I was excited for my first flight on Malaysia Airlines in a couple of years, as I had only previously flown their A380s and 777s. I was curious how their regional product compared.
Malaysia Airlines 853
Kuala Lumpur (KUL) – Bali (DPS)
Saturday, November 14
Depart: 3:20PM
Arrive: 6:20PM
Duration: 3hr
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 2C (Business Class)
My first impression of Malaysia’s 737 was extremely positive. The 737 had the Boeing Sky Interior, with larger than standard bins and cool mood lighting.
The business class cabin consisted of a total of 16 seats, spread across four rows in a 2-2 configuration.
Malaysia Airlines 737 business class cabin
The economy cabin looked pretty spiffy as well, at least in terms of the finishes. Apparently the seat pitch is just 30″, so I was happy I wasn’t seated there.
Malaysia Airlines 737 economy class cabin
Business class featured 42″ of pitch, which is excellent for a regional product. The seats themselves are similar to domestic first class seats in the US, except they have leg rests and recline a bit more. Legroom is probably about 5″ more than you’d get on a flight within the US.
Malaysia business class seats 737
Malaysia business class seats 737
We had selected seats 2A & 2C, adjoining aisle & window seats.
Malaysia 737 business class, seats 2A & 2C
Also waiting at each seat was a small pillow & blanket, certainly more than sufficient for the short flight to Bali.
Malaysia 737 business class, seats 2A & 2C
Malaysia 737 business class, seats 2A & 2C
Like I said above, the legroom was ample, even with having a bag underneath the seat in front of me.
Malaysia 737 business class legroom
The seat controls simply consisted of two manual levers (for reclining the seat and raising the leg rest), and then the entertainment controller was to the left of the seat, near the center console.
Malaysia 737 business class seat controls
Malaysia 737 business class entertainment controls
Waiting in the seatback pocket were some over-the-ear headphones, which weren’t very comfortable.
Malaysia 737 business class headphones
Malaysia seems to staff their 737s pretty impressively, as I spotted at least five flight attendants onboard. The four female crew wore turquoise “Sarong Kebayas” of sorts, much like on Singapore Airlines.
What surprised me most was how young the crew was. Admittedly this was a regional flight, but with Malaysia’s recent layoffs I assumed the most senior crews would stick around, which didn’t seem to be the case. Our entire crew was young and chipper, much to my surprise.
A couple of minutes after we settled in the flight attendant came by to offer us some pre-departure beverages. We both had the signature pink guava juice.
Malaysia 737 business class pre-departure beverages
Shortly thereafter we were offered hot towels.
Malaysia 737 business class hot towel
And then a few minutes after that the flight attendant came around to take meal orders. This consisted of her showing us the menu for the flight, but we couldn’t keep it (I awkwardly asked if I could have it for a minute, just so I could take pictures).
Malaysia Airlines business class menu
Within about 15 minutes boarding was complete, as the plane was quite empty. Six of the 16 business class seats were taken, while economy was less than half full.
At around 3:20PM the very upbeat pilot came on the PA to welcome us aboard and inform us of our flight time of 2hr30min. He promised we’d be pushing from the stand shortly.
Sure enough we commenced our pushback at 3:25PM, at which point the safety video began to play.
View on pushback Kuala Lumpur Airport
View on pushback Kuala Lumpur Airport
Kuala Lumpur Airport is huge, and despite a pretty high speed taxi, it took us about 15 minutes to get to the runway.
Taxiing Kuala Lumpur Airport
Taxiing Kuala Lumpur Airport
On the plus side, the traffic enroute to the runway was interesting, including a Malaysia Cargo 747, as well as a Malaysia Airlines A380.
Taxiing Kuala Lumpur Airport
Malaysia A380 Kuala Lumpur Airport
At 3:40PM we made it to runway 32L, where we were immediately cleared for takeoff.
Taxiing onto runway Kuala Lumpur Airport
Our takeoff roll was quick, and due to the position of the runway we had a great view of the terminals as we climbed out.
View after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur
View after takeoff
I quickly turned on the seatback entertainment, and switched to the airshow. Malaysia uses the same technology for their airshow as many other carriers.
Airshow enroute to Bali
Airshow enroute to Bali
Airshow enroute to Bali
About five minutes after takeoff I realized what’s quite possibly the most annoying part of flying Malaysia — they have obnoxious boarding music, and they play it until the seatbelt sign is turned off. It’s one thing to have to listen to elevator music for 15 minutes, but 45 minutes of elevator music? Oy!
Fortunately the seatbelt sign was turned off eight minutes after takeoff, as we were passing through 7,000 feet. At that point the music was turned off and curtain was drawn between the cabin and the galley (while I’m used to curtains on widebody planes, there’s still something I find sort of funny about them on narrowbody planes).
Malaysia Airlines business class curtain
Even though the flight was 2hr30min, the crew seemed focused on getting the meal out as quickly as possible.
