Review of Malindo Air flight Singapore → Kuala Lumpur in Economy

Airline Malindo Air
Flight OD 806
Class Economy
Seat 26A
Aircraft Boeing 737-900ER
Flight time 00:40
Take-off 17 Nov 17, 21:45
Arrival at 17 Nov 17, 22:25
OD 36 reviews
TerryYong
By 963
Published on 28th November 2017
A short report on just a routine weekend getaway to the neighbouring capital city on Malindo, with tickets bought at very attractive prices. Checked in at Terminal 3 (no online check-in available for Lion group flights from SIN) and boarding pass issued.

photo 38620728052_1d4e96c6c4_b

photo 38620725772_5569469ccc_b


Xmas wonderland in Terminal 3.

photo 26876848129_0c9499fe66_b


FIDS

photo 26876846499_06e8e1c5be_b


Departure from Gate A14.

photo 24780800918_47cebcc003_b



17 November 2017
Malindo Air
OD 806
Singapore (SIN) - Kuala Lumpur (KUL)
B737-900ER
9M-LNG
Economy Class
Flight Time: 0H36M


Boarding just commenced.

photo 37935210894_ddecde7e3b_b


The scheduled B737-800 was upgraded to a slightly larger capacity B737-900ER.

photo 24780799448_2a60618fca_b


SQ B777 taxied in at the neighbouring gate.

photo 37935209714_e786c70188_b


Boarding the aircraft.

photo 24780795218_ee78225a9b_b

photo 37935207784_c32102ef34_b

photo 37935208444_d1e51e6d88_b


Passing the Business Class cabin.

photo 24780792948_a26dc85efb_b


Economy class seats.

photo 37935205474_e0ecca61c8_b


Touchscreen IFE at every seat.

photo 24780790548_2c80420e78_b


View out the window.

photo 37935201804_7a547230be_b


Boarding in progress for this very full flight.

photo 24780789908_9d80987472_b


Then a big boo-boo… We realised that we were seated at Row 27 instead of 26 when the actual Row 27 pax turned up. Moved forward to Row 26 and Horrors… there is no window on the supposedly "window seat" that we requested during check-in…. Maybe the agent does not know that Row 26 is windowless on the B739ER aircraft? Row 26 is at the sealed aircraft door (which was not in use on this low density B739ER). Adding to that, the IFE system on my seat 26A was completely broken….

photo 24780781458_4a37b10c04_b


Inflight magazines. Legroom was good.

photo 37935200384_1cd77a93a6_b


Safety video played. Photo of the neighbouring seat. My IFE system was completely dead and the safety video did not play on my screen. Wondered if this is considered a safety lapse?

photo 24780786578_c244a0a6db_b


No further pictures out the window, and the windowless seat felt rather claustrophobic. Recline was pretty decent. Notified the crew about the dead IFE monitor but with the short flight, the forward crew did not attempt to reset the system. Quite disappointed with the non-follow-up.

photo 24780783918_2405f50cb6_b


Malindo has reduced the service on its short sectors to only juices on offer. Muffins are not offered now. We had a choice of berry or lychee juices amd had a cup of each.

photo 24780783058_28469a461a_b

photo 24780786088_c8be514931_b

photo 24780784778_5642236c73_b


Arrived on schedule in KUL.

photo 24780782218_cdf4507c20_b



Bonus : Click here display
See more

Verdict

Malindo Air

6.0/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew5.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering7.0

Singapore - SIN

9.0/10
Efficiency9.0
Access8.5
Services9.5
Cleanliness9.0

Kuala Lumpur - KUL

8.0/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

Yes, it was a very short flight at an attractive fare but the various cock-ups made it not a too pleasant flight. Firstly, the request for a window seated ended up as a "windowless" window seat. Second, the IFE monitor at my seat was competely down, and could not even play the safety video (safety concern?), not even mentioning the non-existant IFE options. Third, even though we informed the crew after takeoff on the spoilt IFE monitor, the crew in the forward galley did not even attempt to reset the system. Understand that this was a short flight, but the crew should at least check back or attempt to explain that they are rather busy with service, instead of just ignoring the request. Probably it was my unlucky flying day, but this shows that a combination of minor slip-ups on such a short flight could still leave an unpleasant experience post-flight.

Information on the route Singapore (SIN) → Kuala Lumpur (KUL)

3 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 420914 by
    cheapflyer.JP 58 Comments
    Hi,TerryYong.
    Thank you for your report.
    I'm sorry to hear that you were seated one of the "fake" window seats ,with the out of order IFE.
    My experience on Malindo B737-900 was not so good because My ship wasn't equipped with IFE. They seems to remove costly IFEs for the further rename to batik Malaysia. I was bit disappointed because they tried to get on the track of the pure LCC.
    • Comment 420932 by
      ItsKevin 26 Comments
      Hey, maybe I can answer your question.
      I heard that Lion Group had issues with the IFE supplier, so they didn't install it to newer planes. This issue also happened in Indonesia's Batik Air
  • Comment 420931 by
    ItsKevin 26 Comments
    Hi Terry! Thanks for reporting!
    Why they don't serve snack anymore? They do some cost cutting, like what happened in Batik Air?

Login to post a comment.