I refer to the letter AirAsia flight cancellations staggering .

My curiosity was piqued as this letter basically claimed that AirAsia had a bad record of flight cancellations for the January-March 2008 period, as compared to the Singapore-based low-cost carrier Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia.

I decided to check this out for myself by accessing the FlightStats which carries performance figures for airlines worldwide. The findings were interesting, to say the least.

According to the FlightStats, for the period Feb 1 - March 31, 2008, AirAsia had, out of a total of 542 flights, 177 flights (32%) cancelled and only 334 flights (61%) as on-time arrrivals.

The corresponding figures for Tiger Airways: out of a total of 1,053 flights, only 3 (0%) were cancelled and 771 (73%) were on-time arrivals. For Jetstar Asia, out of a total of 1,196 flights, only 1 (0%) was cancelled and a staggering 1,187 (99%) were on-time arrivals.

According to FlightStats, the AirAsia routes that had the most cancellations for the period were KL-Kuching, Kuching-KL, KL-Kota Kinabalu, Kota Kinabalu-KL, and KL-Langkawi.

Something is obviously not right with the way AirAsia is being operated, glossy publicity and PR gimmicks notwithstanding.

If you compare the fleet sizes of the three low-cost carriers, AirAsia has 37 Airbus A320 aircraft in operation. Tiger Airways has 12 A320s in operation and Jetstar Asia has 5 A320s in operation. These figures are obtained from the Airbus .

Yet, with smaller fleets, both Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia seem to be able to make their aircraft work harder, with far less cancellations and much better on-time performance. It does appear to say a lot about the management of these three low-cost carriers, right?

And it should be looked into, because if AirAsia is not performing well, it is the travelling rakyat , especially those who depend on low-cost flights for business, holidays or family reunions, who get affected.

Not to mention the adverse publicity generated by tourists who suffer from AirAsia flight cancellations and delayed arrivals. Definitely not Malaysia Boleh. Would the Transport Minister and the Tourism Minister care to comment?