JetE

Introduction

I started hunting around as far as 8 months back for an economy class return ticket from Gothenburg (GOT) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) during the peak Christmas season. KLM had not released low fares yet and Swissair was around SEK 8200 plus taxes (USD 1 = approx. SEK 10.5). I then called the Malaysia Airlines GSA in Gothenburg (now going by the name of Golden Holidays) to see if there was a better deal to be had. For once, I was early enough to get seats on the airline. The preferred (due to the KLM connection) gateway – Amsterdam (AMS) was already waitlisting, so the agent routed me through London Heathrow (LHR). The resulting itinerary was Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) GOT-LHR connecting to Malaysia Airlines (MAS) at LHR, with a choice of morning or afternoon departure (which I selected). This offer was attractive for several reasons: the afternoon departure, a free domestic roundtrip of my choosing (Peninsualr Malaysia or Singapore), a chance to ride on an MD-90 (SAS), all for SEK 8400 including taxes. The catch? No changes whatsoever to the itinerary (routing or dates) after ticketing. I took it. That was around the end of April 2001.

The itinerary then, in detail (obtained from Amadeus.net and OAG.com):
Dec 20 SK521 GOT-LHR MD-90
Dec 20 MH1 LHR-KUL B747-400
Dec 30 MH617 KUL-SIN A330-300
Jan 03 MH686 SIN-KUL B777-200
Jan 10 MH4 KUL-LHR B747-400
Jan 10 SK522 LHR-GOT MD-90

I chose the KUL-SIN return flights based on the equipment used (the vast majority of MH-operated SIN flights use the B737). I care a lot about the normally trivial business of airliner types; don’t ask me why. However, life throws in a couple of curves. By the end of summer, I found that MH686 was going to be on an A330. One week before departure, I discovered that SK521 on Dec 20 (and not the other days) was changed to an MD-80. Oh…whatever.


Part I SAS/MAS GOT-LHR-KUL SK 521 & MH 001

A tale of two airline systems…

Airline: Scandinavian Airlines aka Scandinavian Airline System (SAS)
Flight: SK 521
Sched Dep: GOT, 16.30, Dec 20, 2001
Sched Arr: LHR, 17.40, Dec 20, 2001
Class: Economy Seat: 18F (window)
Aircraft: MD-81 Registration: LN-RMT Jarl Viking

Check-in and Boarding
I arrived at check-in a good 2 hours before scheduled departure. A pleasant check-in agent issued boarding passes for both the GOT-LHR leg as well as the LHR-KUL one. SAS has had a long history of interlining with Malaysia Airlines, so it felt just like a secure routine procedure despite them being in different alliances. The airport was abuzz with activity with Air France, Lufthansa, DAT and KLM flights departing as well.

On the airside, I spied a LH B737 and an AF BAe Regional Jet. The DAT aircraft was probably parked away from the terminal. The KLM flight arrived and I was a little surprised to see PH-BXA Zwan, a B737-800, taxi in from the runway, the usual service being on the –300 or –400.

Passengers travelling to non-Schengen destinations (the U.K. being one of them) pass through immmigration into a holding area blocked off by a sliding glass wall. The glass wall then slides open to allow access to gates 19, 20 and on. Boarding was through gate 20B.

The aircraft was an MD-80 in the current colours with the updated interior in Euro configuration. I settled into 18F, a window looking out to the leading edge of the wing. Seat spacing was generous with what I estimate to be 33 inches of pitch (I almost managed a full brace position). The upholstery was the current standard navy blue with silver highlights woven in to give a light textured appearance. That was matched with orange-red headrest covers. The seats themselves were the old seats without adjustable winged headrests. Footrests folded down from the seat in front but were uncomfortable to use since the plank was at a fixed angle.

De-icing and departure with an obscured view
Pushback was delayed by a half hour due to de-icing and the temporary closure of the single runway for sweeping. I watched as the de-icer hosed down the leading edge with a powerful jet of fluid starting inwards from the wing tip… nice going brother… alright… easy now… splat! And there goes my view. Thanks and merry Christmas to you.

I was “visually challenged” for the pushback, taxi and take-off but did notice a convoy of flashing lights (the runway cleaners, I presumed) moving past as we taxied towards runway 21 for takeoff.

Inflight
The cabin crew swung into action as the plane was still climbing and went about the meal service with SAS’ signature slickness. The crew today, a mostly Danish team, exhibited a measure of warnth and charm in addition to efficiency.

The meal arrived on a small 20x20 cm tray of SAS navy blue and orange-red colours, with real glass, good quality plastic ware, (effective and nice-looking) greyish translucent plastic cutlery and, specially for the festive season, a huge thick dark blue serviette with dark gold stars on it. There was no menu, so I will do my best to describe the meal.

Appetiser
Cold shrimp in tangy marinara dressing (pretty yummy)

Main Course
Pastrami over a bed of spiral pasta salad with fresh leek, feta cheese and black sesame sprinkles.

I recognised the main course from a previous flight. While it looked pretty, the tastes were a little bland although ingredients were undoubtedly fresh. With some help from fresh warm bread (the bread basket came around twice), I ate most of the food.

The beverage cart arrived shortly after the meal tray. I asked for orange juice and got a glass of the nice pulpy type (almost as good as freshly squeezed). Passengers were offered two drinks at one go but I declined the second offer. I passed on the coffee later on as I was hoping to get some sleep on the long flight coming up.

