Ken M.

I watched the Airbus/Qantas handover ceremony online last night. Nice lightshow and image projection onto the new aircraft. VH-OQA looks stunning in full QF colours. The interior cabin shots displayed on the Airbus/Qantas handover website look a lot nicer than the ones which caused the outrage when leaked some months ago. The red and black seating in Econony looks much nicer than that ghastly green leaked earlier. CEO Geoff Dixon thinks the QF A380 has the nicest interior of all A380 aircraft flying so far and I tend to agree with him having seen photos/video from SQ and EK. I didn't like the EK interior shots at all. Think the A380 will look just as stunning in MH livery. So come on MH go top QF in 2011.

Folks, Have read on another forum that AF/KL Flying Blue members can now no longer get FB reward travel in MH F. Believe this was rather difficult to get anyway but it's sad that it's come to this. So much for the MH/KL relationship. Does MH F have a future in IJ's 5* LCC masterplan? Still hoping to sample MH C one day. Regards, Ken

I reckon the Spaniards will dispose of London Gatwick & Glasgow. Glasgow is crying out for a new owner. A lot of business related European traffic has gone to Edinburgh in recent years. Glasgow needs direct services to major European cities. Much as I love flying KLM and transfering at Amsterdam Schiphol, I'd prefer to fly direct.

Main issues :- 1) Taking MH down market (you cannot be a five star value carrier - quality costs). Ditch the move to 5* LCC. Leave all that nonsense to Air Asia. 2) The perceived drop in inflight quality on long haul - (poor catering, no menus/amenity kits etc. - the little things that passengers like and remember). Refocus the business on being a world class quality airline who passengers want to fly with. 3) Poor website (not good enough compared to other major carriers). 4) Failure to join a major airline alliance. (MH should have been in Skyteam ages ago). 5) Marketing. MH don't sell themselves well enough. I'd love to attend these customer sessions however living in the UK it ain't gonna happen. Hope the MWingers fortunate enough to attend these get togethers use the opportunity constructively and that MH maybe see the light and move onward and upward.

I just wish MH would start to re-focus on providing a top quality in-flight product. I've read negative comments on some websites about long-haul catering in both C and Y classes recently. This issue really needs addressing fast. Malaysian Hospitality - I think not. Ditch the low-cost approach (especially on long-haul), it's ruining MH's reputation.

Route should have been axed by now if bleeding money. Sod the politics. Your running an airline business not a government air taxi service. MH should not be sending metal west and east across the Atlantic. Just feed into the KL/DL(NW) network via AMS. The Swedes will just have to change at AMS for KUL in future. If making money to/from AMS look to maybe add services there if demand is sufficient (the product sure beats the KL offering between AMS & KUL). Perfect way to fill an A380

Really don't see any point in MH flying to Nice or Lyon at all. Why were they granted rights if neither carrier is interested in serving these destinations? Seems a complete waste of effort on the Malaysian government side.

Here goes :- ADL - Adelaide AKL - Auckland AMS - Amsterdam ARN - Stockholm Arlanda BCN - Barcelona BHX - Birmingham BIO - Bilbao BNE - Brisbane BRS - Bristol BRU - Brussels BUD - Budapest CDG - Paris Charles De Gaulle CHC -Christchurch CNS - Cairns CPH - Copenhagen DNR - Dinard DUB - Dublin DXB - Dubai EDI - Edinburgh FCO - Rome Fiumicino GLA - Glasgow GVA - Geneva HEL - Helsinki KIX - Osaka KKE - Kerikeri KUL - Kuala Lumpur LAX - Los Angeles LBA - Leeds/Bradford LCY - London City LGW - London Gatwick LHR - London Heathrow LIN - Milan Linate LIS - Lisbon LTN - London Luton MAD - Madrid MEL - Melbourne MFN - Milford Sound MST - Maastricht MUC - Munich NAP - Naples NCL - Newcastle NRT - Tokyo Narita PEN - Penang PER - Perth PIK - Glasgow Prestwick PRG - Prague SFO - San Francisco SIN - Singapore STN - London Stansted SYD - Sydney TXL - Berlin Tegel VIE - Vienna YVR - Vancouver ZQN - Queenstown

Really hope MH join Skyteam and the sooner the better. ST presence in Aus/NZ is really lacking and MH services can plug the gap. Hope van Wijk can sort out AF to smooth MH entry. I really like MH and short haul KL (certainly do not want to set foot in the KL Y cabin of their 77W - thanks AF ). I dislike AF. Have had 5 poor flights out of 5 with AF. An airline I try and avoid. MH should have been in Skyteam years ago.

BAA being taken over by a overseas outfit hasn't helped either (remember the opening of T5 anyone?). They appear to have taken on more than they can chew and are rumoured to be looking at offloading 2 ex-BAA airports in the UK.

Yes, get rid of the Orange and Green seat covers and it would look a lot nicer. Red & Blue - classic as per the Wau. Still don't like IJ cheapening the MH name/brand at all. Ditch the value/LCC nonsense.

