Craig

If anyone is fortunate enough to fly great distances over similar-ish mid latitude, one can certainly feel the huge difference. i.e. LAX-HKG can be 15.5-16 hours flying time on a bad day where as HKG-LAX can be as quick as 12.5. A JFK-HKG route can be faster (assuming you can overfly over Russia) in winter than LAX-HKG even tho JFK-HKG is about 800 miles further.

There should be payload restrictions westbound during winter or if there are any air space closure that requires a deviation (e.g. MH is avoiding Iran now).

I used to get off at Makkasan. That was no man's land back in the day. No taxis and can't get to the MRT station next to it. But BKK is another one with MRT/BTS/Skytrain naming system 🤣 and they have a different fare system.

That's supposed to be the new TBS but for north/east departures instead 😱 It's the same tracks from KL Sentral and south but yes I haven't taken the Transit in a long time to know where it drops off or picks up. I just see the Transit sign near the Nu Sentral escalators (if you miss the Express, you literally can't just hop on the next Transit, which is dumb). Malaysia tries to reinvent the wheel but fails almost all the time, like KUL Terminal 1 and 2 is so much better than KLIA 1 and KLIA 2. Passengers won't care if they are on LRT/MRT, they just know that it's a train. But keep KTM separate because that's suburban rail. And maybe monorail too. A useful line but it's slow with long headways. That area above escalators and ticket barriers is tiny. Can't imagine people waiting for their bags there (and if bags aren't there on time, it's not exactly the most pleasant area in KL Sentral to wait).

Which station is that if I may ask? I am curious if this is due to the cost cutting by then unpopular Finance Minster, who of all things, cut the connected paid interchange at Ampang Park between Kajang and Kelana Line. And cut the mostly underground MRT 3 project which was projected to cost less than what the current mostly above ground MRT 3 will cost. I am trying to remember if the Express and Transit is actually on the same track but just further up for the Transit at KL Sentral. If only they planned more platforms at KL Sentral instead of a mall next to it! Would be helpful of "ERL" change their name or at least the logo so it has a plane next to it. Non Malaysia residents would have no idea what ERL meant when they are on a public transit in KL, especially when arriving at KL Sentral/Muzium Negara it will just announce "change here for the ERL". And maybe put up signs on the train which terminal to alight for which airline. I have so many things that I'd like to change for KL transit that doesn't cost a lot of money, like getting rid of "MRT/LRT". Just the name of the line will do. And where would passengers pick up their bags at KL Sentral 😅 I remember it was built as a check out facility too with the IATA code "XKL" but how do passengers clear customs then?

I would fly AK more if they don't do that dumb weigh your carry-on before security. 7kg is nothing and I don't want to check-in a bag on a short trip. We shall see.I might fly with them to Belitung or LBJ and if they fly there. Much better than a transit at CGK/SUB/DPS (and DPS taxes are paid twice if you do a roundtrip to LBJ via DPS).

SQ just extended their reservations for XMN, CKG, TFU.

Air Algérie has canceled seasonal KUL flights. Not a huge loss tho - reservations were never opened and if you've ever seen an Air Algérie office, there's always a huge queue outside 😅 What an odd city to start from. It's not Juneyao's focus city and KUL is HO's only international destination from KMG (plus a handful of other Chinese cities that HO can connect to). Flights still haven't appear in the GDS tho. On another news, MU will be continuing their KMG-KUL service beyond April until end of October for now and flight leaves both KMG and KUL about an hour earlier from May (still early morning arrival into KMG at 01:00).

MH133 connects from India but not most of Asia. Return MH 132 connects to most of Asia but doesn't really connect to India (other than MAA, BLR, BOM, DEL on certain days) MH 145 connects from Asia and some cities in India Return MH 144 connects to some cities in India but doesn't really connect to Asia other than JP/KR But the oddest thing is AKL has double frequency on Tuesday ex-KUL of all days. Not exactly the busiest travel day. AKL is in this weird time zone and distance where it's either a very long layover or a very short turnaround but still can't fulfill connections on both sides. I think they tried it once with a daily flight with similar timing to MH 145 on the outbound (departing much alter around midnight) and the plane sits around for 9 hours at AKL and do the return with similar schedule as MH 132 (earlier return to arrive around 7AM).

