Tom/PER

I'm on OD1601 in the morning so will try and get a photo of row 26? It just looks like a blanked out side panel windowless. From what I saw this morning there doesn't look to be and 'bad' seats as such. Congrats to Malindo on their KCH services also.

Most certainly did, took a photo. After just flying back into KCH on -AHM I can't honestly say AK's standards have declined. Crew were wearing jeans for starters is this a new thing? Gone are the days of the energetic and stylish crews they were lethargic and non inspiring. The planes have lost that polished red exterior, the ones I saw tonight looked dull and tired. I did see sharklets -AQQ and -AQU and these looked super sexy The LCCT is still like a zoo. TF needs to take notice as Malaysians aren't silly and given time people will switch over to OD, if Malindo are considered a low cost carrier Air Asia are surely an ultra low cost carrier and I'm sure will soon be people's third choice when booking flights. I work back home in the field of transport & logistics in a executive management role so I have depth and credibility in my observations. I'd be surprised if AK win Skytrax best low cost airline 2013.

Correct no lounge access or priority boarding. I even had Etihad metal cutlery on OD1601 this morning. I thought it was a well orchestrated departure for their first flight ex KCH, a discrepancy in POB that was quickly sorted after a couple more recounts. 9.5/10 from me.

2day old -LNG is operating KCH inaugural tomorrow at this stage I'm on it ex KCH in J class. If any fellow MWingers on it please say hi, I'll be wearing Ferrari team shirt.

Capt Radzi, What's the difference between -MLP and the -MXx birds? I flew SIN-KCH on it today and it had BSI, same seating, IFE/PTV's and overhead life rafts and its designation is a -8H6(W). Is its because its leased from Babcock that its registered in the -MLx block??

-LNG I believe left US early yesterday on its delivery flight so I'm not convinced it'll be ready for service Friday and/or Saturday. Remember what happened to -XXA when she was on her first commercial flights to PER, that caused a lot of embarrassment for D7.

Has their second B739 -LNG been delivered yet? Or are they starting ops with 1 x 738 and 1 x 739?

Yes paid RM388 all up...AUD exchange rate is reasonable so I thought why not. KCH-KL and KL-BKI are both in economy.

I'm on inaugural OD1601 ex KCH on Sat 22/3 at 0900 trying out business class going over for F1. Was booked on AK ex KCH at lunchtime but flight I was booked on was cutting it too fine to watch Practice 3.

The booking engine might not allow you to do that as there is a disclaimer on their website about minimum connection times.

What's the B738 -LNB going to do? I've read it's planned to go back to JT but is it going to hang around as an operational spare?? As their timetable clearly only requires 2 B739's -LNF/G?

I just booked for 25/3 KCH-KL and KL-BKI for RM38 and RM68 respectively all up no CC fees inclusive of snacks and baggage. Should be a different aircraft also.

Website appears to be back up although I keep getting my session has expired.

I spent 24 minutes on phone most of it on hold this morning trying to book a KCH-KUL-KCH on the evening of Friday 22/3 for Kenneth and myself only to be told that KCH flights don't begin till 23/3, was told only BKI flights operating on 22/3??

Thanks Captain.

-MSA is currently on descent into BKI now as I type.

Still no joy and can't book. I've tried 14 different random dates and I keep getting 'Flights not available for searched dates'. Website is impressive AK should be worried.....aerobridges

Could someone please post the direct link to their bookings page? All the links I click on are useless, can't search for anything. Maybe only accessible to Malaysian residents??

Are their flights bookable yet? Website doesn't seem to be fully functional yet.

Have heard that -AQT is AK's version of -MND......an albino with just a small tail logo but not 100% confirmed.

Anyone seen AK's -AQT yet? According to Flightaware it's now in service.

I'm up in KCH next month primarily for the F1 which I'll be flying to each day on AK. Whilst researching fares using the booking engines of both MH and AK I found the MH website more deceiving as you see a fare for example KCH-BKI is RM129 so you go to book it and then the surcharges are added on-top of this, so personally I found that quite misleading. The fare then goes to say RM187. In AK's defence they showed the all in price excluding add ons such as meals, amenity kits, baggage etc which is far less confusing hence the reason AK got 9 of my 12 flights. The price shown on the booking engine in the search whether it be MH smart/flex should be the total fare excluding add ons, not + surcharges these should be displayed initially. I booked QF PER-SYD-SIN and they show the total fare initially obviously excluding CC surcharges and $10 seat selection fee which is only applicable on international sectors. AK have learnt well from their past mistakes and the new commercial is superb, well worth watching if you haven't viewed it.

What's the story behind this second hand A320 AK have picked up? I think it's -AQT. It's build c/n 12xx so easily the oldest A320 in the groups entire A320 fleet.

Yes it is very smart marketing. Until the winglet of the A330 is shown halfway through you would of never guessed it was an Air Asia commercial.

Yes they are very tight especially for Westerners and the PER flight is a decent length flight. That said its not the first time a -MLx registered has been here. What features do the upcoming -MSx aircraft have? I thought the plan was to have some consistency and have domestic B738's registered in the -MSx series and regional ones in the -MXx batch.