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Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines
thinks ex-employee Tony Fernandes can succeed, with AirAsia X, he is so
confident that on August 10 he flew to Kuala Lumpur |
and invested in 20% of the new airline
saying at a news conference “Virgin will spend whatever is necessary to
make AirAsia X a success.” |
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Branson
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Fernandes declined to indicate the
sale value, he did say that Branson was offered shares “at par.” About
US$8M at the current share price. |
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OCTOBER
LAUNCH
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AirAsia X will take to the skies
early October, 4 times weekly, to the Gold Coast in Australia, followed
by flights to Melbourne, Hangzhou, Japan, India and London. Fernandes
said fares would range from A$30 to A$633 RT inc. taxes. |
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Air
Asia X - 330-300's
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Air Asia X will commence services
with one leased Airbus A330-300 until their 5 new aircraft arrive from
Airbus late next year, those aircraft are the medium range, 8,340 km, high
density seating model. |
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AirAsia are planning high
density 3x3x3 seating rather than the usual Airbus configuration of 2x4x2, |
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AirAsia 3x3x3 9 abreast seats
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The 3x3x3 seating allows for 396
passengers rather than the usual 335 including 28 seats in the XL premium
class. Tony Fernandes said "We have been working with a seat manufacturer
for almost a year on the nine abreast seating, it will be more comfortable
than many others with the eight seats across," |
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We Meet
Mr Fernandes
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Flying to Macau from KL
on Apr 25 Tony Fernandes came on board before departure and asked the passengers
including us, |
"Is everything ok." I managed
to snap this photo of him as he left the aircraft. |
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It has been publicized that Tony
spends an hour each day on the line - he even unloads baggage. |
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Ingredients
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8
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Joints chicken, no skin |
150g
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shallots, peeled -left whole
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25g
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butter (French) |
5
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cloves of garlic, crushed |
150g
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streaky bacon, cut thickly |
350g
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button mushrooms |
500ml
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good red wine |
500ml
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chicken stock |
2 tbsp
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balsamic vinegar |
1 cup
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parsley, chopped, |
thyme, salt, ground black pepper
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Method
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Heat a thick-bottomed saucepan, add
butter, shallots, garlic & cook gently until just browned. Add the
bacon & thyme - cook for 3 mins. Add mushrooms, turn up the heat,
add red wine, chicken stock & vinegar. Add chicken pieces, simmer
gently for about 25 mins until the chicken is cooked. Add the parsley,
together with a knob of butter. Correct the seasoning and serve with a
dressed green salad and olive oil mash potatoes. |
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