British Airways Returned to Kuala Lumpur from 27 May 2015 and with B787-9 from 5 December 2015

[Sandeep G 1]

0049z Speedbird 33 G-YMMN B772ER steaming towards KUL at FL370 - ETA 1413, 22mins ahead of sched!

[BC Tam 2]

..... - ETA 1413, 22mins ahead of sched!

Better have the welcoming troupe at the ready ahead of schedule too !

[flee 5]

Global icons add glam to British Airways KL photoshoot

 

 

See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/citynews/greater-kl/article/global-icons-add-glam-to-british-airways-kl-photoshoot

[BC Tam 2]

Obvious now the 'ahead of schedule' prediction tidak jadi after all

It's still like 14k ft above KL city now

[michgyver 0]

[Suzanne Goh 0]

Load out last night to KUL was 185 (didn't get the class breakdown), tonight going back it's 214.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

The 4-class BA's B772ER has:

 

14 F

48 J

40 W

122 Y

Total: 224 seats

 

So for the inaugurals, the loads are:

 

BA33 - 83%

BA34 - 96%

 

Pretty good hey.

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Load out last night to KUL was 185 (didn't get the class breakdown), tonight going back it's 214.

For the flight out, what's the breakage between dignitaries & paying pax?

[BC Tam 2]

So for the inaugurals, the loads are:

 

BA33 - 83%

BA34 - 96%

 

Pretty good hey.

Us cina people have this cynical belief of the 'new lantrine' effect on anything new and exciting

I hope in this instance, it's an exception rather than the rule

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

My spies at the Waterside MI5 Unit immediately contacted me that the information that I posted earlier is incorrect:

 

G-YMMN has:

 

14 F

48 J

32 W

127 Y

Total: 219 seats

 

So for the inaugurals, the actual loads are:

 

BA33 - 84%

BA34 - 98%

[S V Choong 4]

Any special introductory fare?

 

Calling Mr. BC Tam...

[Isaac 0]

Any special introductory fare?

 

Calling Mr. BC Tam...

The introductory fare ex-BKI was around RM2.6k only in Y while WTP was RM5k.

[Suzanne Goh 0]

For the flight out, what's the breakage between dignitaries & paying pax?

Not sure. Didn't ask sorry

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/business/article/different-malaysia-brings-us-back-says-british-airways

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

I managed to steal this internal publication from BA from my spy at the Waterside MI5 Unit, which featured a comprehensive news about KUL.

 

Lots of interesting facts:

 

- The KUL route planning timeline until realisation.

- The inaugural flights details and a detailed list of crew members selected to be on the flight.

- Where the crew stay in KL.

- The detailed list of BA KUL office staff one by one, including brief intro to all of them.

- What BA thinks of KUL before and after the route launch.

 

I will try to get my spy to steal the special film from the inaugural which will be available on the BA intranet soon.

 

 

What surprised me the most from the publication:

 

"Until this year, Kuala Lumpur was the largest premium market that BA did not serve."

 

KL was clearly under appreciated all these years. There is a premium demand and it is the largest one at that time.

 

 

Also:

 

"Key competitors: Malaysia Airlines and Emirates"

 

Sorry to disappoint you SQ, CX, QR and the rest lol.

BA KUL Details.pdf

[Suzanne Goh 0]

For what it's worth - KUL is a WW fleet route. WW, or worldwide is the original contract staff of BA. That is why you see the title of CSD, or cabin services director in the article.

 

BA at some stage then hired a whole new bunch of Staff on the MF or mixed fleet contract, which are generally younger and also paid somewhat less.

 

On the MF services the Most senior cabin crew carries the title CSM (manager).

 

 

 

As examples , SYD and SIN are MF routes. (BA splits it by route- not by plane)

 

HKG is WW, whereas LAX is MF - so there are both MF and WW A380,744,777,767 crews.

 

I generally prefer WW on average, the best and worst crews I have ever had are MF. Somewhat less consistent but when they are good - they are better than WW

[kandiah k 0]

Thanks Azizul. Interesting read

[Craig 0]

HKG is WW, whereas LAX is MF - so there are both MF and WW A380,744,777,767 crews.

 

I generally prefer WW on average, the best and worst crews I have ever had are MF. Somewhat less consistent but when they are good - they are better than WW

 

I wish LAX is still a MF. WW took over beginning NS2015 schedules. No more twinks inconsistent service for me. I've had some great MF crew on my LAX flights before but some of my European MF flights were just OK.

 

MF took over SEA, DFW, SAN, and IAD whilst WW took over LAX and MIA for NS2015.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

To add on the information about the cabin crew type in BA, there is actually 1 more type - the Euro Fleet (EF). EF is the smallest in number and they are all ex-BMI (British Midlands) crew whom IAG purchased from Lufthansa Group. EF crew just do European destinations, the furthest would be AMM and BEY. They operate in A319, A320, A321 and B767.

 

My understanding is that ideally the BA HR would want all the crew to be in MF. There would be no more additional crew to WW and EF. Crews in WW and EF are welcomed to switch to MF, but of course there are some disadvantages (the biggest being lesser basic pay, longer working hours and longer time being away from home and family). Those in EF also could not progress higher the career ladder (I think they can't even be promoted to Purser because of their crew rating type).

[Suzanne Goh 0]

Plenty of BA fans - since we are at it there are technically 2 more fleets - LGW and cityflyer. LGW contractually quite similar to MF. Not sure about cityflyer how well they're paid - but they're pretty good. 3 out of 6 golden tickets I've given away were to cityflyer flight attendants.

[Izanee 0]

Thanks azizul, Suzanne and Craig! Interesting reading.. Made my day! KUL has always been underestimated... Not anymore I guess. Air china and ANA next on the list to return this year!

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Surprised BA deems KUL to be a premium market when everyone else doesn't.

[jani 0]

Well KUL-London is definitely one of the most important markets for KUL. The demand doesn't even have to be from business travelers, even leisure travelers would fly in First or Business on this route.

[kandiah k 0]

I guess BA did their homework before venturing into KUL again unlike AF. Thanks to the ME3.

[Isaac 0]

I guess BA did their homework before venturing into KUL again unlike AF. Thanks to the ME3.

Before AF resumed the flight to KUL, KL was already operating 10 flights a week between AMS and KUL. AF probably think they can capture the premium traffic between KUL and Europe, thus their decision to deploy the 4-class 772 to KUL and to take over the 3 additional weekly flights operated by KL at the time.

 

However, it was clear that their 4-class 772 was a terrible choice for KUL after a few months operating into KUL. So it was replaced with a 309-seat 3-class 772. Too bad this isn't working too. A random search shows that the return air fare from BKK to Europe is consistently more expensive than ex-KUL. One can imagine just how bad the yield of AF's KUL flight is...

 

AF put a lot of good words when they started flying to KUL, it was all praises and they were very positive about the future of KUL. It is very unfortunate that things did not turn out as they expected or forecasted.

 

On a different note, LH was supposed to upgauge the flight between FRA and KUL from the current 343 to 744 in late October. This plan however was scrapped last month. Anyway, all the best to BA!

Edited June 16, 2015 by Isaac