Back in the first few days of a very new July 2018, I received a call from my work -- I had to fly to Sydney the next week. They wanted me to preferably book a flight under $1000 (else I would have to justify the expenditure, and "you made me book too late" wouldn't fly), and book it within the day.
Slightly concerned, I immediately began trawling for flights to Sydney. Scoot was $900, Singapore Airlines and Qantas over $1300, and Emirates was the most exorbitant for a change at almost $2000. Almost certain that I would have to endure the 8h journey in the cheapest budget cabin, I got an idea to check Malaysian Airlines. Initial surveys were not positive -- Malaysian too, was $1300... but then, something compelled me to check the promotional fares, a lo and behold! There was an active promotion offering a round trip from Singapore to Sydney for just $600, which is on average only $50 more than Scoot tickets even when booked well in advance.
I couldn't have booked it fast enough when I saw that the KUL-SYD-KUL sectors would be operated by the A380, a type I had yet to fly on. Within minutes the ticket was ready, and I was soon on my way to Sydney for four days.
My routing would be as follows:
SIN - KUL, 12 Jul, MH616, Boeing 737-800
KUL - SYD (+1), 12 Jul, MH123, Airbus A380-800
SYD - KUL, 16 Jul, MH122, Airbus A380-800
KUL - SIN, 16 Jul, MH609, Boeing 737-800
So, with myself excited to discover the A380, and Malaysian’s long-haul product after the various changes having last flown them in 2009, the days passed by until it was the 12th of July.
Flight Details
Flight Number: MH/MAS 616
Departure Airport: Singapore Changi (SIN, WSSS)
Scheduled Time of Departure: 1915
Arrival Airport: Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia (KUL, WMKK)
Schedule Time of Arrival: 2025
Cabin Class: Y
After a nice and leisurely light dinner at McDonald’s, I headed airside nice and early at 1810. I wanted to go spotting, and needed to shop for a pair of headphones for the flights (and beyond).
Check-in was a rapid process, with not many people flying MH to KUL at this timing. Most passengers were at the Scoot counters (and I presume, the AK and 3K counters in Terminals 4 and 1 respectively).
It is always nice to see the ceiling fixtures in Terminal 2, but it is getting on my nerves that I am yet to fly from Terminal 3, though I will be departing from Terminal 4 in just a few days!
Being airside had its perk of seeing aircraft at their gates outside of Terminal 1 (and a select few gates at Terminal 3 from Crowne Plaza). Immediately I saw one of the 737-8 MAXs operated by Silkair.
Soon after, it pushed back and I got a clean view of the Lufthansa A350-900. Enjoy this livery while it lasts!
At that moment, an Air India Boeing 787-8 was arriving, and I managed to get a pretty good shot of it despite the LH A350 pushing back at the same time.
I then went over to the other side of the F gates, and saw 9V-OFC being serviced.
There was a beautiful line of tails that included 787s from Scoot, Etihad, and Singapore Airlines, and the South Korean Presidential 747!
Unfortunately, I was told that the flight would be delayed by 1 hour and 25 min, which began to make me nervous if I would make my connection to Sydney for I had to arrive there latest by the next day. My anxiousness was not helped by the fact that MH616 had been getting canceled very often over the past few days, with 2 canceled 737 flights being combined into a singular A330 (or even A380) flight later on.
Thankfully, that was the only delay that would strike my entire journey. I went back to spot 9V-OFC as it became blue hour, and whiled the time away preparing for the work to be done in Sydney.
I was one of the first to enter the lounge when it opened, having been doing my work right outside, and was presented with the sight of an empty gate.
Not long after, though, the inbound flight arrived, and I got a look at my aircraft for the evening.
Aircraft Information
Registration: 9M-MXD
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Engines: 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26
Config: C16, Y144
Delivered: 15 Mar 2011
Not too old, but not new either. Thankfully, the aircraft had the Boeing Sky Interior and it was not one of the older ex-Firefly aircraft.
We entered through 1L, and walked through the J cabin. It looked pretty okay, but then I have no experience with J products or what to expect.
The colour scheme in the Y cabin was pretty nice, with the blue J cabin complemented by the red Y seats to form the colours of MH.
The seats looked pretty good, and one would have to be very nitpicky to complain about them for a sector that is often just 45 min long. Legroom was fine, and seat comfortable enough with acceptable recline.