Mad for poetry?…or Scandinavian humour?
As I was waiting for the FA to collect my tray, I looked through the rest of the contents. Awet-wipe which I did not use, the standard tetrahedral packet of milk, a packet of sugar, a packed toothpick and a twin packet (one dark blue, the other orange-red) probably containing salt and pepper.

I looked for labels saying either “salt” or “pepper” and found instead the following on the blue packet:
If you want salt on your meal, don’t cry – use this package.

And on the orange-red one:
Imagine if the oceans of the world contained pepper instead of salt, well… maybe not.

I thought of the poetry that SAS puts on the fuselage beside the door that passengers can read as they board but no one understands anything. I chuckled and placed the twin sachets in my wallet. Must show brother…

Approach over the city lights of north London
Chocolate (vaguely butterfly-shaped?) with not-too-sweet marzipan filling was handed out to round off the meal service. The cockpit crew made an announcement that we would be holding in a pattern over north London before final approach into Heathrow. The city lights were absolutely gorgeous. There were other planes circling along with us, at different altitudes. A quiet calm settled over the passenger cabin.

We touched down approximately 12 minutes behind schedule on runway 27L and turned off right about where Terminal 3 was. On the way to the stand, we passed a departing SAS MD-90 and an AC B767 C-GGBJ that looked rather huge from our level. The flight parked and we exited through gate 5.


Airline: Malaysia Airlines aka Malaysian Airline System (MAS)
Flight: MH 001
Sched Dep: LHR, 22.00, Dec 20, 2001
Sched Arr: KUL, 18.30, Dec 21, 2001
Class: Economy Seat: 45A
Aircraft: B747-400 Registration: 9M-MPM

Gate assignment… finally.
At around 20.50, the information display finally showed “Go to Gate 16” for flight MH001/VS501 (code-shared with Virgin). I headed out right away, glad to be leaving the drab and claustrophobic T3 waiting lounge.

I had my boarding pass checked at gate entrance by a jolly fellow with a Swissport tag. I contemplated the huge nose of the jumbo jet. The aircraft (9M-MPM) appeared slightly frosted over.

MAS: First impressions… when the bubble deflated…
The boarding process commenced approximately 50 minutes before scheduled departure time. Economy was boarded starting from the back rows.

I stepped onto the plane past a cart of newspapers and took in atmosphere of the cabin as I proceeded down the aisle. If there is a visual equivalent of heartburn/indigestion, I had it. The seats were drenched in syrupy colour, clustered in zones of medium-shade purple, blue, green and a hideous faded orange-pink that ended up looking like the colour of Barbie’s skin.

A male FA sang, “Good evening, how are you today sir? Seat number sir?”

As luck would have it, 45A was Barbie skin-coloured, so was 44A. Good thing they were dimming the cabin lights for most of the flight as it turned out. In any case, I had a good look at the fabric. Skin-colored with zig-zagging motifs using shiny skin-coloured thread to give it a sheen, and sparsely dotted with tiny diamond-shaped purple and green patches. The result – dirty-loking.

I sat in a cloud of disappointment that was compounded by the outcome of my seat pitch test. It did not feel like a 34” seat pitch that the airline itself claims although I certainly wouldn’t call it miserable either, just unremarkable. Perhaps it was the thickness of the seats and the bulge of the seat-back TV screens. Most PTV screens were blank and the overhead monitor displayed a thick, clumsily drawn, amateurish version of the kite logo.

Departure…
I was watching the gleaming A330 of Emirates being loaded at the neighbouring stand when the call was made for doors to be locked and armed. 45B and C remained empty and I wondered for a minute if it was the KLM FD Silver Wing status kicking in. Earlier, I had changed my seating assignment from 63D at the transfer desk, remembering to flash the card in the hopes of a lounge visit that did not materialise. The lady had also replied that the flight was full.

Outside, the wing was de-iced with a limp jet of fluid that left waxy looking stuff on the surface, in contrast to the powerful spray at GOT. Disposal wet towels (similar to the KLM type) were handed out and collected, nice-looking menus (menus! I like this!) were distributed as the aircraft was pushed back 6 minutes later than scheduled. This was followed by the inflight safety video as we taxied out to runway 27R, due for take-off after a BA jumbo and a Sri Lankan A340.

Engines were powered up, brakes were released, and our heavy jumbo lumbered down the runway. As we accelerated, I caught the silhouette of a Varig (logo illuminated) B777 taxying out to 27R.

A tray of orange juice, then a tray of apple… no, wait…beer!
This just about describes the first beverage service, instead of the usual beverage cart with other airlines. Unless one had consulted the menu, one tended to settle for either orange juice or pre-poured beer. The packet of peanuts was distributed from a basket and arrived just before the drinks.

