[Anonymous]

[TominScotland]

We joined this flight to London in KLIA after a connection from Brisbane.This had meant a couple of hours in Malaysia’s very quiet First Lounge which was a good opportunity for a shower, a light breakast (full restaurant service is available) and a read.

We headed to the gate in good time where security takes place. Unlike most gates at KLIA, the A80 gate has three secuity lines which speeds things up considerably. Once through, our boarding passes were checked and we were directed upstairs with a further check of our boarding passes. This is the holding area for Business passengers and those in the small Economy cabin at the rear. There was a delay with boarding but once announced we joined the Business line (courtesy of my oneworld Emerald card) and were soon aboard.

Economy configuration is 2-4-2 and, unfortunatey, the best we could do was seats in the four block even though the check-in agent in Brisban has promised us a free seat in our row. However, the cabin was totally full so there was no flexibility to move about. The additional passnger was a retired MAS crew member who spent most of the flight with his ex-colleagues so the outcome was not too bad. The seat is reasonably comfortable and legroom tolerable. IFE is good but not spectacular, wth a good range of up-to-date films.

Daytime flights from Asia always appear to drag far more than their nighttime counterparts and this was no exception. We pushed back about 30 minutes late owing to an (unspecified) technical issue and were airborne about 15 minutes after that. Drinks were served followed by lunch wih the choice of western chicken or oriental beef, both palatable. Wine options were available with the meal. During the flight there were relatively infrequent drinks runs by cabin crew and a snack box of various biscuits half way over. A further hot meal was served some 2 hours out of Heathrow – oriental chicken orwestern fish, both of which were rather unpleasent.

Service throughout was funtional and disinterested. Indeed, this was true on three out of our four MH flights, the exception being on our LH – KUL outbound leg where we received delightful and attentive service from one particular crew member. Asian carriers are rightly hailed for their award-winning service in premium cabins but this experience with MH in Economy ties in with previous poor service attitude experienced in this class of long-haul travel from CZ, SQ,TG and VN. CX certainly are rather better in this regard.

Despite the delay, arrival was on time and, after a short taxi, we arrived at T4 The arrivals and transfer areas T4 are really old-fashioned and not geared to cope with a full A380. However, after a wait, we were able to transfer over to T5 for our onward connecting flight.

Certainly not the best in class for Economy travel.Seats are OK, service is relatively poor.

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