Malaysia Airlines

LHR-BKK-LHR. First the good. Flights were on time and bags arrived quickly and their cabin crew are great. The A380 was extremely comfortable particularly their flat bed. However we were a bit underwhelmed with the quality/choice of the food and drink on the intercontinental sectors (KUL-BKK-KUL was quite the opposite). Also although we flew on 4 January they AVOD system still only had December's programmes available. Don't know if this affected all MH flights or only our A380. Pretty poor though.

Adelaide-Kuala Lumpur-Beijing. Happy with the Business Class product offered by Malaysia Airlines but if this airline wants to compete with the new player on the block in Adelaide Air Asia then clean the fuselages of your aeroplanes! A clean white Air Asia A330 (yes in all white colour) pulling up alongside Malaysia's sooty white fuselage is not a good look. Also noticed a dirty A330 at KL so ours was not a one off. Also hoping Business Class lounge at KL will be re-opened soon. One small gripe about food service lunch out of Adelaide was served at 11.30am after a 10 am departure. Was too soon. Two years ago a light breakfast was served with lunch later in the flight. Maybe a cost cutting exercise?

Kuala Lumpur - Ho Chi Minh. My family and I took a 2 hour flight to Ho Chi Minh for our Christmas vacation on the latest Boeing 737-800 plane. However the flight was not pleasant at all. The plane had poor ventilation and it was an afternoon flight and as the sun shone through the cabin it made the cabin very stuffy and warm. Meal on board had 2 varieties for Economy Class a chicken and a fish. The stewardess attitude does not even reflect what MAS to claim "Best Cabin Crew" or "Malaysian Hospitality". She barely smiled. Disappointed.

MH72 KUL-HKG. Was looking forward to flying the A380 in First as I prefer Asian carriers for travel. Airport check-in was fast and I was greatly relieved as there were huge lines for Business and Economy. The First Class Lounge is closed for refurb and the Business Lounge needs a refurb too. Boarding was easy. First has a separate entrance directly into the cabin. There are 8 seats and nothing special. The crew were very pleasant and the Dom Perignon champagne was great. The A380 already looked tired. I walked through the whole plane and was not impressed. The FC Galley is located directly behind the cabin which separates it from Economy. I don't know what they were thinking in this design. Luckily it was a short flight so all the clanging and banging didn't bother me. Had this been a long flight I would have been very upset. The menu was fairly minimal for the short brunch flight. I picked the lamb dish which wasn't bad but strange there was no salad offer. Dessert was an unopened carton of Haagan Daz with a plastic spoon. Next time I'll stick with Cathay or Japan Airlines.

KUL-DPS on B777-200ER Business Class. The 16-year old plane is overly-dated together with its interior. Don't get me wrong the interior was nice and clean but you would know that the plane is from the last century. The good part is that the seat was less sophisticated than the newer planes meaning the leg-room is extremely spacious. Cabin crews are polite and nice but the food needs to be improved. Look forward to Malaysia Airlines replacing all of its B777-200 with A330-300 over the next 2 years. In the mean time Malaysia Airlines will be milking these workhorse planes prior to retirement meaning their Business Class tickets on B777-200 will competitively priced in the market.

Flew from London Heathrow to Sydney on 21st December 2013. Have flown with them several times previously and was always happy with the service. On this particular occasion I was disappointed. Both flights (LHR-KUL and KUL- SYD) were pretty full. In-flight service was interrupted several times by turbulence. I fly MH because of the 34" seat pitch in Economy but on these two flights I felt like the space had been reduced somewhat. The food was awful out of four meals served only one was edible. Would I fly with them again? Possibly if there was a sale on airfares.

CDG-KUL-DPS and return end November mid December. Out on their A380 to KL and then a B777 on to Bali back on a 737 to KL and then A380 again home to France. Having flown business and even first class on other airlines of 4 and 5 star rating I cannot understand how MH have kept their 5 star rating particularly when it comes to "food and beverages". Food out more or less inedible their signature dish was OK but lukewarm main course burnt cheese course didn't appear and the desert was like eating cardboard (another signature dish). Food back sadly was the same although we were hoping for something better out of KL. The flights were on time and the cabin crew did their job no lost luggage. One of the toilets was out of use for the 13 hour flight back from KL to Paris but that happens. It was the best deal at that time from CDG to DPS but won't be flying with them again.

I have been using MAS to get in and out of Yangon in the last few months (10 sectors so far). I switched to them because they have good business fares that beat anything Silk Air or SIA have. It makes it worth the extra 44 minutes into KLIA out of Changi. Unfortunately in the last 3 trips I have seen 3 cancellations 5 delays and was at one point directed to 4 different gates over 5 hours for a flight from KLIA to Changi. Last trip out of Yangon was two hours late and I missed my connection in KLIA then got downgraded to economy and waited for two hours for the flight. So to make a long story short I am back flying Silk Air. It might be twice the price but they get you there on time and planning connections is possible. I like the MAS cabin crew and the product but the on time performance just keeps getting worse and KLIA is a train wreck.

KUL-CGK previously had wide body flight at least once a day. Now all served using 737-8 which is small and crowded. Food desperately needs improvement as it is tasteless. Paying for the most expensive flight for this route when other bigger plane like KLM is just half the price of MAS with better inside facility but food and steward/ess are lousy.

BNE-KUL-HKT 20th December. Timing of the Brisbane to Kuala Lumpur flight is such that you just want to get on the plane have a drink and try and sleep so not having a big meal served for me made perfect sense. Breakfast was more important and it was great without hot meal which I did not fancy. Good legroom in economy on the A330-300 smooth take-off and landings and friendly cabin service make MAS one of my favourite choices up to Kuala Lumpur. Onward flight to Phuket was pretty cramped but over quickly so my ratings are for Australia to Malaysia only.