Craig

A friend of mine sent me a KUL-India daytime J class meal. Let's just say there was a plastic wrapped Gardenia wholemeal bread, maybe a dessert tart from Family Mart, and chickpea curry served with rice in an aluminum container (no it wasn't plated - business pax are expected to eat out of the aluminum container). I guess I forgot that MH's Brahims contract also meant that Brahim will wash all the dishes/plates for MH. If they do not take over Brahim's, I expect it to be much longer. I can't imagine starting an airline catering company from scratch will be easy (building, crew training, procurement, certification etc.). MH can't just hire a few kenduri caterers and cook it under a tent and deliver it to planes. If they end it abruptly with Brahim, Brahim will bleed even more and MH is probably looking at a hostile takeover when Brahim is desperate.

I am not sure what durians has to do with tourism. I never claimed Malaysia is the best country to visit, but if we didn't attract hicks, bogans etc. to visit Malaysia and I don't know - drink all day, pet a tiger, or ride an elephant previously, I don't think we should begin now. Most of our neighbors are trying to attract premium travelers instead of these backpackers and retirement fund day drinkers.

Malaysia is going to cost more than Indonesia and Thailand because our standard of living / wages are higher than Thailand/Indonesia. We aren't competing on the lowest cost base for travelers. But 3-4€ ($4-5USD) for a meal is reasonable for most travelers - we cannot compete with 1-2€ a meal here. Our transport (except for Grab during KL peak hours) is very reasonable compared to the rest of Southeast Asia. Public transportation is still one of the cheapest in the region, if not the world (comparing apples to apples - can't compare say buses to trains). I take it you haven't been to DPS in the past few years? DPS is geofenced. You can't get a normal Grab price there. IIRC, my grab price was 220,000 IDR (~RM65) from DPS to Sanur/Seminyak for a short 6-7km on the road. I haven't been to HKT in a while because I had bad experience with price gouging there but I recall that Grab was really expensive from HKT as well and to get anywhere in the island are all fixed rates. Even a short 10 minute Grab ride costs 300THB - this may have changed, I don't know, but my impression was that it was all a scam and I don't plan on returning. I think drunk bogans drinking away their Centrelink funds is exactly what Bali wants to get rid of. Most of my Aussie friends refused to visit Bali because it's filled with bogans and they don't want to be associated with them. Just like how some Malaysians avoid a place full of rempits (and don't want to be associated with them).

Malaysia doesn't know how to market themselves well. All these banning doesn't help either - Malaysia's government cancel culture is as bad as West's woke cancel culture, except that we are in the opposite spectrum. MPs on both side of the aisles aren't helping when both keep bashing concerts/alcohol when the other is in government and both are pandering to the conservatives even though the current government won on a progressive ticket (and they can keep dreaming of flipping northern/east coast states - it will never happen within the next few years). Tourists getting irked by manufacturing are the least of their worries when all tourists see on their way say from Sandakan to Kinabatangan are oil palm plantations and you get a tiny strip of primary rainforest (and only on one side of the river nonetheless) at Sukau/Bilit area. Whether it's confined to tourist strip or not, I sincerely hope a small part of Malaysia does not turn into Nha Trang or Pattaya. It is really gross there. The only reason they are in Bali, Phuket, Nha Trang, Antalya etc. and get stupid drunk is because it's relatively cheap place to spend winter. Money goes slightly further there than Malaysia but do we really want to compete with them to get those tourists? Malaysia has way higher standard and cost of living - obviously we wouldn't attract those tourists. Bali is also in the process of reducing those tourists because they do not want tourists to do stupid things and disrespect local customs. Grab/Maxim/Air Asia Ride is still available at KUL, PEN etc. at a very reasonable rate, no? There is a choice at KUL/PEN but there is no choice in DPS or HKT. It's even worse in HKT where local (non-airport) Grab are all flat rate. Let's not even talk about LGBTQ - belly dancing is apparently too haram in KL last week. If only there was a time where social media users kept their opinions to themselves and not complain or get offended about everything and get their 15 seconds of fame through a social media post. I don't know of any friends that choose a destination based on price of alcohol - of course that's my experience. I am not saying price of alcohol here is cheap either - just saying that I am not sure how many people actually chooses a destination (unless you want yo spend significant of time drinking) based on price of alcohol. Food and hotel here is much cheaper than say Bali - so it all evens out somehow.

