Malaysia Airline's Loss Is Emirates' Gain

By Manik Mehta NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Bernama) -- Many aviation experts and travel agents on the east coast of the United States say that Malaysia Airline's (MAS) loss has become Emirates' gain. The oblique reference is to the discontinuation since nearly four years of MAS' regular direct flight service between Newark airport in New Jersey, a busy aviation point on the east coast, and KL International Airport. "We were shocked when MAS first announced that it was discontinuing its Newark operations. There may have, understandably, been economic reasons behind the move but then there are other non-profitable routes that are still operated by the airline. "After all, the east coast of the United States is the world's most important and indeed prestigious route for airlines, many of which still fly despite low yields. "Also, the discontinuation of the service was not a good strategic move because if you withdraw once, it is not going to be easy getting back your foothold should you decide someday to come back," said one New York-based travel agent who sold MAS tickets but now sends most of his Malaysia-bound passengers on other airlines, particularly Emirates. Since MAS pulled out of Newark, other airlines have had a field day in tapping the lucrative Southeast Asian market. Singapore Airline, which has built up a wide network of connections from New York's JFK and New Jersey's Newark airport to a number of destinations in Southeast Asia, via Singapore, virtually held a monopoly for destinations in the region. However, Emirates is making an aggressive pitch for Southeast Asia, particularly to Malaysia. It has become the first airline to operate a scheduled A380 service to Malaysia. Travel agents in New York point out, not without missing the symbolism, that the airline's flagship flight to Malaysia, operating as EK346, was piloted by a Malaysian national, Capt Kwong Yung Ling, who landed at the Kuala Lumpur international airport last Sunday with a traditional welcome of a water canon salute. Most Malaysian travellers, in private conversations with Bernama, say they prefer a stopover at Dubai airport because of its incredible shopping opportunities there before taking a connecting flight to KLIA. Dubai was also a stopover for Newark-bound flights operated by MAS which, later, decided to discontinue that sector and switched to Stockholm en-route to Newark. Richard Jewsbury, Emirates' senior vice president (commercial operations – Far East and Australasia) said that the airline had been "eagerly awaiting" the start of the Airbus A380 service to Malaysia, "a country that we have been operating flights to since 1996". "I am sure that this historic milestone in both Malaysian aviation history and in the Emirates' story will further strengthen ties between Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to promoting trade and tourism opportunities between the two nations," he recently commented on the launch of the A380 service to Malaysia. The KLIA has, meanwhile, become the 18th airport being served by the airline's A380 double-decker aircraft. -- BERNAMA Malaysia