Review: MAS Business Class A380-800 Sydney to Kuala Lumpur

Having read many reviews on various airlines’ services and products recently have prompted myself to start my own travelling reviews. I begin my first review as below:

I was fortunate enough to experience Malaysia Airlines A380 Business Class from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur, MH 122 on 5^th June 2015, flight duration of 8 hours and 20 minutes. Only AirAsiaX and MH offers direct flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur.

“This was due to A330 aircraft maintenance which was the usual aircraft out of Australia”. Malaysian Airlines announced in 2012 that they were going to start using the A380 on the Kangaroo route, however it never happened. Instead, the A380 flies on the London-KL and Paris-KL route with the additional First Class Cabin. As Malaysian Airlines has recently decided to put their A380 on sale, I was excited to test the flat bed business class seats before its too late.

**I was also hoping to get an upgrade to experience First Class, but it was not operating, as Australian flights do not offer first class tickets. A mistake for MH, wasting this opportunity to promote their First Class Cabin service to the Australian travellers**

Anyhow, I was seated in 6K (window seat), upper deck. I was lucky that nobody was next to me and with the seat barrier up; I had semi privacy. **kids should be put at the back of the Business Class, not first row**

Glimpse of First Class Cabin

Had a chance to explore First Class. Really spacious, but felt that there were too many compartments, wasted spaces for better products. Also, the seats were not leather which felt less luxurious.

Back to Business Class...

Meal Time

I had Apple Juice as my pre-departure drink.

Shortly after departure, it was time for appetizer.

Excited for the Malaysian Satays as they are always delicious turned into something rather disappointing. They only served two sticks. **There were evidently shortages**. They also served poached prawns with Thai-style green papaya som tam salad. I only had the prawns, as the salad was not appertising. 

I pre-ordered my main course through Chef-on-Call – Nasi Lemak. However it felt short and looked like prawns rice. Nasi Lemak served on flight departing from Kuala Lumpur taste way better.

As for dessert, I had the Opera Cake, which was lovely.

I did not have any champagne, as it was Philipponnat. It did not taste nice the last flight.

Refreshment

Lamb and Rosemary Pie

Entertainment

Managed to catch two movies - Still Alice starring Julianna Moore (won Best Actress Oscar 2015) and Birdman (Best Movie 2015). Also, watched a few episodes of Selfie. I reckon the screen would look bigger without that additional casing.

Headphones were good too.

Seat

As compared to the usual aircraft used on the Australian route, which is an A330 with angled, lie flat bed (60 Pitch, 75.2 Bed Length, 20 Width) - uncomfortable to sleep on as one would keep sliding down. A380 definitely offers better seats. Pillow, thin mattress and blanket was offered. There were also ample spaces for stuff. The seats are 180 degree (74 Pitch, 72 Bed Length, 22 Width. The seats are also 2-2-2 configurations. 

Only 3 years old, A380 is not well maintained especially cleanliness. 

The additional mattress was also in torn up condition.

Amenity Kits

A Bulgari set, a change from the usual Tumi (which I am not sure if its because of A380 or MH decided to ‘upgrade’).

Overall product and services

In terms of service, I felt that Malaysian Airlines cabin crews offered a standard service, as expected. Despite the differences in aircraft (A330 vs A380), the only difference was the seats (angled lie flat bed vs full flat bed). Everything else feels the same as offered in A330. With many airlines rigorously competing in the Business Class and First Class department to attract well-travelled customers, MH would need to step up their game and innovate further with their products. Having just better seats does not cut it.

The question remains: Will I fly again with them?

The answer: Yes, but subject to long or short haul flights, as there are many alternatives airlines.