Things are fluid but I still see 25Nov on EF.

AKL will be the second 339 route for MH (for now) beginning 30 March 2025 (a bit late? I thought AKL was primed for 339 as soon as they have 3-4 339s?). Flight schedule for NS25: MH133 KUL0835 – 2250AKL 339 x357 MH145 KUL2110 – 1125+1AKL 339 x146 MH132 AKL0025 – 0750KUL 339 x146 MH144 AKL1300 – 2025KUL 339 x257 Very rare to see MH updating their schedule this far in advance 😅

PEN too. I flew MAB or MAC to PEN And then they flew it to SIN and IIRC, maybe BKK as well.

MH's 339 schedule has been loaded. Inaugural flight is going to be 25th November 2024 on MH 149 to MEL. If they are receiving them beginning Q3 2024, I think we'd see them in some domestic/regional routes before the official launch (like MH A359).

I guess they didn't have any plans to reopen SZB T1 24 years ago and T1 is sitting on very valuable real estate. But yes T1 was also an ageless architecture and I think they should have build something that reminisce that but more modern. I am quite surprised they are doing the new terminal where T2/T3 is. It's a bad location because they have a bottleneck at the taxiway which I remember only allows 2 lanes both ways. T1 has a much larger space and the whole infrastructure was already there last time. Parking, hotel, ATC, huge terminal, easy access.

I don't mind if it's functional. No one ever says "Let's take a drive down Subang Airport Road for fun" or "You know, we don't have enough malls in Klang Valley". That mall will probably only cater to air travelers. I don't know why the government chose WCT again even after such a shoddy job for T2. Everyone complains about it other than WCT. That is fine. They have to plan this out for the future with the new terminal. Make it classic and ageless. KUL T1 is ageless (architecturally speaking). I am not expecting KUL T1 quality (e.g. high ceilings, granite tiles etc.) but something functional. Attaching a mall is not functional.

I don't know about other cities, but ex-KUL, MH's fares are very competitive to these 3 cities. Bali is basically a mass tourism island now. If MH 851 is slightly late or EK 368 / QR 962 is slightly early, good luck with immigration 😅 But MH served up to 4x daily DPS before with 2 of that on the 777 (I remember flying on MH 852 and that was a A333/332 as well). There aren't really that many nigh stops domestically/regionally now. Most of the night stops are to cities where there is a demand for the 9AM KUL departure connection bank or the 5-8PM KUL arrival bank and most cities make sense. HKG has one of the most expensive parking rates in the world but MH still overnight their 737s there.

The landside terminal/mall looks a side view of a wing. There seems to be a ramp for cars but where will passengers be dropped off? From the looks of it, train passengers will have to walk through a mall again (hopefully not as complicated as KUL T2 but rather a straight path). If the check in is at the landside terminal, I am curious if immigration/security will be at the bottle neck (would be a bit dumb). How about making the mall separate instead of integrated like this? It's awful for passengers. It's a city airport, people who want to get in and out quickly.

Flights to MLE (7x weekly), DAD (7x weekly), CNX (5x weekly) are now open for sale. Malé, Maldives to begin 01AUG2024 (a rather odd morning departure ex-KUL instead of an evening departure, but great for pax who doesn't want to stay a night in Malé itself before hopping to an island next day). Return flights in Y starts from MYR 839 and J from MYR 2,195. MH485 KUL1010 – 1125MLE 73H D MH484 MLE1230 – 2010KUL 73H D Chiang Mai, Thailand to begin 15AUG2024. MH772 KUL0950 - 1140CNX 73H 157 MH772 KUL1150 - 1340CNX 73H 46 MH773 CNX1235 – 1635KUL 73H 157 MH773 CNX1440 – 1840KUL 73H 46 Da Nang, Vietnam to being 24SEP2024 MH748 KUL0845 - 1025DAD 73H 246 MH748 KUL1200 - 1340DAD 73H Dx246 MH749 DAD1125 – 1520KUL 73H 246 MH749 DAD1440– 1835KUL 73H Dx246 Now this is a bit surprising for MH in a good way. They are announcing these new/resumption flights months in advance to build awareness and marketing; unlike TRV, ATQ, AMD, KTJ etc. which goes along the lines of "oh hey, btw, we are laughing flights to these cities tomorrow". And starting off with daily flights right off the bat (except CNX but still a decent 5x flight). Those KTJ, PKU, TRV etc. all started with 2-3 weekly.

