Sri Lanka Aviation

[slaviator]

Well for Mihin to be effective it needs more than 2 aircraft. And wouldnt A320s rather than A321s be the way to go for an LCC?

In regards to UL's turnaround, there are some good signs. But they need to be consistent. Like all Y class widebody seats should have the new IFE (not just in ALJ). Hopefully this will be done in due time. And they shouldve leased some A333s to replace the older A343s. Now these aircraft will be flying around with an inferior product. Also why does UL's A320 fleet have both IAE and CFM engines? (thus increasing costs). Its these small things that need looking at.

Mihin needs more aircraft to go big. But Finance is always an issue....Mihin will need to get rid more of its debt before even thinking of ordering more aircraft and be managed properly to fly to second tier teams....A321 is interesting....I'm not 100% sure why...

I think the newer aircraft will probably get a constant IfE but I doubt any of the long haul gas guzzlers should....and most of them won't...

I think some of the leases should be ending soon....and once finances at UL stabilizes a but more...they'll look at replacing these...and capping of the fleet at 30 aircraft as they have been proclaiming....

kflyer and banuthev are more familiar With fleet and engine economics...Im more familiar with airline management economics....

[Kflyer]

Do not remember all the details, but I remember arriving in SYD very late in the evening (close to midnight) and breezing to the hotel. Working backwards, the flight must have left CMB around 8AM.

I have never flown the return leg on the same flight, but the conventional wisdom says the flight must have left SYD the following morning once the curfew was lifted. If it was to leave before the curfew, it would have been a very brisk turn around, which I am not sure SYD would have been capable of.

Hope this helps.

The timings differed slightly by season, but generally UL678 left CMB at 0500, arriving in SYD around 1930/2030 and leaving around 2030/2130 return to CMB was about 0330+1. The SYD turnaround was 1h20min IIRC, and no it did not wait till the curfew.

[Kflyer]

@slaviator,

Since you appear to spread misinformation with authority, I am compelled to make this post. I am surprised that you do not know the following given your involvement in the industry!

1. Sheikh Ahmed (who is the uncle of Dubai's ruler) does not run EK's daily operations. He has very many other political and economical responsibilities (such as being the Chairman of Emirates NBD banking group ) as well as being a member of the Dubai Executive Council.
2. EK's hands on manager is Tim Clark who is an airline veteran with Gulf Air since mid seventies.
3. The other figure responsible for EK's success is Maurice Flanagan who has been in aviation since 1950s.

As you may know, running an airline is very different to running any other type of business, hence industry experience is a must. EK works because the shared experience amongst the three key figures above exceed 100 years.

If you are telling me that experience or professional / academic training is not required to run an airline effectively, I have a serious difficulty believing it.

I'd be interested to hear how you view Tony Fernandes (or any of the AirAsia mgt for that matter - 90% of whom have never worked for an airline before) ...

[Kflyer]

Well for Mihin to be effective it needs more than 2 aircraft. And wouldnt A320s rather than A321s be the way to go for an LCC?

In regards to UL's turnaround, there are some good signs. But they need to be consistent. Like all Y class widebody seats should have the new IFE (not just in ALJ). Hopefully this will be done in due time. And they shouldve leased some A333s to replace the older A343s. Now these aircraft will be flying around with an inferior product. Also why does UL's A320 fleet have both IAE and CFM engines? (thus increasing costs). Its these small things that need looking at.

Finances my friend... Do you know how much would the total refurbishment will cost? Having a mixed CFM/IAE fleet in fact does not really add costs when you have a MRO that services both types. Once you have reached that level of economies of scale the addition does not add any incremental costs and can be used opportunistically - eg. for a certain flying region the CFM may perform better or a certain weight variant may perform better with one engine type. I believe that UL now has reached that level. Also, it could again come down to financing as well because when you ger the sweetest deal it may have the other engine type.

[Cayman]

The timings differed slightly by season, but generally UL678 left CMB at 0500, arriving in SYD around 1930/2030 and leaving around 2030/2130 return to CMB was about 0330+1. The SYD turnaround was 1h20min IIRC, and no it did not wait till the curfew.

Thanks Kflyer.

I think this information is accurate.

What got imprinted in my memory must have been the occasions where there was a delay and I encountered no traffic reaching the hotel. I used to avoid the EK flight that arrives in SYD in the morning (via SIN) like the plague just for the same reason - traffic! The return leg of the EK flight was a brilliant though; leaving around 11-ish pm. Lets you get an entire day's worth of work done.

[Cayman]

I'd be interested to hear how you view Tony Fernandes (or any of the AirAsia mgt for that matter - 90% of whom have never worked for an airline before) ...

Congratulations! Just like the previous poster who managed to identify three odd balls in the IT industry as opposed to millions who succeeded with proper training (which is the norm), you managed to single out the one odd ball in the aviation industry as opposed to hundreds of thousands trained professionals. Is Tony having the same success with his Formula team as he does with Air Asia? If everything that he touches turn to gold, how would you explain their miserable performance in F1?

These days if you spend enough time on Google, you could find the odd reference to justify any theory / argument.

People become successful in what they do, when they know what they do, and when they are properly trained to do what they do. This has been (and will be) the norm in the history of mankind and I can find a million examples to back this up.

I will give you just one:

Find me a single untrained / inexperienced member who got there by fluke in the NASA /JPL team that successfully landed the Mars rover yesterday after navigating it for 352 MILLION MILES! Now, that is an amazing achievement, accomplished by people who knew what they were doing.

Anybody can make a quick buck if you happened to be in the right place at the right time (Suckerberg?) but this is the exception to the rule; not the rule itself.

[Speedbird]

@cayman


Some of the best managers in the world don't start with all the relevant experience or professional qualificiations.....but if you have a will.....intellect....bit of clout...applicable finance and a vision....good things happen...case in point...Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg.....maybe they aren't really aviation professionals....but they made a difference, everyone was different but they made old decisions at he right time...remember they are all dropouts but very successful.....and they literally started with nothing....no experience but a vision....

***

In the case of emirates....regardless of what tim Clarke thought up....if not for Sheikh Ahmed's power, close ties and the sovereign guarantee from his family which rules Dubai....emirates would have never happened....they do it well and I agree with that....but there is always support from the government in a myriad of ways.....it's not simply cut and dry as everyone wants to believe

Steve Jobs - drop out of Reed college
Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg - dropped out Harvard University
For once I agree...Yes they all dropped of elite US universities; well at least they got admission. To get admission (minimum is above average GPAs) to them(universities) itself is a prestige.

But they all had one thing in common. i.e. it is their own companies if they did not succeed; it is their money (in case of Mark Zuckerberg some one else money) and the company at stake. Where as UL ex or current CEO's they did not build this company or their money at stake...it is the Sri lankan tax payers money at stake.

On EK...I read an article in Flight International way back in early 90's just after gulf war...Reporter asked the question about the owners...this is what Tim Clark said. Myself, Maurice and the management team run the show; they do not interfere. Yes they weathered gulf war very well without complaining. At that time UL was carrying passengers from DXB to Berlin/LHR/Munich and many other points in Europe...rest is history

By the way you do spread misinformation and spin the truth.

[Speedbird]

I'd be interested to hear how you view Tony Fernandes (or any of the AirAsia mgt for that matter - 90% of whom have never worked for an airline before) ...

Tony Fernandes - Graduate of London School of Economics; Former auditor of Virgin Atlantic and Financial Controller of Virgin Records. A Professional Charted Accountant

...at least he knows about Credit and Debit

and you are the one who mentioned that "knowing too little can sometimes be a dangerous thing"

[NeatStuff]

Is there a way of checking what specific aircraft would be used on what route? i.e registration/tail numbers?

[CalgaryLankan]

Is there a way of checking what specific aircraft would be used on what route? i.e registration/tail numbers?

I use flightradar24 to do a good guess what aircraft it would be, but this is not an easy guess. With flightaware.com too you can study the pattern of A/C movement.

http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/4r-adb/

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/4RADB

Otherwise, this is mainly airline's internal information where someone in this forum has access, but not sure if he/she authorized to post them.

[banuthev]

Mihin Lanka to take delivery of A321 Aircraft - Mihin Lanka will be taking delivery of A321-231 from ILFC , by September 2012. The aircraft, 4R-MRD ( MSN 1946 ) is currently parked at Perpignan – Rivesaltes Airport (PGF) in France prior delivery to Colombo. The Engines powered by 2x IAE V2533-A5. The aircraft will be acquired on a Dry-Lease Agreement. I will post the picture of the aircraft soon.

[NeatStuff]

I use flightradar24 to do a good guess what aircraft it would be, but this is not an easy guess. With flightaware.com too you can study the pattern of A/C movement.

http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/4r-adb/

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/4RADB

Otherwise, this is mainly airline's internal information where someone in this forum has access, but not sure if he/she authorized to post them.

Cheers!

[Praetorian]

Whats the news regarding 4R-ALJ's first flight?
Must have been plenty of happy customers considering the new systems and upgrades.

[NeatStuff]

Whats the news regarding 4R-ALJ's first flight?
Must have been plenty of happy customers considering the new systems and upgrades.

According to flight radar it's only being used on the Kuwait route. Can someone confirm if this also includes the 3 weekly return flights via Dubai?

[banuthev]

According to flight radar it's only being used on the Kuwait route. Can someone confirm if this also includes the 3 weekly return flights via Dubai?

4R-ALJ currently being used for CMB-KWI-CMB-KUL-CMB sector as UL229/30 and UL314/15.

SriLankan operates daily nonstop flights between KWI and CMB. Kuwait Airways is reducing CMB flights from four to three weekly effective Winter 2012.