Malaysia Airlines is the latest airline to unveil a new safety video, and I don’t think the format will surprise anyone (thanks to Pierre for flagging this)…
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New Malaysia Airlines safety video celebrates Malaysia
Malaysia Airlines has just unveiled its new safety video, “where essential safety meets the essence of Malaysia.” The latest video is intended to showcase the beauty of Malaysia while delivering vital safety instructions.
This new video comes ahead of Visit Malaysia Year 2026, and the video is intended to “invite the world to discover our rich culture, heritage, and iconic destinations, right from your seat on board Malaysia Airlines.”
As a point of comparison, below you can find Malaysia Airlines’ previous safety video, which was introduced in 2022. It was perhaps the carrier’s most controversial safety video ever, described as allowing guests to “sing and dance along,” and the video was produced in collaboration with Enfiniti.
While I certainly give the previous safety video credit for being creative, I imagine there was a high level of diminishing return when it comes to enjoyment of the video, especially for frequent flyers.
When everyone is “creative,” no one is creative
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. We’ve gotten to the point where default safety video format includes roaming around a country, with no signs of an aircraft anywhere. I thought this concept was creative when we first saw it introduced, but in the meantime, it’s the most common type of safety video.
Like, when an airline introduces a new safety video, my first thought is “okay, let’s see how they choose to roam around their home country with no signs of an aircraft.” When airlines come up with the concepts for the new safety videos, I really wonder how those conversations go:
- Does someone present these country-roaming, abstract safety videos as something creative that they came up with, and they get a big round of applause for their ingenuinety?
- Or do they say “meh, you know what, everyone else is doing this, we should probably do it as well?”
With so many airlines having taken this approach, I’ve increasingly become a fan of airlines just doing the basics, and showing the safety instructions on a plane. Last year we saw Emirates unveil its new “no-nonsense” safety video, and I really like it. How nice to just stick with the basics. When everyone else tries to be different, there’s something nice about just being the same.
Bottom line
Malaysia Airlines is the latest carrier to introduce a new safety video, and it’s exactly what you’d expect. There’s no plane in sight, and the safety video consists of instructions being shown abstractly in scenery around Malaysia.
What do you make of Malaysia Airlines’ new safety video?
The safety videos had become stupid. They tried to hold our attention for more than seven minutes when it could be done in under three!
Wow...I hadn't seen the previous Malaysian safety video before. It's clearly a knock off of the Virgin America safety video with a variety of styles of music and dancing... but less enjoyable...
For those who don't remember: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1A5BtqsaPM
I recently flew with MH and I loved the new safety video. The music got me in a good mood.
What a pity! The old safety video had absolutely the best line by a country mile, with the heavy metal band’s “…aviation regulations have prohibited smoking - since the 1980s! - but we would still like to remind you…”
The new AY safety video is really good and simple, like how it frames the start with this what you need to know if there is an emergency
I blame Air New Zealand for kicking off all of the safety video nonsense. If only they'd focus on a creating a decent business class seat and experience....
I think Asiana Airlines safety video is a good example of no non-sense safety video. It is like 10 years old, while Korean Air changed out theirs 2 or 3 times, Asiana just kept their simple straight forward message... living through the whole creative safety video era... though I guess that would be changing soon.
I did like the last Singapore air one too, I heard it a lot and I never got tired of it and it was always very calming.
The Asiana safety video, like you mentioned, is certainly no nonsense I fount that to be quite cringe. Especially the super exaggerated American-accented English voiceover hurts my ear.
Hahaha. I do agree that it uses some high pitch tone (guess for better recognition when played though the in cabin speakers) but I feel like they are not too different from pre-recorded announcements in US domestic flights.
Their safety video should include, "...and should the aircraft mysteriously disappear or flip over and burn beside the taxiway, remember...you are on your own!"
"There's No Plane In Sight" is also how I would describe MH370
"While I certainly give the previous safety video credit for being creative, I imagine there was a high level of diminishing return when it comes to enjoyment of the video, especially for frequent flyers."
OH MY FKING GOD! I am based in the region and had to watch that video quite a bit. It was absolute torture every time. I avoid MH, for maaaaany reasons, as much as i can. But in the region for...
"While I certainly give the previous safety video credit for being creative, I imagine there was a high level of diminishing return when it comes to enjoyment of the video, especially for frequent flyers."
OH MY FKING GOD! I am based in the region and had to watch that video quite a bit. It was absolute torture every time. I avoid MH, for maaaaany reasons, as much as i can. But in the region for short haul it is hard to avoid MH. Especially as a OW Emerald. So this is a very welcoming change.
Nowadays it’s hard to find an airline safety video article that doesn’t have a mention of Emirates at the end…
That said, MH’s old safety video, as over-the-top and anti-SQ in tone as it was, certainly stood out for its brash uniqueness. Actually watching it was a different matter, given that most MH 737s don’t have seatback IFE any more — so it was largely confined to widebody aircraft!
Among ASEAN carriers, TG has one...
Nowadays it’s hard to find an airline safety video article that doesn’t have a mention of Emirates at the end…
That said, MH’s old safety video, as over-the-top and anti-SQ in tone as it was, certainly stood out for its brash uniqueness. Actually watching it was a different matter, given that most MH 737s don’t have seatback IFE any more — so it was largely confined to widebody aircraft!
Among ASEAN carriers, TG has one of the few creative non-touristy videos, since it’s set in a rainforest.