[Syarikat penerbangan kedua terbesar Jepun, All Nippon Airways (ANA), akan menghentikan semua penerbangan ke KL. Ia mengorak langkah tiga syarikat penerbangan lain yang sudah terbang jauh seperti British Airways, Qantas dan Lufthansa. Kini cuma tinggal 40 sahaja syarikat penerbangan menggunakan khidmat KLIA yang berharga RM9 bilion itu. Harapan KLIA untuk menjadi hab penerbangan nampaknya semakin berkecai dan tidak balik modal.

Mungkinkah ini hukum karma kerana tanahnya dibeli dengan harga yang teramat mahal agar anak diktator Malaysia menjadi kaya dengan sekelip mata sahaja? - Editor]

Source: The Singapore Straits Times

1st March 2001

Japan's ANA to stop all flights to KL from March

The pullout by the airline, which currently flies in five times a week from Kansai, is another blow to KLIA's hopes of becoming a regional hub

By Reme Ahmad

IN KUALA LUMPUR

JAPAN'S second-biggest airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA), has said it will be stopping all flights into Kuala Lumpur from next month, just four months after a similar announcement by British Airways.

ANA will be the fourth airline in two years to pull out from the RM9 billion (S$4 billion) Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Klia).

The airport opened in 1998 with hopes of becoming a regional airline and cargo hub.

Analysts said the ANA move had dealt a severe blow to the airport.

ANA's general manager in Malaysia, Mr Tsutomu Ota, said the airline was pulling out because it was losing money on the route.

It currently flies into Kuala Lumpur five times a week from Japan's Kansai airport with a stopover in Bangkok.

'The last flight will leave Kuala Lumpur on March 24. This is being done for commercial reasons as there is not enough revenue on the route to support the flights,' he told The Straits Times.

'What we are doing is to end the flight at Bangkok. We are doing away with the Bangkok to KL route,' he said.

Passengers flying to Kuala Lumpur from Kansai could take connecting flights in Bangkok or Singapore, he said.

The futuristic Klia is located in Sepang, about 50 km south of Kuala Lumpur.

It presently attracts flights from over 40 international airlines, said an airport official.

It boasts sophisticated facilities, the ability to handle 25 million passengers yearly, low landing fees, a rainforest arboretum and a Formula One circuit nearby.

In the pipeline are more runways, a theme park, hiking trails, a golf course, a shopping centre, and an express rail line to the capital.

'Of course this will hurt Malaysia. It doesn't help that the other big names like Lufthansa have also stopped recently,' said research analyst Azharuddin Nordin.

The ANA pull-out comes soon after that of British Airways, which said it was stopping its flights to Malaysia due to heavy losses on the route.

BA's last flight will be on April 1.

Australian airline Qantas stopped its services in April last year after consolidating its operations with shareholder BA.

Germany's Lufthansa pulled out in September 1999, citing poor profitability.

'This is bad, but it underlines the importance and the urgent need for Klia to attract more airlines to come here and for Malaysia Airlines to get a foreign partner in,' said an airline industry official.

Malaysia Airlines, which has been in the red for some time, has been involved in protracted talks to bring in a strategic foreign equity partner to try and turn its fortunes around.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced recently that the government is still keen to get a foreign expert and a foreign equity partner to help run Malaysia Airlines.

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Four airlines have left in 2 years

ANA will be the fourth airline to pull out in two years from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport which opened in 1998.

All Nippon Airways' last flight from KL will be on March 24.

British Airways will stop its flights on April 1.

Qantas stopped its flights last April.

Lufthansa pulled out in 1999.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg