This Malaysia Airlines flight review is by Jane D. This is her second of three articles about her Langkawi trip that we will be publishing in the next few days.
From Langkawi, return to Kuala Lumpur and then to New Zealand
The Plaza Premium Lounge in Langkawi was simple but clean and quiet. There was a cafeteria section and more comfortable armchairs, but I chose the latter.
Hot food was provided (rather than self-service), including soup, chicken curry, and rice. I chose the tomato pasta that was brought to me. It was basically Spabol! It had lots of parmesan cheese and was delicious. Minor points – I would have preferred a shorter pasta shape. There were also tuna sandwiches and small cakes. The only alcohol seemed to be lager.
Boarding
There was a special priority seating area at the gate for boarding groups 1-3.
This was a great idea and prevented the common scrams that occurred on the way down from KL when passengers ignored boarding announcements.
My New Zealand e-Visa was checked here without being called.
Malaysia Airlines runs frequent shuttles between KUL and LGK, so everything seemed efficient.
We walked along the outside edge of the building to board, and expected some confusion as there was an AirAsia plane next door whose passengers were also boarding at the same time.
The in-flight meal was delicious with seafood dim sum.
The monorail at T1 in KL has been suspended due to long-term construction. However, the replacement bus worked fine and has since been replaced by a civilian his BMW for business passengers (see Michele’s article 27.1.24).
KL International Lounge
The Golden Lounge at C Gate took a little while to find, especially since the Global Lounge staff gave us the wrong directions.
The restaurant is spacious and offers many options, including made-to-order pizza and pasta, fresh fruit, and Eastern food. There is a separate noodle bar.
Alcohol is served in a separate bar area. I chose the tuna panini, which was cooked to order, and had a glass of French Sauvignon Blanc (Edmond Bernard).
On a Friday night, the lounge felt a bit noisy at times, especially with children running around.
However, when I looked, there were separate nap areas for men and women, each with four dark beds, and they were empty.
This was appealing, but I thought I should stick to the current time zone.
Kururu – AKL
The A330-200 plane looked old and a bit run down. There wasn’t much storage space, no cupboard with a mirror, and no convenient pouch to put your phone in.
My tray table was dirty and my seat belt was slightly frayed. I swapped across the aisle with another passenger whose seat was broken.
Duval Leroy champagne cheered me up.
This flight experienced significant turbulence, which affected dinner service. I finished my meal two hours after takeoff.
Mixed satay skewers were followed by salmon pinwheel starter. After that, the bread basket came, so it was quite disjointed.
For main I chose buttermilk prawns and served them with amazing garlic rice. Dessert was a cake with berry compote.
The seatbelt sign was on all night. I was ready for bed and managed to get through 4 hours. IFE completely failed to start and felt like his BA Club World from the good old days. There was also no WiFi.
The amenity pack included a hairbrush and a nice bamboo toothbrush kit. Further confusion meant a delay in the important first caffeine intake of the day. Despite this, the crew were very attentive and cheerful with helpful gestures such as cleaning the toilet before I entered.
Breakfast was delicious. We had fruit, croissants and smoothies followed by a mixed grill. It was a very smooth departure from Auckland Airport, which was empty on a Saturday lunchtime.
Unfortunately, I felt really sick later that day. I don’t think there was anything wrong with what I ate or drank, but I attribute this to confusion.
Returning from Auckland
After a very refreshing night at the Auckland Airport Holiday Inn, we highly recommend it for its cheerful service and lovely courtyard pool. I checked in early and went to the Strata Lounge. Although the lounge appeared to be available for various passes, it was actually very quiet until late on a Saturday morning.
There was a shower area and a playroom, but there were adults curled up on bean bags.
An overzealous staff member tried to clear my plate while waiting for the toaster. The plane screen told me to relax, so I did.
The sparkling wine on offer was Jacob’s Creek Reserve Prosecco. Having tasted some great wines, I felt it was a shame that this wasn’t a Kiwi sparkling wine.
There was a wide variety of food, including fresh salads and flat jelly sweets!
MH144 Auckland to Kuala Lumpur
Again, the plane was old and a little beat up. It was a good thing that the business cabin was not full. All around me, passengers were changing seats because their chargers didn’t work or their seats wouldn’t recline. One such seat appeared to have been given to a fairly large group of economy passengers after dinner.
Malaysia Airlines has said in the magazine that it is modernizing its fleet, but it probably won’t happen soon because of the competitive routes. We departed 30 minutes late, but it did not affect our arrival time.
Peanuts and satay came out again and we drank champagne. The green bean and walnut salad appetizer was delicious (it would have been even better with blue cheese). The beef lomo saltado was delicious. I was offered a second helping of cherry plumeria, but that was greedy!
I didn’t watch the IFE movie because it had the same content as the one on the way out. Fruit and a tuna sandwich from the “meal anytime” option kept me going. My second meal was a garden salad and then I chose chicken fried rice. This was delicious.
I requested tea, but they didn’t have an amenity kit. Overall, the service on this flight was pretty smileless.
Kuala Lumpur – London
KL’s Golden Lounge was much quieter this time than before. The staff had set up some special displays for Lunar New Year, which was a really nice touch.
I had some fizz and tortilla chips, then cheese and salad. I was really happy to be able to fly on MH2 (downbound A350-900). Not only were the planes better, the crew was excellent throughout, run by the wonderful Mary Ann. In addition to pajamas, slippers and amenity sets were also provided.
I was already very tired so I asked if I could sleep and then have dinner. This was no problem at all.
I ate 3 and a half hours into the flight, and Mary Ann later double-checked that I had eaten.
The salmon mousse was followed by the chicken roulade and then the bread pudding, which I don’t usually choose, but it was really delicious! We had fruit and tea for snack.
The spinach and goat cheese frittata made a nice breakfast, but there was also a minute steak option. Turbulence occurred again, but the crew was able to avoid it and get hot drinks out relatively quickly.
arrival
We landed at rainy Heathrow Airport on time at 5am! As I was the first woman back to the UK border that day, I was greeted cheerfully by the staff. This flight is perfect if you want to get to London early and get a head start. In the blink of an eye, my wonderful adventure was over.
conclusion
I would happily fly Malaysia Airlines again, especially on this side of Kuala Lumpur.
Most of the crew and staff are doing a great job and the offer will only get better once the modernization of the fleet is completed.
You can visit Jane D’s site: https://dalemoorltd.com/