MH move to T4 depends on BA successfully moving services from T4 to T5. Some BA longhauls are to start moving in June with the rest to follow. Once the move is complete T4 will service the Skyteam alliance and others (incl. MH)

Very well said Azman. IJ, are you listening? Inferior catering, reducing seat pitch on long haul will drive clients to other airlines. Ditch this 5* value nonsense and behave like a proper quality airline once again.

Pieter, A lot of Diamond Clubbers in the UK are not looking forward to the Luftwaffe getting their hands on BMI. Jolly poor show old chap. Regards, Ken

Pieter, Like the last KLM DC-10 flight story. Wee aside - recently returned to Glasgow from a trip to Paris. 3 very good flights with KLC/KLM and bad flight with Air France. AF Airbus went "tech" requiring a change of plane then a passenger lost it mentally at the gate, causing 2 incidents and a further delay. Missed my connection at Schiphol and had a 6 hour wait for last flight back to Glasgow that day. Have flown Air France 5 times over the years and never had an acceptable experience. KLM Transfer Desk handled the issue well and flight home was good with a happy crew. KLM are in a different league compared to Air France. Ken

Hey folks - any chance you could return to the subject matter of the thread? Forum members slagging each other off is so tedious to read. Lighten up and move on please .

Latest MH Skytrax review (17/3) states the dreaded box is now appearing mid-flight on longhaul also (LHR-KUL-LHR). Author, not suprisingly, wants improvements in the Economy catering. Wake up IJ & MH.

There are a couple of less than complimentary MH flight reviews currently posted on Skytrax. Little Malaysian Hospitality shown by some. As stated previously, if IJ & co persue this 5* LCC nonsense then my next trip to Oz/NZ will be on SQ or NZ.

So KUL-JNB-CPT-EZE vv makes profit for MH? Surely one of the most bizarre routings in world aviation.

As another KLM Cityhopper fan, can Pieter tell me when KLc are expecting delivery of their first Embraer 190? Much as I love the Fokker 70/100 trips to AMS I can't wait to board a KLc Embraer 190 at Glasgow.

IJ - don't ditch the green/blue kebaya on the MH FA's. They look lovely.

Favourite Airline : Malaysia Airlines (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - a close second) Favourite Plane : 9M-MRD Boeing 777-200ER "Freedom Of Space"

And this is exactly why MH is in the mess it's in. IJ aught to lead by example for the good of the business and travel in C after ditching F on the 747 fleet. Decisions should be made for the good of the airline. Freebies/junkets/perks, call them what you will, the bottom line is the airline really needs passengers paying for their travel. MH have stated they can't attract F paying passengers. Then why waste the space on the 747 fleet day in day out? The mismanagement and indecision at MH beggars belief. The bigwigs & politicians will have to make do with C - not a bad product I've read. Taking LHR-KUL-LHR as an example who is really going to pay £4700 or RM28700 to fly in F in the current economic climate? With most people tightening their belts it really is a no-brainer. Come on MH, get real pronto.

We have social security in the UK however it is means tested i.e. if you have personal savings over a certain amount (£16,000) you will only get minimum state benefit for a period of 6 months. After that you are on your own. I have supported myself for almost 2 years being unable to find suitably paid I.T. work. Anyway back to the matter under discussion. Why don't MH ditch F on long haul services and move some C seats there instead if very few are willing to pay for F? Extra Y seats at the 34" pitch could also be added if MH are serious about targeting the long haul leisure market. They really aught to play to their strengths when marketing their product. Freedom Of Space The number of times you read unhappy travellers saying their Y class travel experience was uncomfortable when travelling on other carriers continues to grow.

I live in Glasgow but know Dundee fairly well having lived in Dundee for 2 years as a student in the 1980's (also follow Dundee United Football Club). Scotland tends to get quite a few Malaysians studying here. My brother met a few years ago when doing his architecture degree at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. There is a Malay restaurant/cafe in Glasgow which serves good food that I must try - supposed to very popular with Malay students. I take the point made earlier by BC about good MH people losing their jobs. I've experienced redundancy due to job offshoring myself - not nice - and am still without work. In a previous job I supported the I.T. being used to help build Royal Malaysian Navy frigates in a Glasgow shipyard. Hope the boats are still keeping the local pirates quiet I just want MH to remain a class act. LCC's are OK for short journey's. Long distance is a different kettle of fish. 10 - 12 hours in a cramped sardine tin ain't going to make many friends and might put your passenger's health at risk. IJ has to realize that cutting seat pitch in Y is crazy. Bet he will end up with more empty seats. In this day and age surely passengers well being should be paramount. If you were entertaining at home you would give your guest nice food to eat. I was genuinely impressed by what MH gave me last time round. On MH2 going into LHR the fresh croissant and banana smoothie at breakfast time along with the other items were lovely. No idea what they serve these days. Must visit KL again as I'm still to walk the Skybridge at Petronas Towers. On first visit to KL it wasn't open to the public yet and on the second visit it was closed for weekly maintenance (Mondays). Have been up KL Menara Tower twice though. Great views.