Supper was served shortly after and featured, according to the menu:

Appetizer
Creamy Shrimp and Pasta Salad

******

Grilled Chicken
with Cream Peppercorn Sauce, Duchess Potato, Carrots and Broccoli

Or

Sweet and Sour Fish
Oriental Rice and Stir-fried Chinese Vegetables

Or

Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna
with Napolitaine Sauce

******

Apple Cream Crumble

Bread Roll

Not wanting anything creamy, I chose and received the fish. Edible, but no thumbs up. The sauce must have been 80% tomato ketchup and the fish was overdone but the appetiser was quite decent. Cutlery was plastic and nowhere as nice as the SAS ones, the serviette was the small non-descript cafeteria sort, but the glass was glass and the main dish was white ceramic (quite heavy too, with a small golden kite logo) that kept the food nice and warm. The rest of it was standard toughened plasticware in anaemic white with the lightest silver edges. Everything came on a white tray as big as the tray table which offered plenty of room for manoeuvering so I wasn’t tempted to rest my slightly warm soft sweetish bread roll (served uninspiringly from a plastic bag) in my coffee cup. Red or white wine was offered from regular bottles in the FA’s hands but not feeling up to orange juice or beer either, I decided go with just the mineral water that came with the tray.

Why are there two recline-buttons?
Supper was over and I was asked twice by different FAs to make sure that I pulled down the shades before nodding off. The inflight entertainment cycles had begun, but nothing in the 11 channels (featurng e.g. Osmosis Jones, The Fast and the Furious) was of interest.

44B reclined… and I thought, “Whoa!” at what looked like the best recline I’d ever seen in Economy. Then 44A reclined and I could not see my screen even after adjusting its angle. Checking behind and seeing that they too had reclined, I pressed the left recline button. Pfffffft (inserted sound effect), the lumbar support that I thought to have been designed by the hunchback of Notre Dame deflated. It no longer stuck into my lower back and all of a sudden the legroom felt a little better since I was able to shift myself backwards. I tried the button on the right and enjoyed the full recline… I might actually sleep. The adjustable headrest was a dream: thick, medium soft and folded snugly around the ears and neck. I unpacked and unfolded the (thin, grey with purple stripes) blanket. With the inflatable lumbar support, I no longer had to stuff it in the small of my back for support. The soft blue cloth pillow fitted nicely behind my neck. I though, “ Malaysia Airlines…all I ask for is the seat bottom to tilt slightly upwards during recline, and I’m yours. That… and maybe another inch of legroom.” The footrest must have been broken because I easily pushed it under 44A. Anyway, it was the fixed-angle type that bends the foot up to an awkward angle when one used it, so I was thankful enough that it stowed neatly away against 44A just below the seat pocket.

I was out for most of the following 4 or 5 hours, which is good since I hardly managed a couple of hours with KLM or BA on previous intercontinentals.

And the award-winning cabin crew?
The mustachioed FA that did most of the serving in the zone I was seated was deadpan. I don’t think he ever smiled except for the occasional smirk and I started to wonder if all that about friendlier Asian FAs was more myth than reality.

Well, he must have either been temporarily working another zone or taking his turn for a break as I did not see him when I awoke. However, I noted that the silhouettes of different cabin crew were moving stealthily up and down the aisles in the very darkened cabin at regular intervals such that there was no need to use the call button for anything. Earlier, before I fell asleep, one particular ceiling light close by was not dimming as the others did. It must have been the complaint of a mother of a child unable to fall asleep. A small team, including the mustachioed one, congregated and solved it by unwrapping the unoccupied 45C blanket and throwing it over the recess above the overhead locker, where the offending light was. So the cabin was so dark that when I switched on my reading light I was worried that I had woken somebody.

A nice male FA came by and offered me the midflight snack, pack (Snacks: A selection of Sandwich, Chocolate, Cheese and Crackers; the pack contained one of each),which I accepted. I asked for some writing material, hoping to seize the opportunity to make notes for this report. He nodded earnestly and returned in a flash with a pen and two MAS postcards. OK, so I wrote a postard instead. Water and orange juice came around frequently enough.

I visited the lavatory. It was still clean halfway through the flight. There was a drawer with some toothbrushes. Good, because they did not hand out amenity kits. There were also various toiletries beside the washbasin in blue MAS bottles.

I found some time to play around with the entertainment system a little. The console was detachable from the armrest but connected by a cord, and was a telephone on the flipside. There were also buttons for games that I was too lazy to explore. There were more than 12 channels under the audio mode. It was also possible to send faxes (expensive) and order flowers, read updated text news headlines and consult city guides (plain text). I did very well without the entertainment but began to appreciate PTVs for the other benefits: a really dark cabin, no need for eyeshades and being able to walk freely along the aisle without worrying about obstructing anybody’s view. I still wished that the screens would bulge a little less. The entertainment server units were situated under the seats but only the middle ones. So beware… yet another reason the window and aisle seats are the ones to have.

Where is Mecca?
I flipped to Channel 12 (Map). One of the pages featured a simple schematic top view of the aircraft and a line pointing to the direction of Mecca and the distance from it. At that time, we were just south of Pakistan and entering India from the west so the line pointed, correctly, to the back and slightly to the port side of the aircraft. I wondered how one would pray under these circumstances.

