Likely to be able to make connection?
 

I’ve only ever had longer (5+ hours) connections at KUL, so don’t have experience of tighter connections, but have heard stories of difficulties in making connections in less than 2 hours, probably owing to connecting between main T1 and satellite terminal….

But I’m considering booking for next month:

LHR-LUL (MH003)
10:25AM - (+1) 07:15AM

Connecting onto

KUL-SIN (MH611)
09:10AM - 10:20AM

And wondered if 1h55m is sufficient time for the connection? Am I wrong in presuming that both MH flights would arrive/depart from the same terminal?

It seems a bit 50/50 the last fortnight whether MH3 arrives 20-30 mins early, or 20-30 mins late, whether the latter would be likely to cause an issue.

I’d actually then be connecting on again from SIN to Haneda on JL, and it’s quite crucial I don’t miss that flight.

Nobody can give you any guarantees, but I wouldn't consider 1h55m MH to MH at KUL to be tight

Honestly, it comes down to if and how late MH3 is. I have missed a connecting flight through KUL before due to the LHR-KUL flight coming in ~2hrs late.

However, if you have 1hr between when you deplane and the next flight, regardless of if KUL-SIN leaves from Main (likely) or Satellite (unlikely, but have read that it has happened before) you will make it - the two buildings are really not that big, the Main building is at most 10mins from entry in the middle to the absolute farthest gate. (Any checked bags should also make it with ~1hr…)

(The KLIA Main building and Satellite building are a single terminal, just separated by a short <15min bus ride, including wait time to fill up. KLIA2 is for LCCs only, and is not connected airside currently.)

You have two hours and even if you need to wait for a few buses, you will make it to your connecting flight with no issues, if MH 3 arrives on times. Plus there are plenty of flights to Singapore throughout the day.

Honestly there is really no guarantee and maybe fly the nonstop flight or try arriving the day before, if you need to be in SIN at a particular time.

Carfield

Thanks for the replies. I’m still 50/50 on what to do, so will probably just flip a coin and go for it

You’ll be fine….unless you aren’t. Is the SIN to TYO flight on a separate, unprotected, ticket?

Yea… like I said, unless the flight delays such that you have <1hr once you deplane (and possibly as low as 45mins if you hustle), you should be fine.

Per FlightStats, 8% of MH3 flights (5 of 61) were ‘excessively delayed’ or cancelled in the past 2 months:
https://www.flightstats.com/v2/fligh...ating/MH/3/LHR

[EDIT]
Actually, what is the JL flight you’re taking SIN-TYO? If it’s JL36 at 10:25pm the day you’re supposed to arrive in SIN @10:20am (or an even later one), that’s 10hr+ of buffer, no?

That’s important info here, your length of buffer: expecting LHR-KUL-SIN is a single ticket, if you miss MH611, MH will reschedule you on a later KUL-SIN flight. 10 hours means you could still fly at least 4 other flights (depending on the day):

• MH627 @ 10:50am
• MH603 @ 11:50am
• MH619 @ 2:20pm
• MH625 @ 3:50pm
• MH613 @ 5:20pm
• or even MH607 @ 7:25pm (arriving 8:35pm is doable, esp. if you check your luggage through to HND, see here)

and still make a JL flight departing SIN at 10:25pm.
(Or just book your KUL-SIN flight for MH627 or MH603 for an extra 1-2 hour buffer in KUL itself…)

You then don’t need to worry about delays, just about your MH3 flight being completely cancelled.

Thanks for the replies!

the SIN-HND is on the same ticket as LHR-KUL-SIN and indeed would be the 22:25 departure to HND on JL36.

I think I’ll give it a go, I wasn’t sure how accommodating MH might be to move me onto a later KUL-SIN flight if MH3 arrived too late for the 09:10 connection, given it’s a BA-issued award ticket (there’s no award seats available on the 11:50am departure, for example)

(whether something like UK261 would still apply all the way to HND as the final destination, or only on the LHR-KUL part of the journey)

If you do misconnect on a single ticket, MH is obligated to rebook you to your final ticketed destination, UK261 or not. It has nothing to do with them being "accommodating" on an award ticket. When you get rebooked during IRROPS, it's done so regardless of your underlying fare bucket or issuing carrier. It's no different on MH, and they do so without much of a fuss. There have been times when they (un)helpfully rebooked me onto a more direct routing, but it's never done in bad faith.

Given your long connection in SIN, I can't imagine how you'd arrive in HND later than expected even if you miss your original KUL-SIN.