The menu read as follows:
And the beverage selection read as follows:
Service began with drinks and packaged peanuts. I had a gin & tonic to drink. I was happy to see they had Bombay Sapphire gin.
Malaysia Airlines business service — gin & tonic with nuts
Then the entire meal was served on a single tray. I had ordered the fish dish as the main course.
Malaysia Airlines business service meal service
There was a side salad as a starter, which was quite good. I loved the combination of the bean curd, pineapple, and peanut sauce.
Malaysia Airlines business service meal service — gado gado salad
Then for the main course I had the deep fried fish, which certainly wasn’t my preferred type of preparation.
Malaysia Airlines business service meal service — deep fried garoupa
Ford had the other option, which didn’t look much more appetizing to me.
Malaysia Airlines business service meal service — ayam masak merah
There was also a selection from the bread basket. I had a piece of cheese bread.
Malaysia Airlines business service meal service — bread roll
The little slice of cheesecake for dessert was also quite nice.
Malaysia Airlines business service meal service — baked cheesecake with raspberry sauce
To finish off the meal I had a teh tarik, which is one of my favorite hot beverages in the sky.
Malaysia Airlines teh tarik
Overall I was impressed by the service and unimpressed by the food. The crew was friendly and attentive, though everything being served on one tray was a bit disappointing. Though perhaps the bigger issue was that the main really wasn’t good.
After the meal I had a look at the entertainment selection for the flight. Malaysia has a decent selection of movies and sitcoms. Nothing like you’d get on Emirates or Singapore, but for a 737 I thought it was a pretty good selection.
Malaysia Airlines entertainment selection
Malaysia Airlines entertainment selection
Malaysia Airlines entertainment selection
After realizing there wasn’t anything I really wanted to see, I decided to try and doze off for a bit. I reclined my seat and put the leg rest up, and was able to at least rest for about an hour.
When I woke up the first officer was making a pre-landing announcement, informing us we’d be landing in about 30 minutes. At that point we began our descent.
Airshow approaching Bali
Airshow approaching Bali
Airshow approaching Bali
I paid a quick visit to the lavatory, located at the front left of the cabin. It was the standard size for a 737, though I was impressed that they had a few amenities and even some flowers.
Malaysia Airlines 737 business class lavatory
Malaysia Airlines 737 business class lavatory amenities
The views on approach were gorgeous, especially as the sun was slowly beginning to set.
View on approach into Bali
View on approach into Bali
15 minutes before landing the seatbelt sign was turned on, at which point the boarding music was turned back on. The crew came back with one more hot towel service before landing.
View on approach into Bali
View on approach into Bali
We ended up touching down at Bali’s Denpasar Airport on runway 27 at 6:25PM.
Touchdown Bali Denpasar
The sunset as we taxied was stunning.
Taxiing Bali Denpasar
The airport was busy, as is the norm in the evenings, with plenty of traffic from both Garuda Indonesia, low cost carriers, and other international airlines.
Taxiing Bali Denpasar
What I found most interesting was the “double parking” which seemed to be going on, whereby one plane parked at the gate, and another parked immediately behind it.
Traffic at Denpsar Airport
This occurred at several gates.
Traffic at Denpsar Airport
Traffic at Denpsar Airport
We pulled into our gate at 6:30PM, right next to a Garuda Indonesia 737.
Beautiful sunset at Denpasar Airport
It had been over two years since I’ve been to Bali, and I hadn’t realized they hugely expanded the airport. While it used to be a dump, it’s actually now a pretty modern airport.
Upon deplaning and bidding the crew farewell we began the super long walk to immigration.
Arrivals hall Denpasar Airport
On the plus side, at least the airport itself was nice and air conditioned, so it wasn’t too bad of a walk.
Arrivals hall Denpasar Airport
Just before immigration we were greeted by someone who had a sign with our names on them. She was someone who handles the “VIP Immigration” for St. Regis Bali guests, which is a standard offering for guests at the hotel. We were through immigration in a matter of minutes, at which point we were in the beautiful arrivals hall. Like, it wasn’t just beautiful compared to the previously crappy terminal, but was nice in absolute terms.
Arrivals hall Denpasar Airport
Arrivals area Denpasar Airport
There we hopped in the St. Regis’ car, for the 20 minute ride to the resort.
Arrivals area Denpasar Airport
St. Regis Bali airport pick-up
St. Regis Bali airport pick-up
St. Regis Bali airport pick-up
Malaysia Airlines Business Class bottom line
Physically I was impressed by Malaysia’s 737. It was spotless, had a vibrant interior, and in business class the legroom and overall comfort were better than I was expecting.
The service on the flight was also good, with a friendly and attentive crew.
The food, however, was a bit underwhelming. Not terribly so, but just not anything that’s worth eating unless you’re really hungry.
Overall I was impressed, especially as this was my first flight on Malaysia in a couple of years. The great plane and good service exceeded my expectations.
If you’ve flown Malaysia business class, what was your experience like?
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