Malaysia Airlines is in the process of refreshing its fleet, and this includes the airline recently announcing plans to acquire even more Boeing 737 MAXs, including the larger 737 MAX 10 variant. At the time, the airline revealed that it would install flat bed business class seats on these planes, and we now know what…
Continue reading: Malaysia Airlines’ 737 MAX Flat Bed Business Class Suites: A Mystery
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Sorry MH, I have two observations which will keep me out of your new J seat.
No 1: There is too much ’obstruction’ between the seat and the window. Comfortable ’wing-watching’, etc, looks to be impossible.
No 2: As it’s a Boeing (Max) I ain’t going.
With pretty much every major player in the region going for lie-flat beds and even suites on their narrow-body aircraft, It appears CX is the only major holdout; I hope they change course real soon!
I wonder what routes they plan to use them on.
I don’t think CX has any plans to fit its A321neos with lie-flats any time soon. Not every East Asian airline has lie-flats on narrowbodies, and those that do overwhelmingly have them on A321neos and not A320neos or 737 MAXes. SQ is the only East Asian airline so far to install lie-flats on 737 MAXes, and I’ll be shocked if MH pips it to the post like these renders show.
Speaking of which, Ben really needs to fly the SQ 737 MAX — it looks like the only Southeast Asian narrowbody which can combine the hard product of Korean Air, the soft product of Cathay Pacific and the overall well-roundness of Starlux!
(We’ll also need to wait for JAL, EVA and Thai to unveil their A321neos’ lie-flat products, but TG is very likely to be inferior to the other two.)
CXs order that was destined for Dragon is complete. Their upcoming deliveries are a separate order so it's still possible to change course and go with a different product, but I'm not holding my breath.
China, Korean, Starlux, Philippine Airlines all have lie-flats on their narrow-body a/c which CX competes with. JAL and ANA use their narrow-bodies for domestic routes and some routes that are like an hour or so away. And I expect EVA to have lie-flats on their neos as well.
The only carriers I can think of that have recliners are Vietnam, and the Chinese3.
Thai is going for the exact same seats as SQ for their A321neos. It was unveiled the same time Ben was in the air on his way back from Paris!
https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/thai-airways-a321neo-business-class-delivery
In addition to VN and all the PRC airlines, there’s also GA, which has completely failed to modernise its narrowbody fleet after cancelling all its outstanding 737 MAX orders. As such, you won’t find anything better than recliners on its 737s. Even worse is the fact that it no longer flies widebodies to SIN and now flies only 737s — whereas SIN was always its prestige route until a few months back and usually received at least a few A330s or 777s per day.
It’s sad how Garuda has completely lost the plot when compared to its peers in ASEAN and the broader East Asia — indeed, all Indonesian airlines seem to be struggling in this regard — as far as fleet and product renewal are concerned. GA has no business being a Skytrax 5-star airline; TG and MH have marched far ahead.
I forgot about Garuda, but they seem to use their 737s mostly on domestic hops with some Bangkok, Singapore, and Guangzhou thrown in the mix. So I guess recliners are perfectly fine.
CX uses them all over the region going as far as Seoul and Singapore later this year. You would like to think they would have a competitive narrow-body product when competing with the aforementioned players I've mentioned.
JAL A21Ns are for now supposed to replace the airline's domestic B763s, not B738s (some of which will be replaced by B38Ms instead).
Thank you John, for passing on the sad news that MH are “Shocked and devastated” by my missive. I was only trying to help …. ‘onest John.
Would you please do all within your power to have the product development manager reinstated, upon completion of his business class cabin seat familiarisation training, of course …. 🙂
Thought I recognised those renderings;
https://news.flydubai.com/flydubai-launches-a-premium-business-class-experience-the-business-suite
Don't forget TG, they once sent european business to SG.
ZH got a few a321neos with parallel diamonds(A321T J) while MU got 10 premium 737-800s that have 160-degree angled flat seats. Meanwhile CSN is looking to further reduce seat pitch.
MH 360 still missing, another 777 shot down over russia and you want me to get on. 737 MAX with MH? NO WAY!