It's not Chelsea, but it's Manchester United that MH has signed a global partnership with. A bit odd considering MH doesn't even fly to MAN.

The business cabin looks fantastic. I am really looking forward to it. Thank you Jahur for the sneak peek MH also teased (is their social media team finally waking up :p) about 3 new destinations that will be announced soon. Goa, Trichy, Vizag, Guwahati, and Kolkata (a bit tricky for CCU as there aren't sufficient unallocated seats left) are among the few Indian destinations MH have set their sights on in the medium term. You sound fun at parties.

I am curious why the international security/immigration gates are gates 28-32-ish whilst the jets (assume it's for international, unless props are used for international) are using gates 32-37. Shouldn't they be swapped around (the security/immigration area)? Or are they planning for jets to fly to Borneo and props remain to XSP and maybe BTH. The current KTM Skypark terminal is across the parking lot. Assuming they won't re-align the rail, it looks like the landside terminal will be built at the current T3 and also where the parking lot is? And the airside terminal is where former T2 is?

It appears that MU will be resuming PKX-KUL beginning late April. MU795 PKX1700 – 2350KUL 332 Dx246 MU796 KUL0055 – 0710PKX 332 Dx357 And CZ will up gauge CZ 8301/8302 (mid day departure ex-CAN and 1800 departure ex-KUL) to 789, making 2x daily 789 to KUL.

New flights from PRC were launched at decent hours. MU's and GJ's HGH-KUL, MF's CKG-KUL as well as CA's TFU-KUL came to mind. 3U's TFU-KUL is decent but KUL-TFU is a red-eye that's blocked at 5:30 even though CA, OD, and D7 blocks it around 4:30-4:45. Anyway, this is only scheduled to run for a month. We shall see.

The problem with that is a lot of traffic are bound for Ara Damansara and they all get stuck at the Sime Darby flyover/traffic light. And there's a huge bottleneck near the Glenmarie LRT station. It's concrete beams all over making the road there as good as it gets. If they can get a spur line running through Ara Damansara to SZB, I think that'll alleviate a bit of traffic.

I am pretty sure MH wants to use SZB. AK was begging to stay at SZB last time and I'd be very surprised if they don't want to begin operations there again. This is not only limited to domestic but regional as well. And if neither airlines apply for slots, they will lose the ability to apply when demand grows because it will be a slot restricted airport. That looks like former T2 along with (former?) Airod, DCA and Met Office area? What happened to the former T1 area? IIRC, it was meant to be some hangar or engineering building but I don't recall seeing anything there. Isn't ex-T1 land better? It's larger (and IIRC, it has at least 14 gates back then) and a huge parking facility and it's closer to the roundabout. Subang Airport Road isn't the best right now and getting in there between 5 and 7:30 is a huge pain. Can't imagine catching a 6-8 PM flight there.I hope there are plans to either have a spur LRT line from the Kelana Line or the KTM Subang Skypark link running at least every 30 minutes for people to take it (not too sure if heavy rail is the best answer either). A spur link will be the best since it can effectively decrease headways for the busier part of the Kelana line. I don't think it's a Scoot destination. It's more likely a SQ mainline destination. I can imagine it'd be a premium flight. The most affluent neighborhoods around Klang Valley are within 20-25 minutes drive (without traffic) of SZB. Hopefully it's not WCT/Pavilion Group developing this project 😅. They aren't the best (and I am being very polite) but from their last press release, it seems like it's WCT 😓. Hopefully they will include some sort of rail link or at worst, pedestrian friendly walk to the current KTM station. They aren't known for designing anything with pedestrians in mind to maximize parking charges (e.g. Pavilion Damansara Heights).