Would you like coffee with your meal?
The light meal, served about 2 hours before landing, was preceded by disposable wet towels (can’t remember if they were warm or cold). The mustachioed one was back and as deadpan as ever. I looked at the menu:

Mixed Tropical Fruit

******

Steamed Fish
with Lemon and Capers Sauce, Boiled Potatoes, Carrots and Broccoli

Or

Chicken Kurma
Steamed Rice and Spicy Mixed Vegetables

Or

Gnocchi Piementose
in Spicy Capsicum Basil Sauce
Topped with Parmesan Shaving

******

Bread Roll

(There was also a packet of cheese and crackers)

I had wanted chicken but they ran out. Not wanting more fish, I took the vegetarian Gnocchi Piementose that turned out to be olive-shaped balls of boiled dough in marinara sauce and melted cheese. The same types of utensils were used except the tray was smaller this time. I can’t remember whether or not wine was offered but I recalled being stumped when the mustachioed one came by with coffee just as I was starting on my dough balls a.k.a. the main course. Huh? Coffee with my pasta? Alright… hit me. I need some caffeine in order not to crash too early tonight.

After the light meal, there was not much to do, so I looked through the inflight magazine. I also brought out my notepad to transcribe the menu in case they collected it (they did not). I noted the page with the selection of beverages available free of charge. It was much more than orange juice and beer.

Beverages

Aperitifs & Cocktails
VERMOUTH – Sweet & Dry
CAMPARI – With Soda or 7 Up
COCKTAILS – Bloody Mary, Manhattan, Gin Fizz, Collins, Screwdriver, Sours, Highballs and Martinis

******

Wines
FINE RED AND WHITE WINES ARE AVAILABLE

******

Spirits
WHISKY, BOURBON, GIN, VODKA OR BACARDI RUM

COGNAC VSOP

******

Liqueurs
COINTREAU AND DRAMBUIE

******

Beer
INTERNATIONAL SELECTION

******

Soft Drinks & Mixers
A Seletion of Soft Drinks are available including calorie reduced or Sugar Free

Oolong Tea


Shortly before landing, the headsets were returned. The aircraft turned east and then slightly northwest for approach. I had expected us to land on 32L but soon realised when I saw 32L that we were vectored towards 32R. As we glid in, I had the hangar on the left. I noted with slight amusement that Saudi Arabian B747-300 that had an unfortunate encounter with a ditch in an out-of-control taxi incident many weeks back was parked outside the hangar kissing (nose crushed) the tarmac. The tail had been painted over. Touchdown was fairly firm and on schedule. The apron of the satellite departure building (airside only) was rather empty and mostly MAS aircraft. We parked at C32.

As we disembarked, we were thanked by cabin crew with loads more charm and personality. They were, naturally, stationed in First and Business during the flight. As passengers exited the glass loading bridges into the satellite building, we were greeted by santarinas in the traditional sarong kebaya wearing the pointy santa caps, saying Merry Christmas and handing out a packet of shrimp crackers to each passenger. Ring ring went the bells on the caps.

The fashion award goes to…
The female cabin crew, attired in the traditional sarong kebaya with green and red batik floral prints, looked attractive. The uniform is in many ways similar to the better known Singapore Airlines uniform but I personally find the colours of the Malaysian one more appealing and soothing as they evoke the beauty of nature: the foliage, the flowers and the sea.

The male cabin crew have two uniforms. They welcome passengers in the tackier (IMHO) one, green bow tie, green suit with gold-embroidered lapels that made them look as though they would break into a medley of hits from the 70s any second. Before landing, they had changed into the more elegant suit and tie combo in a much darker and more subdued shade of green. They looked more alive and handsome. Even the mustachioed one looked a little happier, or was it that his shift was over?

End of Part I

Phew… pardon me for the length and the detail but I did make heaps of notes since it was the first time. However, you would have managed to read this carefully more than twice in the time it took for my luggage to appear on the belt. The return report… if I write it soon enough will be much shorter.

JetE

SK

Nice report. Looking forward to the second part.

dsimon

Thanks for the report on MH; I appreciate it.

bp888

JetEWonderful report! I like the "color" of your commentary. How the hell did you remember all those details? You must have taken copious note!

mad_atta

Great report - living in this part of the world MH has the reputation of being one of the only comfortable ways to get to Europe in coach. How would you rate them overall?

JetE

Thanks for your responses.

bp888:
Making mental and then written notes, as well as NOT looking at the airshow map or your watch, is a really good way to kill time on a long flight.

mad_atta:
Pretty comfy. I wouldn't hesitate to fly them again in coach. Considering where you are from, I'd put MH a little above QF (based on a single LAX-AKL experience in Feb 2000) and waaaayyyy above BA (based on LGW-MCO, SYD-KUL and KUL-LHR also around that time) in terms of Economy seat comfort. Haven't flown SQ since 1994. Never flown CX, AN, NZ, TG or EK. Meal quality varies. I've experienced good enough cabin crew service from all three.

JetE

trentis

Wow, I thoroughly enjoyed that report! Kept it interesting and detailed. Look forward to Part2!

MilesDependent

I agree with the others. Fantastic report, one of the most interesting I've read. Very much so looking forward to Part 2.

MD

JetE

Part II MAS MH617 MH686 KUL-SIN vv

Short runs on big jets.

Airline: Malaysia Airlines (MAS)
Flight: MH 617
Sched Dep: KUL, 18.10, Dec 30, 2001
Sched Arr: SIN, 19.05, Dec 30, 2001
Class: Economy Seat: 4A
Aircraft: A330-300 Registration: 9M-MKF

More meaningless trivia…
I was on MH617 August 15 (or 16?), 1997; same schedule, same aircraft type, different circumstances. At the time, the present Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (Subang) airport (now SZB) was THE Kuala Lumpur international airport (KUL). In fact, that was my farewell departure from that airport. I have not been there ever since.

