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Another Airline Announces Another Baby Ban

"Should children be relegated to the back of the plane?" asks SFGate's The Mommy Files, to which we respond, "what, are we suddenly not allowed to strap the things to wings?" (we kid; obviously we don't advocate tying your baby below the far jet engine so that no one can hear its screaming temper tantrum, which probably wouldn't even be happening if you had raised it properly; how will the flight attendant bring the precious little crotch-snowflake its precious little orange juice if it isn't even inside the cabin?)

The issue is relevant again because AirAsia just announced that it's banning children from the first seven rows of long-haul flights, creating a Quiet Zone that travelers will be able to opt into by paying AirAsia's standard seat selection fee.

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Airline Mergers / AirAsia / Batavia Air / Indonesia Travel / LCCs / Air Asia / Airline News / → All Tags

AirAsia is Big Ballin' and Shotcallin' in Indonesia

It isn't often we see airline balance sheets so much in the black that they can acquire entire other airlines at the drop of a hat. Except that's exactly how things played out for AirAsia last week when it went to the ATM and bought its competitor, Batavia Air.

What the Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia did was fork over $80 million cash for the Jakarta-based Batavia. $80 million. In big ballin' bills. Yep, no interest rates, no late payment fees...cash.

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AirAsia / LCCs / Malaysia Travel / In-Flight Drinks / Tea Travel / Asia Travel / Airline Food / Airline News / → All Tags

OMG. In-Flight Bubble Tea.

Remember when we recommended what to purchase on your next AirAsia flight? Well, the super budget, yet uber cheeky, budget carrier has added another item to add to the list. Bubble Tea!

If you know the magic of bubble tea, you understand our excitement. If you haven't tasted it's refreshing goodness with little surprises, let us tell you, you are missing out. You may have seen people toting clear plastic cups of tea with black 'pearls' on the bottom, usually punctuated with a brightly colored fat straw. It's flavored tea, mostly chilled, usually served over large black tapioca pearls. The sweet, balanced and exotic flavor of the tea is kind of a big deal in Asia and international cafes.

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Six Things You Should Totally Buy Onboard an AirAsia Flight

Who doesn't love to hate on budget airlines that nickel-and-dime you for every little thing? Ah hem Ryanair and Spirit. Still, despite being branded LCCs (low-cost carriers), some airlines that keep costs down also play it nice, offering items for sale on board that actually make sense.

Just a few days ago, we hopped a 2-hour AirAsia flight from Bali-DPS to Jakarta-CGK and, instead of being prodded to pay more to bring a carryon, we instead were presented with the "AirAsia Cafe meny," a magazine that sells everything from Nasi Goreng and pancakes to Hello Kitty portable speakers and waterproof bags. It's like a duty-free catalog, but then it's not; it's more like duty-free iight.

So long as you've got extra cash (they don't take plastic onboard), here's six things you should buy onboard AirAsia:

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AirAsia's Incredibly Long List of Onboard Meals

This morning we booked a flight on Malaysia-based low-cost airline AirAsia. It's an hour-long flight and there were five flight times available that day. Simple, right? Sure...until we reached the extras which included a list of 19 different onboard meals.

"Chicken or beef" we've heard, and of course there's usually options for kosher, vegetarian and halal, but 19 options blows away all that.

With this much variety, you better be ready to pony up the extra cash. Meals are either 23,900 IDR ($2.61) or 29,900 IDR ($3.27), unless you go big with the "monthly promotion" meal at 41,900 IDR ($4.58). It's not bad at all considering that snack boxes on US airlines average $8, but, on the other hand, this AirAsia route between Bali and Jakarta, Indonesia regularly offers the whole one-way flight beginning at $45.

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AirAsia Boss Launching Another Malaysian Airline, for Some Reason

Demonstrating impressive complete disregard for the liklihood of a global financial meltdown, AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes is launching a premium Malaysian airline to run shuttles between Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta and Singapore.

Dubbed Caterham Jet, the regional airline will cater to business executives rich enough to pay for ultra-premium flights but not so rich that they have access to private jets. We're presuming people like that exist, but it seems like kind of a specialized demographic. Even worse, it's the exact demographic that Qantas is already targeting with their new RedQ airline.

Global economic retraction plus niche customer base plus direct competition from Qantas equals...no way this works, right? We're quite sure they had focus groups and market studies and everything, but this just doesn't sound like the kind of thing that would work.

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Three Airlines That'll Fulfill Your Krispy Kreme Donut Kravings

It's Wednesday—the middle of the week—and we're traveling. We need something to get through the rest of the week and you know what would do the trick? A sugar rush brought on by some Krispy Kreme donuts. It'd be even better if they were in-flight Krispy Kreme donuts.

Good news for us and everyone! Krispy Kremes aren't just limited to standalone stores and the occasional airport kiosk; some airlines actually do serve up the glazed masterpieces direct to your traytable. For this they get major brownie donut points!

