In the news: Malaysia Airlines showcases aircraft in its original livery to celebrate 40 years of service, Beiiing airport passengers want more mobile self service, Scoot adopts ATI Cloud

MAS flies down memory lane with retro aircraft, set to join Oneworld

On the auspicious date of 12.12.12, to commemorate 40 years of service,Malaysia Airlines (MAS) revealed a retro fitted Boeing B737-800 aircraft, repainted in full colours and with the original livery of the first ever aircraft that took to the skies four decades ago on October 1, 1972.

Named the “Retro Livery”, the Boeing goes into service on December 13 with flights to Jakarta, Indonesia and Bangkok, Thailand, two popular MAS’ destinations. The airline also introduced new in-flight menus comprising popular dishes of yester-years.

In a related development MAS is set to become the 12th member ofOneworld Alliance on February 1, 2013, with all system interface and fares standardisation requirements for the membership completed.

MAS group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the airline was on the last lap of the path towards becoming a full-fledged member of a fast growing award-winning alliance.

Membership into the alliance would strengthen the airline’s competitive position considerably, as well as enable MAS customers to enjoy a truly global network together with its partners, added Ahmad Jauhari.

As a member MAS will be able to tap into all the financial benefits that come from being part of a global alliance, through additional passenger feed and cost reduction opportunities.

The airline will be the second carrier in the alliance operating the Airbus A380 aircraft after Qantas, its Oneworld entry sponsor. –Corinne Wan

Passengers want more mobile self service at Beijing airport

An increasing number of passengers using Beijing Capital International Airport wants more mobile self service, such as searching for flights and receiving flight updates/ boarding passes on their mobile phones.

The 2012 SITA/AirTransport World Passenger Self-Service Survey revealed that 94% of passengers expressed interest in flight updates, a big jump from 2011’s 67%, while 92% showed an interest in mobile boarding passes, up from 78%.

Despite the high interest in self service at Beijing the level of actual usage, though rising, is still catching up with rates at other airports.

This year 53% of passengers surveyed at Beijing used self service check-in on the day of the survey – an 18% rise since 2011 but still lower than the global rate of 68%. One of the six airports in the survey recorded a self service check-in rate of 85%, which clearly demonstrates the potential for increased adoption at Beijing.

Similarly mobile check-in and mobile boarding pass usage have potential to grow. At Beijing, 28% of passengers used mobile check-in and just 8% a mobile boarding pass, while global adoption rates are 32% and 21% respectively.

Beijing passengers are particularly keen to adopt self service in managing baggage. Currently 83% of surveyed passengers at Beijing check-in their bags at a counter, while 40% find baggage check-in or collection the most stressful element of travelling.

The highest interest among Beijing passengers is in self service bag drop, with 81% expressing their wish to use this service, the highest in the world compared to the global average of 68%.

Some 94% want real-time baggage information sent to their mobiles and in the unfortunate event of a bag going missing, 92% want to report it using their mobiles.

About 71% of passengers surveyed in Beijing were carrying a smartphone, allowing them easy access to such services.

Beijing Capital International Airport is ranked as the second busiest airport in the world for passenger traffic, handling more than 77 million passengers in 2011. This is the third year it has been included in this global passenger survey.

Scoot’s takes to the ATI Cloud

Scoot, the low cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, is the first airline in the world to adopt SITA’s cloud-based data link service – the Air Transport Industry (ATI) Cloud.

The service manages the exchange of messages between the ground and cockpit, connecting airline users and applications to the aircraft. It is already in use at Scoot, and will continue to be rolled out across the airline’s expanding fleet.

Campbell Wilson, Scoot CEO, said, “SITA’s cloud-based data link offering is ideal for Scoot. We are growing fast and need our data link services to be agile and able to scale quickly while ensuring safety and efficiency throughout our operations.”

Ilya Gutlin, SITA president, Asia Pacific, said more than 12,000 aircraft rely on SITA AIRCOM for data link services, and more than 70 airlines have adopted AIRCOM Server for message processing. Scoot is the first to adopt it without having to invest in hardware or to host the solution.”

AIRCOM Server Online is one of the many services, which SITA is now hosting in the ATI Cloud, a community cloud that was launched last year. It offers the same fully integrated message distribution and integration solution as the AIRCOM Server without significant upfront investment.