The A330…
I did not pay much attention to this aircraft type when it was launched. At the time, I was slightly obsessed with the MD-11. I was aware that MAS ordered a bunch at some point, added to the order a little later, that delivery was delayed and all that somehow ended up with the airline receiving all 10 ordered aircraft in 1995.

But I was, how should I put it, lovestruck when I saw one of them drift in over the threshold at sundown sometime in 1996, wings curved upward like the outstretched arms of a ballerina. So I was thrilled to bits when I received my ticket from SAS (SIN-BKK-CPH-GOT) in August 1997 and the itinerary showed that the connecting flight from KUL to SIN, MH617, was going to be on the A330. And that happened with absolutely zero planning on my part.

Reconfirmation, Check-in and Boarding
A couple of days before departure, I took the travel agent’s written advice and called up MAS’ new toll-free hotline to reconfirm my reservation. It was past midnight then so the call went through almost instantly. I asked for a window seat and was offered 4A in the Golden Club Class (Business) section, probably due to the fact that I had a Y-class reservation (MAS does not sell Biz tickets on KUL-SIN vv). And my Flying Dutchman number? “Your card number has been entered, sir.” Good.

At the check-in desk, the boarding pass for seat 4A (they kept their word) was issued. And then I found a souvenir shop (on the landside immediately beyond the check-in islands) where discovered a display case of 1:400 scale airliner models and promptly did a little damage to my balance sheet.

Gate C36 was on the tip of southeast-pointing pier of the plus-shaped international satellite building, which was entirely airside. On the aerotrain ride (after clearing immigration) from the main terminal building to the satellite building, I noted an A310 and a B747 of Singapore Airlines and a nearby Emirates B777 (A6-EML). At Gate C33 (?), a new Cathay Pacific A330-300X (B-HLS) was boarding.

Going through security at the gate entrance was unremarkable except for the pat down by a security officer that included a pretty firm grab under the crotch (no sir whatever you feel there will not endanger the flight). He looked as though the experience was as bad for him as it was for me.

Singaporean disembarkation cards were already available at the gate and it was convenient to get it filled early. There was not much traffic. Saudi Arabian B747-300 (HZ-AIL) taxied by for departure to Jeddah. KLM B747-400Combi (PH-BFF) taxied in to gate (odd time; late arrival?).

Onboard
4A was the port window of the first row in the Biz section, and was forward of exit #2. As I walked up the aisle, I caught the eye of a lovely FA waiting just inside exit #1 (the divider curtain had been drawn aside) to welcome First Class passengers and received a warm welcome smile.

Not wanting to behave like a bumpkin or a geek, I refrained from playing physiotherapist to the seat (i.e. testing the recline, extending legrests etc.), a decision that I was to regret a little, since the seat behind was occupied shortly after and I felt even less inclined to recline fully (so now I can’t tell you how much it reclined). Oh, JetE, you think you’re gonna impress her or something?

4B remained unoccupied throughout; a mother and her kid took seats 5A and B. The sweet-looking FA walked in from the First section while I was casually flipping through a local newspaper I had picked up from the cart parked inside exit #2. She chatted up mother and kid in mandarin Chinese, asking at one point if they were from Taiwan. She guessed right. They were impressed. Mother asked for a toy; “I’m sorry we don’t have any on this flight, but would you like some candy?”; FA brought a small packet of candy; mother made kid say “Thank you Auntie”; FA complimented “He’s really obedient.”; I imagined the mother beaming inside. PR exercise number one completed. Grade A.

The flight pushed back ever so slightly late. The taxi felt a little bouncy close to the nosewheel. Boing boing boing, good springs. Once on 32R, we were off like a rocket.

The beverage service was coffee/tea or orange juice. For the former, plastic cup-on-small-tray sets (with spoon, sugar, creamer) were handed out first and then FAs walked by with jugs. The latter was served from a metal jug with ice cubes but tasted just fine (as far as juice-concentrates go). And that was that.

I surveyed the Golden Club class cabin on the way to the lavatory. Business was 5 rows of 2-2-2, with pretty basic seats (no PTV, no adjustable headrest/lumbar support, pneumatically controlled legrest and recline) with rather pleasant light orange-brown textured fabric. Being rather short and not being used to travel in premium cabins, I found the comfort level (not a whole lot of pitch, in the low 40s <inches> perhaps) adequate.

I was able, without trying too hard from my seat, to spy on First class as the curtain swung about a little as people moved about in that section. As far as I could see, it was silver and linen service, not pre-plated. I caught sight of pieces of fried stuff on the china and wondered if it was kids’ meal since the occupant was quite obviously a brat.

Landing from the south
The descent brought us past Singapore’s southern coastline where we did several turns over a sea filled with vessels of different shapes and sizes. Approach to 02L must have been into some wind since the airbus drifted in ever so lazily. We passed a number of Singapore and kangaroo tails as the aircraft rolled to the eastern side of the airport (where Terminal 2 is) to dock at F31. I suppressed any urge to memorise registration numbers. Enough is enough.


