Hello Asia! Goodbye Europe for my holidays.

Like many the yearly visit to mainland Europe for the seasonal beach holiday was normal, however this year with the British Pound so weak again the Euro we looked further away from home.

With the past years credit crunch everyone is looking to cut costs and get more for your money. Air Asia's timing of the the direct service from London Stansted to Kuala Lumpur KLCC couldn't be better. After working out how much a family holiday would cost in Europe compared to the cost of a flight to Malaysia there was no competition.

The flight was excellent on a new plane with great staff and great service for a budget price.

We decided not to stay in KL but head straight for an island on the east coast Malaysia. We found a little known island called Pulau Sibu (Sibu island) from a blog and after checking the place out with reviews from tripadvisor and rough guide we booked a 10 day stay at Sibu Island Cabanas.

The scuba diving on offer at Sibu Island is excellent. The dives are from small speed boats to sites no body seems to dive at all; as the reefs are in perfect condition with little to no bleaching. Both myself and my son were able to pass our PADI open water certifications at the hotel / dive centre. While my wife enjoyed some quiet time with a good book on the beach.

It's easy to forget what you really want in a holiday! Forget about the minibar, TVs and mobile phones. All you really want is somewhere to relax as well as to have fun with family and friends.

So if you want to really get away from it all if you live in London or Singapore; KL or Perth remember what it is you really want from a beach holiday and look abit further away from the usual and you'll find exactly what your looking for.

Well, I have been asked many times by various people the following "Is it safe ah? Low cost you know? I heard the maintenance all ah, so so only". And in one of the blogs, someone asked "Eh, I heard even the baggage handler can be pilot, how can? I hope they get only the good people lar"

So, what do you think? Having flown for the national airline, national cargo carrier, and now with my life in the Asian Budget Airline of the year 2008, I can safely say one thing - only the business model is low cost lar!

To start an airline, one must first obtain an AOC - Air Operator Certificate which is issued by the respective Civil Aviation Authorities. All airline operators, cargo, passenger, low cost, HIGH cost have to meet the same rigid requirements before such a certificate is issued. Operators must meet rigid maintenance practices, flight crew training, and other safety aspects before obtaining such a certificate.

The aircraft maintenance engineers and pilots hold the same professional license as issued by the same Civil Aviation Authority - there is NO LOW COST LICENSE!!! The flight attendants also have to go through the same training as those in the full fledge airlines. In fact, having been through the training where I am now, I realize that being a low cost carrier, we are under the spotlight most of the time as the civil aviation authority does not want us to cut corners where training is concerned, with that, I have to say, somehow, we are more thorough with our training for the engineers, pilots, as well as flight attendants.

For those of you who are worried that we are taking in everyone to fly - bear in mind, to obtain a professional pilot license, the local authorities do have their own criteria - and again, there is only one professional pilot license - there is NO LOW COST CREW!!! The guy who made it as a pilot met all the academic requirements - we are not that LOW COST lar :P

So there you go - the business model is low cost (I would prefer to say, cost effective), but the safety aspect is NOT as there is no LOW COST to safety. If you want to know what low cost business model is - visit Tony's blog:)

Flying commercial since 1992...

I've been flying with AirAsia for as long as I can remember. So for a change, I flew with a Malaysian premier airline for the first time in August. But guess what, all I can say is, AirAsia's inflight nasi lemakand roti jala are so delicious that nothing the premium airline can compare. There were times that I took AirAsia flight just to eat AirAsia's nasi lemak. Some people think that I am crazy but I tell you guys....AirAsia's NASI LEMAK, IS THE BEST NASI LEMAK. You can call me bias but AirAsia's nasi lemak gravy tastes really nice while the one on the other airline tastes sour.

Since joining AirAsia as a cadet pilot several years ago, I have learnt much – not only about the strange and wondrous workings of commercial flying, but also from the many close encounters with our dear guests. Answering guest queries personally is important to me as that’s when I get to provide that much needed ‘personal touch’ to our guests.

Here is a crash course folks (pardon the bad pun) on my flight FAQs.

Q: Why do we need to open the window shades for takeoff and landing?
A: Basically, for safety. Do remember that if there were to be an accident it is likely to occur during take off and landing. Opened window shades allow both passengers and crew to access the situation outside of the aircraft (as well as first responders to assess the situation inside).

Q: With autopilot on, what’s so difficult about flying?
A: The Autopilot cannot make the plane take off by itself. (It can land by itself but this is not allowed due to calibration problems). Though used extensively, note that like any other computer, it operates on a GIGO (garbage-in, garbage-out) principle. The Autopilot cannot make critical decisions like abort a take-off, perform a go-around etc. Man still rules, ok! (read more...)