Background: After a few weeks working for a client in Kuala Lumpur, I decided to visit one of the islands before heading back home.
I wanted to choose an island I have never visited before and to fly at least one new airline. Langkawi matched it all and I decided to book a quick 3 day visit. I flew from KUL with Air Asia (sorry no flight report for this one) and then Malindo Air on the return flight back to SZB.
Check in: I checked in online, the website is very nice, with a modern and ¨fresh¨ look but the outcome (eg the boarding pass) looked outdated…
Airport: The airport terminal was small, but there were several shops and cafes. Malindo had some dedicated check in desks, but as I had checked in online and had only carry on baggage I proceeded to the security check and in less than a minute I was airside ready to visit the lounge.
Lounge: I was surprised to find a VIP lounge in such a small airport, it was obviously small but very quiet.
My selection:
I love reading inflight magazines in airport lounges :)
Departure area:
Today´s departures, no need to guess what´s LGK most popular destination:
Check out the pic below, there were 2 flights departing to SZB from 2 different airlines from the same gate at the same time!!!
As you can imagine this was a bit chaotic, and the gate agent after checking my boarding pass told me:
- Your aircraft, the white one (while he was pointing it out to me….)
Boarding: Boarding was done on foot, in my opinion the best way to board an aircraft. While boarding, not only did we have to find the ¨white one¨ but also we were getting mixed with the pax from an incoming aircraft
The ¨white one¨:
We were greeted at the gate by the flight attendant who did not check any boarding pass despite the chaotic boarding process.
Inside the aircraft: The cabin was spotless, it looked very modern and it was very clean.
I like to see some airlines innovating, no more non smoking sign :)
Reading material:
The usual safety card, inflight magazine (it was actually very good) and merchandising that was not offered due to the short duration of this flight.
On board service: Some biscuits and a cup of water were handed out. They seem to also offer some buy on board products, but they didn´t offer them on this flight.
Arrival: Flight was uneventful and we arrived on time to SZB, though the weather was much worse than in LGK.
Langkawi pictures: Langkawi is a beautiful small island, with very nice beaches, waterfalls and rainy forest which are ideal for hiking.
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Verdict
Malindo Air
6.4/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering5.0
Plaza Premium Lounge Management Limited Plaza Premium Lounge (International / Domestic Departures)
6.0/10
Comfort7.0
Meal/catering6.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Services6.0
Langkawi - LGK
5.8/10
Efficiency5.0
Access6.0
Services6.0
Cleanliness6.0
Subang - SZB
7.5/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0
Conclusion
Malindo was a nice surprise for me flying with their modern aircraft in an uneventful on time flight. I will definitely fly again with them. Thanks for reading and please accept my apologies for the low quality of some of the photos....I will work on improving them in my next flight report.
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Hi nechus! Thanks for your feedback. It is indeed my first flight report and I have 2 more coming up soon. Langkawi is a beautiful island and less crowded than Penang or Phuket. Regarding the boarding process, I am not sure if the handling agent was Malindo staff or a contractor, but I believe the airport authority is to blame rather than the airline itself. Having said that, in my opinion the airline should instruct their flight attendants to check the boarding passes when boarding is done on foot. Best regards!
I agree that boarding on foot is the best, especially on a sunny day. There appears to be a rule in Mainland China that there is always a BP check at the foot of the aircraft in such a case, and this error-prone boarding process there in Malaysia is a good example of why there should be one. Thanks for sharing !
I couldn´t agree more. I used to be a handling agent ages ago and at my local airport there were very strict regulations in order to board pax on foot. We didn´t have jetbridges so when pax were bused to the aircraft we had to double check the bp before letting them board the aircraft, and believe me, not always I got the right passengers!!!!
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36 reviews
4 Comments
I have always read positive reports about Malindo Air. I am shocked at the informality of the boarding process here, though.
The photos of Langkawi are wonderful!
Thanks for sharing! :)
Thanks for your feedback.
It is indeed my first flight report and I have 2 more coming up soon.
Langkawi is a beautiful island and less crowded than Penang or Phuket.
Regarding the boarding process, I am not sure if the handling agent was Malindo staff or a contractor, but I believe the airport authority is to blame rather than the airline itself.
Having said that, in my opinion the airline should instruct their flight attendants to check the boarding passes when boarding is done on foot.
Best regards!
There appears to be a rule in Mainland China that there is always a BP check at the foot of the aircraft in such a case, and this error-prone boarding process there in Malaysia is a good example of why there should be one.
Thanks for sharing !
I used to be a handling agent ages ago and at my local airport there were very strict regulations in order to board pax on foot.
We didn´t have jetbridges so when pax were bused to the aircraft we had to double check the bp before letting them board the aircraft, and believe me, not always I got the right passengers!!!!
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