Airline: Malaysia Airlines (MAS)
Flight: MH 686
Sched Dep: SIN, 10.30, Jan 03, 2002
Sched Arr: KUL, 11.25, Jan 03, 2002
Class: Economy Seat: 19A
Aircraft: A330-300 Registration: 9M-MKD

One can always hope…
I decided against reconfirming just so (I hoped) that I would end up in the Economy cabin. I had seen on the A330 safety video (which seemed a tad more professional than the B747 video) that the Economy seats seemed to have excellent legroom. True enough I got 19A at check-in. Singapore’s Changi airport may look slightly dated compared to KUL but it was much more alive. KUL felt like an expensive shoe that had not yet been broken in.

I visited the airside IT centre and got 15 minutes of internet time for SGD 2, logged on to FlyerTalk to inform that the MAS A330 did not have new seats in Business.

Walking almost all the way to the southern end of the Terminal 2 concourse, I saw a fairly large MAS tail fin partially blocked by a Singapore B747 tail as I approached gate F58. Well doesn’t it look like a B777? Last minute equipment change? Fat hopes. As I passed through security, I saw the unmistakable curve of the tail fin leading edge of 9M-MKD and that was the end of it.

The B747 at the adjacent gate pushed back for departure to either Sydney or Melbourne. I noted the registration – 9V-SPL, which had been given the regular modest paint job to mourn the tragic loss of tropical liveried sister ship 9V-SPK.

Onboard
The legroom was indeed good in the A330 Economy cabin, better than on the B747. The seats were slightly thinner and without personal TV screens. I was able to slide the top of my head past the seatback of 18A to complete the full brace position test, so the claimed 34” seat pitch might be a reality here. Best of all, the textured light grey seat cover that had a greenish sheen to it actually looked nice, The fold-down footrests were of the fixed-angle type and I remember finding them not too useful back then in 1997. The seat structure was the older basic type with no adjustable parts except for the seatback recline which, by the way, was noticeably less than on the B747.

There is a bulkhead (where a roll-down screen was placed) after the first few rows of Economy. I believe that section used to house Business seats until the airline found that 50-odd Business seats were difficult to fill on short-to-medium range flights.

Monitors hung down from the ceiling above the aisle. There were, in my opinion, not enough of them so watching movies would have been literally a pain in the neck for a fair number of passengers.

Takeoff was, again, powerful as the aircraft rotated on 02R just abreast of the southernmost gates of Terminal 2.

The beverage service was identical to that on the outbound. To test the service, I asked if they offered any other type of juice. I was offered tomato juice and as “punishment” for being “difficult”, received it only a couple of minutes before the FAs came around to collect cups and glasses. The tomato juice was thick and good.

The load was pretty light. 19B was empty (3rd straight flight on MAS without a neighbour) and so were many other seats, and the flight appeared to have the full complement of cabin crew.

Arrival
On approach to 32R, I noted that the crippled Saudi airliner was still there. After a short rollout, we taxied to gate B10 at the northeastern end of the contact pier (i.e. the pier that is joined to the main terminal building). On the way, a couple of A340s belonging to Turkish and Gulf Air, and an unidentified Ilyushin IL-62 were among the more interesting aircraft to be seen around the satellite building area.

I had checked in a bag today and it took all of 25 minutes to appear on the belt (read: not overly impressed by the baggage system; or do the system and I have conflicting karma?). Customs officers were doing a spot check for narcotics and I couldn’t help but notice that the others who were pulled over were male passengers travelling alone. They (the officers) were quite polite and one sounded almost apologetic.

I purchased a RM20 bus ticket at the arrivals counter just inside the exit to landside. The following hour or so was spent riding into town on a comfortable air-conditioned coach with only 4 other passengers.

End of Part II


This is taking some time. There is still Part III (final).
Note to myself: You can’t afford to do this if you travel more often.

But I truly enjoy reliving the experience.

JetE

MilesDependent

Great work - looking forward to Part III!!! C'mon, post it already

MN

JetE

Part III MH004/SK522 KUL-LHR-GOT

Here we go again...

Airline: Malaysia Airlines (MAS)
Flight: MH 004
Sched Dep: KUL, 10.30, Jan 10, 2002
Sched Arr: LHR, 16.30, Jan 10, 2002
Class: Economy Seat: 34G
Aircraft: B747-400 Registration: 9M-MPK

A busy time for KUL
The hours 6.00 to 10.00 are great for airline enthusiasts at this airport since this is the time where inbound aircraft from Europe are turned around for flights to Australia and other parts of Asia. Of course, we are talking about MAS aircraft and there is not much else here. The highlight, for me this morning, was seeing a Qatar Airways A300 (stylish, understated colours) pushing back for departure to Doha.

The automated baggage system was acting up. This I found out when I asked the check-in lady about the extra label with the word “FALLBACK” in bold upper case that she had tagged onto all bags in addition to the usual destination label. Seeing that she was busy, I did not ask how the word “FALLBACK” would be interpreted by the computers that run the system (anyone knows?). I didn’t like the sound of it. I envisioned my bag tumbling backwards over and over again into the same bin, and did a mental estimation of my potential loss.

Tension at gate C32
Our aircraft was parked at gate C34, between a B777 9M-MRC being readied for a 9.55 departure from C32 for SYD and MEL and another B777 9M-MRH (PER-bound) loading at C36.