In addition to announcing flights to TRV, ATQ, and AMD, MH has also announced increased frequencies to MEL (seasonal 14 to 15 weekly), SYD (seasonal 14 to 16 weekly), CAN (5 to 7 weekly), PKX (3 to 7 weekly), PVG (9 to 10 weekly), HKG (11 to 14 weekly), CGK (28 to 35 weekly), BKK (34 to 42 weekly), and SGN (15 to 19 weekly). No announcements were made for HND tho. This is more of a home carrier premium (plus MH wins on frequencies). TG is more expensive than MH for BKK-KUL. Home carriers usually charge more for flights from their hub and this is common around the world.

I can't be the only Malaysian who doesn't want any of our islands/beach cities turning into Pattaya, Phuket, Bali, Nha Trang or worse, Antalya. Restaurants are all in Russians and catered to them only with binge drinking / drunk behavior and brawls every night? No thank you. I honestly do not see the lure of Pattaya, Phuket, or Bali. Thailand and Indonesia are both very beautiful countries with lots to offer but I avoid Phuket and most parts of Bali south of Seminyak (and not to mention the taxi mafias in both places, especially the airport).

Whilst looking for flights between KUL and PVG for my travels, it appears that MU will begin flying PVG-KUL sometime in September using A359. MU247 PVG2000 - 0200+1KUL 359 D MU248 KUL0300 - 0815PVG 359 D This is in addition to FM's 2x daily PVG-KUL, one each on 789 and 737-900ER.

I am curious if it will be the same quality/quantity if both say CX and MH pays RM30 meal with Brahims. Not a whole lot of difference, but assuming MH needs a bit of a markup, that RM26 difference could mean a ticket that will be increased from RM400 (for RM18 meal) to RM450 (RM38 meal) for a oneway to BKK/CGK. And MH will probably lose pax to TG/AK/OD/Z9. And for other airlines flying into KUL, the increase in catering cost will only affect a few flights a day where as for MH, this will affect almost all their KUL outbound flights.

I thought that fell through because both parties couldn't agree on the price? Last I read, RM129 million.

I highly doubt the price of alcohol is a strong determining factor for tourists. And there's always a local alternative - e.g. tuak and I don't believe they are subjected to the same taxes as say sake.

MAG will finally end its agreement with Brahims after 26 years of "partnership". As far as I know, LHR/Japan flights are currently catered by Pos Aviation. I am curious if Village Park nasi lemak will make an appearance on MH soon 🤣 And what alternative F&B entails? They are collaborating with Mandarin Oriental KL for their lounge catering for Merdeka and Malaysia Day - the future looks a bit more promising for wise. I visited the domestic KUL lounge recently and I noticed that catering has improved a lot. Are the lounges catered by Awana or PPL now?

Not much MH can do other than leasing A35Ks or bigger aircraft for LHR. There are no rights restriction but getting a slot is next to impossible. On a side note, QR is pretty much wet leasing MH's aircraft to DOH. With the new 359 scheduled to DOH, MH will sell 4F, 4J, 47Y (including 5 Y+) seats with the rest being sold by QR. MH is currently selling 6J, 53Y (including 4 Y+ seats) on their 333 flights to DOH. Can't imagine MH selling a lot of beyond DOH tickets on QR.

Flight numbers will be MH206 and MH207. I can't be the only OCD person who thinks that MH number their flights akin to throwing darts at the wall. How much effort/$ will it cost them to redo all their flight numbers? I always thought MH 101-119 / 170-199 is reserved for South Asia. MH 201-204 was previously used for JNB/CPT/EZE. Another good example is HKG MH72/73/78/79 and the 3rd flight used to be MH4xx but China/Taiwan is MH3xx (with occasional MH4xx to tertiary cities in China previously). Make it simple, e.g.: MH1-49: Europe MH50-99: Japan/South Korea + US MH100-199: ANZ MH200-299: South Asia + Middle East + Africa MH300-399: Greater China MH600-699: Singapore MH700-899: ASEAN ex. SIN Or if they really want to plan for the future where they might fly more than 24 times a day to Europe, the MH1-99: Europe, MH200-299: JP/KR + US, MH400-599: South Asia + Middle East + Africa. I am curious if they are sticking to the same flight numbers for historical/sentimental reasons. e.g. MH88/89 to NRT, MH 72/73 to HKG etc.

