing produces. The ability to change forces gives us a means of controlling and maneuvering the airplane. The hinged part of the vertical stabilizer is called the rudder; it is used to deflect the tail to the left and right as viewed from the front of the fuselage. The hinged part of the horizontal stabilizer is called the elevator; it is used to deflect the tail up and down. The outboard hinged part of the wing is called the aileron; it is used to roll the wings from side to side. Most airliners can also be rolled from side to side by using the spoilers. Spoilers are small plates that are used to disrupt the flow over the wing and to change the amount of force by decreasing the lift when the spoiler is deployed.
The wings have additional hinged, rear sections near the body that are called flaps. Flaps are deployed downward on takeoff and landing to increase the amount of force produced by the wing. On some aircraft, the front part of the wing will also deflect. Slats are used at takeoff and landing to produce additional force. The spoilers are also used during landing to slow the plane down and to counteract the flaps when the aircraft is on the ground. The next time you fly on an airplane, notice how the wing shape changes during takeoff and landing.
The fuselage or body of the airplane, holds all the pieces together. The pilots sit in the cockpit at the front of the fuselage. Passengers and cargo are carried in the rear of the fuselage. Some aircraft carry fuel in the fuselage; others carry the fuel in the wings. As mentioned above, the aircraft configuration in the figure was chosen only as an example. Individual aircraft may be configured quite differently from this airliner. The Wright Brothers 1903 Flyer had pusher propellers and the elevators at the front of the aircraft. Fighter aircraft often have the jet engines buried inside the fuselage instead of in pods hung beneath the wings. Many fighter aircraft also combine the horizontal stabilizer and elevator into a single stabilator surface. There are many possible aircraft configurations, but any configuration must provide for the four forces needed for flight.
The ‘Red Bull Air Race’ was conceived in the Red Bull sports think-tank and came from an idea to merge flying with the most exciting elements of motor racing. The aim was to develop a brand new aviation race that would challenge the ability of the world’s best pilots, creating a race in the sky that was not simply about speed, but also precision and skill. The answer was to build a specially designed obstacle course which the pilots would navigate at high speeds.
BCAR Section L contains full information on the licensing of Aircraft Maintenance Engineers under UK national requirements. This licensing system applies primarily to the maintenance of aircraft below 5700kg; licensing on aircraft above this weight falls under the requirements of the common European code of JAR-66.