Going through security, I became aware of a commotion over at C32. It looked like a family (man, woman, kid and a stroller) being denied boarding for having shown up too late. The Scottish-accented (?) young mother appeared to be losing it and started howling at the rather silent 2 or 3 gate personnel. It sounded so desperate that I thought for a moment, “Ooh noooh… her child is on the flight!”, which would have been a totally ridiculous situation. Then I understood that her bags were on the flight and wondered if it was a serious violation of airline security that MAS had not offloaded bags of passengers who failed to board.

Part of her outburst went like this, “ I KNOW that I HAVE to get a ticket on the next flight but I WANT MY BAGS! I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS! The PLANE is LEAVING and YOU JUST STAND THERE DOING NOTHING!”

It was a dramatic sight watching her howling and flailing against the backdrop of the B777 backing away from the gate. The gate agent checking my boarding pass was visibly distressed by it. Passengers were watching and making little comments amongst themselves.

Departure
Economy class was full as far as the eye could see. The seats were the same heavy-looking ones but with different footrests, the type with the variable foot angle that also happened to look less flimsy. So all MH jumbos are not created equal.

The flight departed almost 25 minutes late due to “loading delays.” I assumed it would be the routine 32R takeoff but out on the taxiway we turned left and taxied the full runway length to the other end, i.e. 14L. The flight had been fueled for the 14-hour journey and so finally lifted off just abreast of the satellite building with what I would guess to be around 500 m of runway remaining.

Chicken-chicken and fish-fish combo
The first beverage service was, again, a tray of orange juice followed by a tray of beer. I had reasoned that this simplified version of beverage service was perhaps appropriate on MH001 LHR-KUL because it was a late evening departure. Today’s MH004 was a full length daylight service, and a good 14 hours at that. Was it the lack of galley space then?

The aroma of lunch wafted around the cabin as I watching, slightly amused, as a slim female FA walked backwards up the aisle, dragging a garbage bag and asking in a delightful sing-song voice, “Any rubbish for throwing? It would be another half an hour before lunch was served.

I looked at the menu that featured, as in the outbound menu, a nice photo of blush-coloured water apples (Eugenia aquea) on the cover and an explanation on the back. The contents were different. For lunch:

Appetizer
Smoked Chicken with Cream Potato Salad

******

Grilled Beef Steak with Mushroom Sauce
Herb Potato Wedge, Carrots and Zucchini

Or

Szechuan Chicken
Steamed Rice and Garlic Pak Choy

Or

Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna
with Tomato Sauce and Broccoli

******

Banana Strawberry Gateau

Bread Roll

Ice Cream

It was the same tray set-up except the plastic cutlery was even more tender. The fork could barely hurt the overboiled potato cubes in the appetiser much less anyone in the cabin. Apart from the overboiled potato cubes, the appetiser was decent. I decided to go Asian on this flight and was rewarded with a delicious and enthusisatically spiced (I found a dried red chili nestling behind the last piece of chicken) Szechuan Chicken. The chicken was lightly breadcrusted on the outside but juicy on the inside. The Banana Strawberry Gateau could have been any other type of Gateau, pleasant but not memorable. The ice cream was a Nestle crunch ice cream bar.

The second meal was served about two and a half hours before landing. While the tray was smaller, the portions were similar to lunch.

Light Meal

Appetizer
Pasta and Salmon Salad

******

Irish Lamb Stew
Italian Noodles, Carrot and Broccoli

Or

Fish Curry Nyonya Style
Steamed Rice and Stir-fried Mixed Vegetables

Or

Spinach Tortellini with Mornay Sauce

******

Mango Walnut Muesli Slice

Bread Roll

I read a little further this time and saw:

The food served on board is HALAL.
We apologise if, on occasion, your choice is not available.

I was fortunate enough to receive my choice both times. I also noticed that the cabin crew never mentioned the vegetarian option when asking passengers’ meal choices. Sticking with Asian food led me to a fish-fish combo for the light meal. Having slept in the galley for over 10 hours, the smoked salmon appetiser looked a little like me in the early morning but fortunately did not taste bad. The fish curry dish travelled very well and was still tasty despite the slightly dry edges on the rice. And I enjoyed the walnut nuesli slice. The sauce was a little tart at first taste but the cake kicked in and made it good, tasting a little bit like those banana nut bread things. All in all, food was good this time.

Zura and Normasley
They were the two young female FAs working my aisle most of the time. Both were seen serving throughout most of the flight.

Zura seemed a little tense and wore a worried frown in the beginning but lost some of the tesnsion as the flight wore on. During the second meal, she managed a soft “Enjoy your meal” and made it a point to move the pre-packed mineral water cup out of the tray onto the recess in the tray table to leave more space on the smaller tray. I beamed my appreciation. I believed that she would be very good at her job if only she would relax a little.

Normasley (the “Any rubbish for throwing?” girl) was, perhaps, a little more experienced as she exuded a glow of self-confidence. Could she be an example of what people rave about? She was relaxed and ever ready to flash a radiant smile, as she did while inviting me to use the lavatory after she had cleaned it. She half kneeled/squatted so that our eyes were at the same level when she asked if my neighbour and I wanted steak or chicken for the first meal. There was no more chicken in her cart and she assured me that she would return soon after completing the next few rows but then suddenly decided to make a quick run to another cart to look for the chicken. A little later, she was seen chatting happily with a couple with an infant in row 28.

I am a low-maintenance passenger (the only time I ever pushed a call button was by accident), and as such cannot report on how the FAs respond to call buttons. However, there were still more than a few smiles available around the cabin 8 hours into the flight.