MH will add Amritsar to its network beginning 10NOV23 (7th destination in India after DEL, BOM, MAA, BLR, HYD, COK). Not your typical India flight schedule (usually a few hours earlier) but they are planning to use the 738s for this flight?! It's 2,653 miles as the crow flies (slightly closer than KUL-PKX and slightly further than KUL-PER).

I am curious if MH is pulling out of HND beginning next month? MH36 to HND ends on 16SEP whilst MH70 to NRT begins on 17SEP. MH previously loaded MH36/37 for NW23/24 schedules but was never opened for sale and aeroroutes reported that MH36/37 was removed from schedule and replaced with MH70/71 instead. Did MH have problems securing HND slots for NW23/24 or is MH70/71 schedule better for MH (and does this mean MH will no longer serve HND in the future)? Looking ahead, MH36/37 is loaded for Northern Summer 2024 (begins end of March) schedule but not open for sale where as MH70/71 is loaded and opened for sale. NH885/886 (HND-KUL) seems to be remain at 5x for the longest time even tho other SEA cities with similar nighttime schedule has been restored back to daily.

They have 2 daytime slots (and one each for JL/NH for HND-SIN) and 2 nighttime slots (one each for NH/JL as well). Each daytime slot a foreign carrier received will be reciprocated with a JL/NH slot to that country where as nighttime slot is less restrictive.

Interesting. So they have MH 1-4 (3 frames), MH 160-161 (1 frame, F/J not open for reservations yet), MH 148/149 (1 frame, F open for reservations), MH 36/37 (1 frame, not open for reservations yet in all classes), and MH 88/89 (1 frame) and all of them showing MH's 359 configuration. If I have to guess, it'd be MH 160-161 (DOH) that'll get the SK's 359 cabin. And soon MH 164-165 when they receive SK's second A359.

I understand that CX's 359 aren't available. Just saying that would have been a nice (missed) addition. Thank you for HX's 359 status - I didn't know that the 359s are gone from HX for good and that they don't have any 359-rated pilots. As for MH's 332, I read further up that their lease was extended for another 5 years but I wasn't expecting them to fly to AKL for another year given the challenges these planes pose for this long-haul sector. The 339s were primed for AKL but I also recall (correctly, I hope) that they were expecting their first plane Q4 2023 but it seems like it has been delayed by another 3 quarters.

Do I remember correctly that MH was expecting to receive their 1st A339 sometime Q4 2023 and now it has been pushed further back to Q3 2024? Does this mean the A332 will serve AKL for at least another year (unless the leased A359 will take over AKL)? CX 350 would have been a nice addition. According to Hong Kong Airlines fleet page, they still have 2 A359 in operation (can't tell when the website was last updated) but FR24 doesn't show any active A359 with HX. Their seat map seems to indicate reverse herringbone seat. And if MH is insisting with that herringbone seat, I assume they don't want to change the cabin and lease it as it is.

For a moment, I thought you have 6th sense and you can predict something happening 4 days away.

Thank you. I wasn't aware of that. Now I wonder if MH wants to pick all 5 aircraft up.

Interesting. I am curious if MH is looking at 35-40 J seats for their 359s since CX/SK have similar capacity. And I didn't know SK is trying to get rid of their 359s. I thought they are short of planes too.

Thank you. Interesting. SAS A359 is configured with 40J/32W/228Y (where as MH's 359 is 4F/35J/27E+/220Y). I am curious if MH is planning to introduce W (Premium Economy) or will they reconfigure this cabin, not that anything is wrong with SAS' cabin. I've been on SE-RSE and I love their 350 (and J seats on 330/359).

Interesting. As sweekee mentioned - where is this aircraft leased from and what cabin will it come in?

I mean once MH receive sufficient 339s. I always thought AKL will be the first one to switch to 339.