Review of Malindo Air flight Kuala Lumpur → Singapore in Business

For the flight back to Singapore, I booked on Malindo. Malindo frequently runs very good promotions from Malaysia, and on this instance, my fare on Malindo's Business class was almost equivalent to the economy class fare! After almost an hour's Grab ride to KLIA right in the middle of oil palm plantations, we arrived and checked in at the dedicated Business Class desks with no queues.




Boarding pass and a meal/lounge voucher for Business Class passengers was issued. As Malindo does not have its own lounge in KLIA, it uses contract lounges. Passengers also have the option to claim a RM30 meal voucher at selected eateries instead.






As the contract lounges are nothing to shout about (Priority Pass could also be allowed entry into the Plaza Premium Lounge, which is better than Malindo's contract lounges), we decided to use the vouchers for hearty meals at Old Town White Coffee restaurant instead.




Aircraft on the tarmac were mainly MH's.






Also to add, the departure immigration queues at KLIA were extremely long, and boy was I glad that I was flying in Business as First/Business passengers on all airlines had a separate immigration queue. After dinner, we headed to the gate at the far end of the other side of the main terminal building. The 2 abandoned B747s can be spotted.




Security at the gate.




The scheduled aircraft was 'upsized' from a B738 to a B739ER.






Boarding gate.





08 July 2018
Malindo Air
OD 805
Kuala Lumpur (KUL) - Singapore (SIN)
B737-900ER
9M-LNL
Business Class
Flight Time: 50M


Boarding was called and Business Class passengers were invited to board at leisure. Others were by row numbers.




Welcomed at the door and took my seat at 1A. On each Business Class seat was a small pillow. The seat is of the exact same model as on MI and GA B738s and VN A321s.




View of the cabin towards the rear.




Very generous legroom in 1A.




Mechanical seat controls.




IFE handset and headphone jack at the side. There is no use for the handset as the IFE monitor is touch-screen enabled.




Inflight magazine and shopping catalogue.




Malindo's fleet.




And the airline's rapidly growing route network.




After most passengers had boarded, we were offered a selection of welcome drinks, including water, apple and orange juices. I had an apple juice, which was served in a proper glass. This evening load in Business was 6/12.




Aerobridge retracted and we would be on our way. The cabin crew also came round and inform that refreshment would be served, and for our choice of either a chicken or vege sandwich and beverage selection.




Safety video was shown and we taxied to the runway. There was a delay in departure due to the long takeoff queue coupled with intermittent aircraft landing.




Finally we departed from Rwy32R 30min behind schedule.






Immediately after seatbelt signs were switched on, the crew came around to lay the tray tables with linens. Surprisingly, headphones were also distributed even though there is enough time to watch the IFE selection. The full selection of IFE is available.






Flight map was shown on the overhead monitors.




Crew were preparing the refreshment trays in the galley.




The refreshment tray was hand delivered from the galley, consisting of a properly plated warm chicken pizza sandwich and red velvet muffin, and a hazelnut chocolate waffle bar at the side. It was accompanied with my pre-ordered apple juice. The tray linen and metal cutlery were Batik Air branded. The sandwich tasted average, but muffin was good. Hot coffee and tea were also available on request. The Business Class crew were also proactively topping up our beverages despite the very short flight.










Watching 15min worth of IFE.




A quick visit to the lavatory as we started the descent. The lavatory was clean and stocked with the basic amenities.




My messy seat with legrest out. Did not fully recline the seat and so could not comment on the full recline angle.




We flew along the southern coast of Singapore before heading up north to approach from the north.






Landing in Changi Rwy20R 20min behind schedule due to the delayed departure.




Parked at Terminal 3.




Last look at my seat and aircraft during disembarkation.