Snaking around above the Arabian peninsula
The longer routing in order to avoid the Afghan airspace meant the flight would almost take the full 14 hours. We approached the Arabian peninsula around Muscat, turned in to Saudi Arabia and tracked just south of the Iraqi border. Later on there were a few more turns to avoid Israeli airspace.

The flight proceeded smoothly with the exception of a few short spells of turbulence. The lady next to me was petite and pleasantly quiet for the entire journey. She did, later, save me the inconvenience of orange juice on my pants by reaching out to grab my glass as I was about to tip it over. Otherwise, silence ruled as I was working hard to finish a very interesting book by John Cleese and Robin Skynner (his therapist) about families and how to survive them. By the end of it, I decided that I was damaged beyond rescue and wondered if there would be any possibility of a cheat sheet for my next life.

The mid-flight snack offering was the same old but kept me reasonably comfortable until the light meal. I had chosen to stay up for the entire flight so that I would sleep soundly as soon as I got home. I couldn’t stay with one film and so ended up watching parts of what added up to become America’s Sweetheart Diaries. Yes, it did not make much sense.

Landing and final impressions
It seemed like we missed the regular landing slot and was asked to hold for an extra 20 minutes. I saw nothing from my aisle seat except that it was dark outside. The cockpit announcement informed that we would be landing from the east. And we finally did, at a few minutes past 5 pm, touchng down very smoooothly on a wet 27R. When the lights came back on again as we arrived at gate 15, I glanced around the cabin and realised that the purple, blue and green seats did not look too bad when viewed from the back. Perhaps I had been desensitised. Then I looked at the Barbie skin-coloured seat across the aisle and asked myself if I ever could learn to like the colour. Not in tthis lifetime, not even with electric shock therapy.


Airline: Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
Flight: SK 522
Sched Dep: LHR, 19.20, Jan 10, 2002
Sched Arr: GOT, 22.20, Jan 10, 2002
Class: Economy Seat: 18F (window)
Aircraft: MD-90 Registration: SE-DMF Heidrek Viking

Dazed and confused
At T3, the friendly salesperson/promoter at the World of Whiskies succeeded in making the sale of a bottle of 21 yr old Auchentoshan to me. He didn’t have to try too hard, especially not after he had lured me into sampling a couple of whiskies. That was when the 14+ hours of the previous flight hit like a cement block. I longed for my bed and it felt like they took forever to assign a gate. Worst of all, I was getting paranoid… of trash bins.

When I got to gate 4, I was foggily pleased to see the two windows between the overwing exits of the MD-90 that was parked there. There were two other MD-90s, SE-DMG on one side of our plane, and SE-DMH on the other.

Onboard
Row 18 was just forward of the first overwing exit. Legroom was excellent, even a little better than the MD-80 on the outbound. The footrest was the adjustable angle type, and the amount of legroom made the footrest useful to me for once.

Takeoff was on 27L and we were 4th or 5th in line after a few departures including a majestic Japan Airlines B747-400 with a deep droning whine as it lumbered down the runway. Takeoff in the MD-90 was unlike other. The engine noise was so distant that it sounded as if another plane was taking off, not us. After a steep climbout, however, the air conditioning started in earnest and made the cabin no less noisy than any other aircraft cabin.

Suppper was the following (own description):
Baked Ham, Salami and Parma (or Serrano?) Ham with vinegared potatoes over some vegetable salad.

There was a little bar of Toblerone for dessert.

As usual, bread was warm but the FAs this time were less so. They seemed to be too much in a rush to even listen carefully, so the non-Swedish speaking passenger in 18C received a Drambuie when he had actually asked for beer. There was no friendliness. Earlier, as I greeted the head FA while stepping onboard, I received a forced smile in return and fleeting facial expression of having seen something distasteful. Later, I would receive the same expression as I said my thank-you while exiting the aircraft. In retrospect, I realise now that I might have had the appearance of a red-eyed poor drunken *******, having neglected to freshen up at T3. It sure did not help my spirits then even if I was too tired to dwell on it.

For once, I felt I needed to recline after the trays had been cleared away on this short hop. No luck… because row 18 was right in front of an exit row. I missed the MAS headrests. This one was thin and “unfolded” as soon as I leaned my head towards one side.

Back on ground
The cloud ceiling was very low at GOT. We were hurtling blindly through blankets of thick turbulent clouds so when we finally broke through we were only a few hundred metres above ground. It was down on runway 21 and a quick taxi to the end gates 20A or B. Strangely, the aircraft parked just to the side of a passenger bridge so we were all treated to a smack of damp chilly air as we climbed down to the tarmac and then scooted up a stairway into the terminal. I had a little explaining to do to the immigration officer as I was in between permits and it took some effort considering my mind had already clocked out for the day and my speech was appropriately slurred to match my appearance. It probably took all of 3 minutes but felt like eternity in my groggy twisted perspective. The greatest consolation was that my bag was already on the belt, “Fallback” tag and all, before I got there.

End of Part III

End of flight report.


Sorry for taking this long in between parts... especially to anyone who was waiting. I saw that my topic had already fallen off the radar, so to speak, and got the feeling that it was now or never. So it's now. Cheers.

JetE



[This message has been edited by JetE (edited 01-27-2002).]