Three airlines serving Krispy Kreme in the skies:

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AirAsia Hearts ANA, and Both Heart Bringing Cheap Flights to Japan

It seems like every week there’s news of some major international carrier looking to get into the low-cost carrier business. This week it’s all about All Nippon Airways, as the carrier is obviously looking to stay busy while it sits patiently waiting for the first delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. However, they’re not going it alone, as it looks like they may be partnering with Air Asia in order to do the LCC thing.

Apparently things have advanced way past the drawing board, and there's even the possibility details will be released in an announcement next week. The rumors are that both airlines will team up to start the new carrier with a base in Japan serving most domestic destinations along with spots in the general region. We’re thinking that means—at least at first—that there will be no super cheap deals between LAX and NRT.

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Adventures of Link / AirAsia / Death / Travel News / → All Tags

Free Airline Tickets While The Pint Lives On

If you haven't heard by now, you must hate getting stuff for free: AirAsia is giving away 100,000 tickets, but you'll have to fly by the end of March, so don't bother if you're not going to be in Southeast Asia soon, newly serene after recent airport chaos.

It might be a safer trip than a tour of European capitals, after suspicious white powder was found at 15 16 US embassies on the Continent. (It wasn't that kind of white powder.) And researchers have just revealed that a trip to the US Gulf Coast is more likely to kill you than a trip to the Mid-Atlantic. (Blame the hurricanes, not the football fans.)

At least for now in England, that last drink before you die can still be rightly called a pint!

Related Stories:
· 100,000 Free Tickets [AirAsia]
· White Powder Alert at Embassies [CNN]
· Death Map Plots Where Mother Nature Might Kill You [Peter Greenberg]
· Giving Them an Inch, and a Pint [NYT]
· In Defense of Movie Set Travel [WorldHum]

[Photo: AirAsia]

Andaman Sea Field Trip / Boats / AirAsia / → All Tags

Thailand's Andaman Sea: There And Away

Thailand... Are we nuts?! Nah: The airport trouble is over, and while politicians keep bickering in Bangkok, the rest of the country is ripe for exploration. Claire Duffett just spent two weeks in southwest Thailand sailing the Andaman Sea from Krabi to Phuket.

When protesters calling for the resignation of Thailand’s prime minister seized Bangkok’s airports for an entire week, I was planning to fly from Phuket to Bangkok then to the United States. Instead, I spent 24 hours riding double-decker buses spray-painted in fluorescent colors. The tension among passengers trying to get home made the rides feel even longer. Wrangling for good seats descended into expletive-laden arguments, and language barriers with the driver turned less gracious passengers into belligerent a-holes.

Still, the beauty of the Andaman’s islands exceeded the suckiness of the journey there. And for those lucky enough to visit the region when it’s not in a state of anarchy, here’s a rundown of how to get there and away:

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Had Enough? How To Get Out Of Bangkok

Possible further airport hell averted! The latest reports out of Bangkok have it that Suvarnabhumi could be reopen as early as December 5, though other estimates say rebooting BKK could take at least another week or longer.

Don't order your last celebratory bowl of Pad Thai just yet, though: With as many as a few hundred thousand other people clamoring to get out of the country, flights are bound to be the definition of overbooked for days if not weeks. What's the best exit strategy, then? For now, it's the Vietnam-era U-Tapao airfield, a 90-mile drive south of Bangkok, which is currently operating some international flights.

Among the carriers making connections to international airports that won't be total nightmares for the rest of 2008 are AirAsia, Cathay Pacific, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines. AirAsia in particular has lots of flights, including departures to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Shenzhen and Singapore.

Related Stories:
· AirAsia "Rescue Flights" [Official Site]
· Bangkok Protests: What to Do if You're in Thailand [Telegraph]
· Bangkok International Airport Still Protest Central [Jaunted]

[Photo: AirAsia]

AirAsia / Air Asia X / Tony Fernandes / Asia Travel / Airlines / → All Tags

AirAsia's Growth Uninhibited By Its Narcissism

OK AirAsia, we know you’re one of the few carriers with healthy specs. But we think you might be getting a big ego. First, you offered an on-time guarantee and now your CEO is talking about growing AirAsia X, the company’s Australian subsidiary, tenfold by 2010. That’s faster than when Krispy Kreme suddenly glazed the entire United States in the late '90s.

Both AirAsia X and its Southeast Asian affiliate AirAsia are rapidly buying planes and adding destinations. And as Asian carriers ratcheted up fuel surcharges recently, founder Tony Fernandes scrapped AirAsia’s. Confidence is clearly not a problem for this carrier.

In fact, the one-year-old AirAsia X division will have one billion ringgit ($276 million) in profits by the end of 2009, says CEO Azran Osman Rani. This year’s profits will be about 350 million ringgit.

We’ll tell you if they back up the bluster with a flight review next week: We’re flying AirAsia from Phuket to Bangkok, and we're expecting to be impressed.

Related Stories:
· Malaysia’s AirAsia X Plans to Expand Sales Tenfold [AFP, via Google]
· AirAsia coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: christophe ramos]