Review of Malaysia Airlines flight Kuching Singapore in Business

Airline Malaysia Airlines
Flight MH643
Class Business
Seat 4A
Aircraft Boeing 737-800
Flight time 01:20
Take-off 01 Aug 19, 10:40
Arrival at 01 Aug 19, 12:25
MH   #24 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 216 reviews
socalnow
By 1186
Published on 2nd October 2019

Greetings Flight Report community and welcome to the third installment of the "Great Swiss First Coup" series. Please feel free to visit the LAX-HKG segment for more detail on how our own Rewardflying contributor worked his magic and tuned Swiss F from a dream into a reality.


My side trip to Kuching was originally a round trip SIN-KCH-SIN in MH J. About a month before the trip MH sent a schedule update that rerouted the trip as SIN-KUL-KCH-SIN with a 4 hour layover in KUL. No thanks. The ticket was booked with Avios so I rang BA and they, of course, dropped the SIN-KUL-KCH leg and refunded some money and Avios and there was no charge for the change. I bought a $45 Air Asia Y ticket and the schedule was right again. 



MAS Golden Lounge - KCH


I arrived at KCH around 9:00. Turns out it's a compact airport and not very busy so I could have come closer to departure time. 


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There was no wait for a boarding pass or security and immigration.


To access the lounge is a bit of an odd procedure as I guess it's in the domestic side of the terminal. At fist I could see it but it was partitioned by glass and I could not access that area. After asking an airport staff I was directed to a glass door where I was allowed to pass to the other side. Interesting.


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The lounge is basically on large room. It's a bit run down and could use a refresh in the style of the KUL lounges.


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Food and beverage are at the back of the room.


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Guests can order hot sandwiches from the staff.


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Prayer facilities.


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Restrooms and showers.


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Staying out of the hot sun.


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The aircraft to SIN.


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MH643 KCH-SIN


Boarding was announced in the lounge and I proceeded to the gate.


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I selected 4A. I like the last row when possible as I like to observe the goings on in he cabin. The seat is a plush recliner akin to US domestic F a decade ago. There is a leg rest however I don't think it adds much value. A pillow and blanket were on each seat.


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Decent pitch, certainly superior to US domestic F.


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Leg rest and recline controls and leg rest.


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Ahhh, air vents…


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The cabin was 11/16.


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Lots of glare on the IFE screen.


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I enjoyed some water and a cold towel before departure. There were two juice options as well. Seat 4B remained empty so I had direct aisle access.


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Pushing back slightly ahead of schedule.


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It's a short taxi to the single runway.


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The nose of the aircraft has already arrived in Singapore! It's a straight route.


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Out over the South China Sea.


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[div]Servie starts very quickly on this 60 min. flight. There were 3 choices of hot lunch. On a 60 minute flight! I was really surprised. The choices consisted of spicy chicken with rice, seafood noodle, or fish with potato. [/div]


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Base tray with garlic bread.


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The cake and salad are covered in plastic wrap so there is a glare.



Some water and tea to drink.


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Unfortunately the seafood noodle didn't appear very appetizing. I only managed a bite or two.


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Cruising.


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Tiny F lav.


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Short final to Changi.


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Tourism Bonus: Enchanting (and delicous) Kuching.


Bonus : Click here display
See more

Verdict

Malaysia Airlines

7.8/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering7.5

Golden Lounge

7.5/10
Comfort7.0
Meal/catering8.0
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Services7.5

Kuching - KCH

7.5/10
Efficiency8.0
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness8.0

Singapore - SIN

9.2/10
Efficiency9.0
Access9.0
Services9.5
Cleanliness9.5

Conclusion

The Ground Service: Quick check in and boarding pass. No luggage to check. In fact I left my main bag in Singapore and took only a backpack to Kuching.

The Lounge: While in need of some modernizing it's a rather well equipped lounge.

The Cabin: Comfortable seat with good pitch. Excellent for a one hour flight. They use these on some flights approaching 6 hours, including red eyes. No thanks there.

The Crew: Perfectly fine crew. They have so much to do in so little time I was impressed with how well the pull off the service.

The Food and Beverage: A one hour flight with a choice of 3 hot main dishes. I was impressed with the selection however the quality left something to be desired.

Overall: A good flight experience and a great use of BA Avios.

Information on the route Kuching (KCH) Singapore (SIN)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 7 avis concernant 4 compagnies sur la ligne Kuching (KCH) → Singapore (SIN).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est SilkAir avec 7.7/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 25 minutes.

  More information

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 524904 by
    ThomasDutch SILVER 633 Comments
    Well you gave me just another town to visit on my long list of cities I'd really wanted to visit. Thanks for sharing this excellent report and it seems that MH is slowly improving their level of service to what it used to be long ago if I read recent reports (including FR and others) of MH. Let's hope so!
    • Comment 524906 by
      socalnow AUTHOR 976 Comments
      Greetings ThomasDutch and thank your for leaving feedback.

      Well you gave me just another town to visit on my long list of cities I'd really wanted to visit.

      -Borneo and Sarawak are really beautiful and I look forward to visiting again for a longer duration. The scenery and the cuisine are stunning.

      it seems that MH is slowly improving their level of service to what it used to be long ago if I read recent reports (including FR and others) of MH. Let's hope so!

      -I've read some reports where MH didn't show well. I hope they are turning around.

      Thank you again ThomasDutch and happy flying.
  • Comment 525100 by
    K2World 2191 Comments
    Thank you for this report and the bonus
    I can see that the pedestrian bridge is now open, it was under construction when I was there. Borneo is enchanting even though I only explored the surrounding of Kuching. Next time, if you have more time, you should really do a day trip to Bako National Park :-)
    I barely comment your reports but your pictures are always very good, keep up the good work !
    Cheers
    Kevin
    • Comment 526020 by
      socalnow AUTHOR 976 Comments
      Thanks for the feedback Kevin.

      Borneo is enchanting even though I only explored the surrounding of Kuching.

      -Totally agree!

      Next time, if you have more time, you should really do a day trip to Bako National Park :-)

      -Thanks for the tip. I sure hope there's a next time.

      Happy flying Kevin.

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