[Anonymous]

[austline]

MAS is to join One World,Qantas is the sponsor.

I was convinced that MAS would have gone with Skyteam because of its close realtionship with KLM.

Interesting development as QF as BA have their main SE Asian hubs in SIN.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-malaysia-airlines-to-build-ties-says-alan-joyce/story-e6frg95x-1226070096848

[TominScotland]

Interesting. That then really only leaves Garuda for Skyteam in the region. Not the best location or airport for them. With MAS in Oneworld, this could cut off KLM’s Australian links although AF currently use Qantas.

Does this mean that we may now see BA fly through/ to KL once again?

[LHRtraveller]

Great news indeed, this cought me by surprise but it is great news for One World. I really hope that BA will start flying to KL now!

[DClinPsy]

How could someone say it’s a great news? MAS is a horrible airline… They are not a 5 star airline for sure! The service in KLIA airport is no different. Why not just get JetStar to join Oneworld, they are the same, well, JetStar’s Changi based is even better! I am quiet disappointed with Oneworld, but, at least MH is cheap and KL is a nice city for stopover.

Tom: Garuda will officially be a SkyTeam member in 2012. And frankly speaking our recent trip with them were much more pleasant compared to MH. A friend accidentally put his passport in his baggage what was checked in all the way to Sydney and upon arrival in Jakarta, he told his problem to this apologetic lady, who straight away “walkie talkied” her colleague and bring his bag back in less than 10 minutes before checked it in again, what more was that we were flying in Economy! Shame about Indonesia’s airports and Jakarta though. Aside of Jakarta, I personally think Indonesia is a much nicer and friendlier country compared to Malaysia. Maybe I am being bias due to my very bad experiences with KLIA and MH, but, I would prefer GA to join Oneworld instead of MH.

[transtraxman]

The same news from different sources.

http://www.oneworld.com/ow/news/details?objectID=25793

http://malaysiaairlines.listedcompany.com/news.ihtml/id/255981

The best news fror European passengers is that from KL there are direct connections to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila and Jarkarta, among others(including – dare I say it? – Auckland), many of which have been mentioned on the thread “Where do you think BA SHOULD start flying to?”

But the question is , will BA fly into Kuala Lumpur or will it leave it to MAS?

[FlyingChinaman]

I belived you are quite bias. As somebody living in the Asian region where I have to travel with MH and GA sometime. KLIA is far better than any Indonesian airports.

MH may not be a 5-star Asian airline (you got super Cathay in the alliance!!!!) in general but it is far better than Garuda in my humble opinion.

I have long known from my travels there that Indonesia has a richer and more diversed cultural and tourism potentials than Malaysia which is a nice but a blend country but Indonesia has never managed to develop that potential. One day in the next decade or two it might be the next Asian Tiger!!!!!

[VintageKrug]

It feels to me that Malaysian has joined oneworld simply to keep it from joining one of the alternative lesser alliances.

Having MAS as a oneworld partner lessens rather than increases the possibility of BA flying to KL, though might presage codeshares with MAS in due course.

By all accounts MAS was a very dodgy airline a few years ago (lots of fuel issues….) but seems to have been getting its act together lately with some splendid interiors. If they can build on that then this news is to be welcomed, otherwise they are still rather third tier.

Handy to have an alternative and pretty decent Auckland routing in oneworld, though.

[Bucksnet]

VK, I think the chances of BA flying to KUL have increased because of all the codeshare connection possibilities there. The most logical thing to do would be to move one of the SIN flights to KUL.

QF should move some of their flights and along with MH can offer a better choice of timings.

Anyway, it seems like MH will be moving back into T3.

[Hippocampus]

I agree. I suspect BA will return to KUL (hopefully before the 787 arrives) and the lack of onward feed has probably prevented this in the past. The Oneworld press release issued today did refer to bilateral agreements so BA/MH may codeshare/operate the route as a joint venture or MH will become part of the BA and Qantas Joint Services Agreement.

Either way, this is a welcome boost for Oneworld.

[cityprofessional]

Uhhh, I’m sorry, MH has fuel issues and is third tier? Where did that come from? I guess by the same account BA has fuel issues (frozen) and so does QF (consistently not enough of it westbound from Asia, and directives to reduce thrust to conserve fuel). i.e. tabloid rubbish

It may not be quite the five star airline that it likes to think, but MH is a perfectly useful airline with an average inflight product, great lounges, reasonable fares and good connections through and within SE Asia. Product-wise, it is certainly as good as TG, and a much better network than GA, albeit that the new GA product is reportedly not bad (handy if you want to fly AMS-CGK via DXB…)

Whether BA or QF now fly to KUL is redundant, so long as you can fly MH and get OW credit/miles/status for it

From a personal point of view, I’m now pleased I will be credited for flying MH, and have OW as a decent SE Asia alternative to Star, rather than have to spread my loyalties to Skyteam (ugh)

[FlyingChinaman]

cityprofessional: I agree with you totally. It would be a good addition to OW.

All Alliances have first, second and third tier “members”. It is NOT all Oneworld out there as their PR machinery would like you to belive!!

I found many of the MH flight attendants are very nice and warm, although not quite as prefessional as SQ. Good enough for occasional travels.

Don’t forget SQ recruits many of their girls from Malaysia and give them a through training and marketing them as “the Singapore Girls brand”. There are not enough Singapore girls wanting to work as flight attendants.

[Binman62]

Very Good News indeed and it finally opens up much of the area to one world from where it has been absent. It provides an alternative to the very expensive CX route to DPS and offers a great alternative to BKK and SIN as a transit point to much of Indonesia, Vietnam etc not forgetting Malaysia it’self. Just a pity it will take 18 months.

As for BA returning to KL I am tempted to say not till Hell freezes over….for certain the SIN services will not be moved so unless there is exceptional interline arrangements ex KL I think they would leave it to MH certainly in the 3-4 year time frame. (imho)

[LPPSKrisflyer]

This is very welcome news as an alternative in south east Asia to *A dominance. I’ve always found MH to be highly reliable and consistently professional in my dealings with them. Their hard product might not be the greatest but it’s as good as average. Their lounges are excellent and their crews with a bit more training as others say could be Singapore Girl. In terms of service, they are light years ahead of BA so whether BA returns to KUL or not is irrelevant to me as I’d choose MH on direct routing anyway.

[DClinPsy]

Hi FlyingChinaman,

I found that GA services ex-SIN are consistently well above average every time i fly with them and the onboard immigration is a big plus especially when you are traveling to Jakarta. I’ve tried the A330 J on SIN-CGK and In my opinion, GA’s FA and Business Class seat are superior to MH, but, I have to agree with you about Indonesian airports.

[Author]

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