The cabin began filling up quickly, however, with the seatback IFE screens initially turned off.
Slightly concerned, I immediately began trawling for flights to Sydney. Scoot was $900, Singapore Airlines and Qantas over $1300, and Emirates was the most exorbitant for a change at almost $2000. Almost certain that I would have to endure the 8h journey in the cheapest budget cabin, I got an idea to check Malaysian Airlines. Initial surveys were not positive -- Malaysian too, was $1300... but then, something compelled me to check the promotional fares, a lo and behold! There was an active promotion offering a round trip from Singapore to Sydney for just $600, which is on average only $50 more than Scoot tickets even when booked well in advance.
I couldn't have booked it fast enough when I saw that the KUL-SYD-KUL sectors would be operated by the A380, a type I had yet to fly on. Within minutes the ticket was ready, and I was soon on my way to Sydney for four days.
My routing would be as follows:
SIN - KUL, 12 Jul, MH616, Boeing 737-800
KUL - SYD (+1), 12 Jul, MH123, Airbus A380-800
SYD - KUL, 16 Jul, MH122, Airbus A380-800
KUL - SIN, 16 Jul, MH609, Boeing 737-800
So, with myself excited to discover the A380, and Malaysian’s long-haul product after the various changes having last flown them in 2009, the days passed by until it was the 12th of July.
Flight Details
Flight Number: MH/MAS 616
Departure Airport: Singapore Changi (SIN, WSSS)
Scheduled Time of Departure: 1915
Arrival Airport: Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia (KUL, WMKK)
Schedule Time of Arrival: 2025
Cabin Class: Y
After a nice and leisurely light dinner at McDonald’s, I headed airside nice and early at 1810. I wanted to go spotting, and needed to shop for a pair of headphones for the flights (and beyond).
Check-in was a rapid process, with not many people flying MH to KUL at this timing. Most passengers were at the Scoot counters (and I presume, the AK and 3K counters in Terminals 4 and 1 respectively).
It is always nice to see the ceiling fixtures in Terminal 2, but it is getting on my nerves that I am yet to fly from Terminal 3, though I will be departing from Terminal 4 in just a few days!
Being airside had its perk of seeing aircraft at their gates outside of Terminal 1 (and a select few gates at Terminal 3 from Crowne Plaza). Immediately I saw one of the 737-8 MAXs operated by Silkair.
Soon after, it pushed back and I got a clean view of the Lufthansa A350-900. Enjoy this livery while it lasts!
At that moment, an Air India Boeing 787-8 was arriving, and I managed to get a pretty good shot of it despite the LH A350 pushing back at the same time.
I then went over to the other side of the F gates, and saw 9V-OFC being serviced.
There was a beautiful line of tails that included 787s from Scoot, Etihad, and Singapore Airlines, and the South Korean Presidential 747!
Unfortunately, I was told that the flight would be delayed by 1 hour and 25 min, which began to make me nervous if I would make my connection to Sydney for I had to arrive there latest by the next day. My anxiousness was not helped by the fact that MH616 had been getting canceled very often over the past few days, with 2 canceled 737 flights being combined into a singular A330 (or even A380) flight later on.
Thankfully, that was the only delay that would strike my entire journey. I went back to spot 9V-OFC as it became blue hour, and whiled the time away preparing for the work to be done in Sydney.
I was one of the first to enter the lounge when it opened, having been doing my work right outside, and was presented with the sight of an empty gate.
Not long after, though, the inbound flight arrived, and I got a look at my aircraft for the evening.
Aircraft Information
Registration: 9M-MXD
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Engines: 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26
Config: C16, Y144
Delivered: 15 Mar 2011
Not too old, but not new either. Thankfully, the aircraft had the Boeing Sky Interior and it was not one of the older ex-Firefly aircraft.
We entered through 1L, and walked through the J cabin. It looked pretty okay, but then I have no experience with J products or what to expect.
The colour scheme in the Y cabin was pretty nice, with the blue J cabin complemented by the red Y seats to form the colours of MH.
The seats looked pretty good, and one would have to be very nitpicky to complain about them for a sector that is often just 45 min long. Legroom was fine, and seat comfortable enough with acceptable recline.
The cabin began filling up quickly, however, with the seatback IFE screens initially turned off.
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