Malaysian Airlines Food

Malaysian Airlines Food
Malaysian Airlines Food
Malaysian Airlines Food
Malaysian Airlines Food
Malaysian Airlines Food
Malaysian Airlines Food
Malaysian Airlines Food

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Malaysian Airlines Interior

Silk pajamas, private spas, designer amenities and restaurant-quality food--these days flying first class is a lot like a night at your favorite resort. The major difference (other than jet lag): price.

This year, Cathay Pacific, the top-rated first class carrier on our annual list of the Best First Class Airlines, celebrated its 60th birthday. To mark the occasion, the airline announced a series of upgrades, including bigger television screens, more work space and a new, ergonomically-tested first class seat with massage capability that gently converts to a chaise lounge as well as a totally flat bed.

On Malaysia Airlines, passengers in the U.K. and France are ferried to the airport via helicopter (passengers in other countries make do with a limo). On board, food is served with silver forks and knives, Italian glassware and china; champagne, liquor and vintage wine accompany each meal.

In Pictures: World's Best First Class
And at British Airways (nyse: BAB - news - people ), the design of the newly introduced first class cabin was based on the interior of a Rolls Royce, with Connolly leather, faux walnut wood, rich fabrics and a deep, soothing color palette. At London's Heathrow and New York's John F. Kennedy airports, BA also provides a complimentary Molton Brown Spa, and onboard catering includes spa cuisine from Thailand's Chiva Som resort.

Malaysian Airlines Interior
Malaysian Airlines Interior"We get celebrity chefs from around the world to help us identify the food trends happening in restaurants. Then we make it happen in the plane," says James Boyd, a representative for Singapore Airlines (other-otc: SGPJF - news - people ), which just spent $360 million upgrading cabins across all classes of service. "Same thing with the wine experts, who tell us where wine is going. Our turndown service for first class looks like the service you'd expect to have at a five-star hotel. We're taking a page from how our customers live their lives."

Of course, all that pampering comes at a price. A round-trip first class ticket from London to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific costs $12,373, and New York to Hong Kong rings in at almost $16,000. On Malaysia Airlines, an Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur round-trip first class ticket is $8,800; Bangkok can be almost $10,000.
Malaysian Airlines Interior
Malaysian Airlines Interior
Malaysian Airlines Interior
Malaysian Airlines Interior
Malaysian Airlines Interior"The carriers make a lot of money on people who pay premium fares," says Bob Harrell, president of New York City-based aviation industry consulting firm Harrell Associates. "There's a lot of competition in the back of the airplane, but the fares are so dramatically higher in the front of the plane that they have incredible margins for carriage."

Of course, there are plenty of people sitting in first class who didn't pay $10,000 to be there.

"It's either upgrades or employees," says Harrell. "They'd never displace a guy who wants to pay $10,000, but if a seat's available, it goes to a crew member," like a deadheading pilot.

If you don't work for an airline, your best bet to travel first class is to fly--a lot. Most airline rewards programs offer upgrades for their top flyers, those in their Platinum, Diamond or Gold categories, says Harrell. "These people get upgrades routinely, or free tickets or rewards miles if they can't get an upgrade."

To compile our list, we worked with Skytrax, a U.K.-based airline and airport quality ranking firm, which sent 16 auditors into the field for six months to assess the 36 carriers who offer first class service on their international, long-haul routes. Skytrax grades each airline across a giant matrix on over 400 criteria, including efficiency of the check-in process, the quality of the onboard entertainment and the temperature of the meal service entrée when it is served.

One thing that hasn't changed from last year's list is that the top ten is dominated by Asia- and Middle East-based airlines. Not a single U.S.-based carrier made the top ten.

"Amongst the Middle Eastern carriers, the majority have a largely Asian proportion of front-line staff in customer service roles," Peter Miller, who administers Skytrax's annual study, writes in an e-mail. "The Asian service culture is quite simply a whole lot better than that which we have here in Europe or that which you have in the U.S."

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Malaysian Airlines a380

Thinking about making a short trip from Penang to Kuala Lumpur next week and looking at possibilities of using Malaysia Airlines to jet into the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) or AirAsia and land at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) or be propelled by Firefly into the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (SAAS) Airport, formerly known as Subang Airport.
However, the problem I see with Malaysia Airlines is the rather high cost of the ticket. After throwing in the taxes and what not, a return ticket on my intended days of travel will amount to RM515, and I haven't even added in the cost of the KLIA Express tickets (another RM70) and the travel to KL Sentral to catch the train. It's going to cost something like RM600 for the round trip.
AirAsia, well, they are so much cheaper at RM161 for a return trip (could become more expensive if I delay booking my flight tickets) and the cost of a bus ticket from the LCCT to KL Sentral and back is only about RM14. However, the flight schedule does not really appeal to me. I'm only free to travel in the afternoon but by the time I get to Kuala Lumpur, the whole day is gone and wasted.


Malaysian Airlines a380
Malaysian Airlines a380
Malaysian Airlines a380
Malaysian Airlines a380
Malaysian Airlines a380
Malaysian Airlines a380

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Malaysian Airlines 777

Malaysia Airlines is the full-service flag carrier of Malaysia. Flying out of its home base in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL), the main airline focuses on international, long-distance routes for destinations in the Southeast Asian region. Through its subsidiaries, Firefly Airlines and MASWings, Malaysia Airlines connects to and provides service for domestic and short-range regional flights. It is a top-quality airline with a 5 Star rating and a serious contender in Southeast Asian passenger air traffic.

Malaysian Airlines 777
Malaysian Airlines 777Malaysia Airlines is a full-service airline with a presence on every continent except Antarctica. It is not a budget or strictly local airline. First and Business Class are available for all flights. Economy Class features individual in-flight entertainment consoles. Its customer service includes its Golden Lounges for members, First Class and Business Class passengers in its major network airports. Higher classes and individual in-flight entertainment are not available on the flights operated by its subsidiary companies, Firefly and MASwings, since they use small commuter-type aircraft. The service of Firefly and MASwings complements that of Malaysia Airlines. If you are flying to a secondary or tertiary destination via Malaysia Airlines, you will connect through one of these two airlines. An example would be connecting to Medan, Indonesia or to a location in Malaysian Borneo from Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian Airlines 777
Malaysian Airlines 777Malaysia Airlines offers a range of international routes that directly compete with its rivals, such as Singapore Airlines. It also offers the kind of in-flight crew service and high-quality meals that the flagship airlines of Southeast Asia are famous for. Even the Economy Class seats seem a little roomier and comfier than is the norm on many American and European airlines. All of this comes at a reasonable price.
Malaysian Airlines 777
Malaysian Airlines 777
Malaysian Airlines 777If the airline has a failing, it is in the added difficulty in arranging flights on short notice. The online purchase of tickets must be done a full 48 hours in advance. Also, E-Ticketing is only guaranteed to be available for the trans-continental flights flying out of Kuala Lumpur. If you want to book a domestic flight on one of Malaysia's subsidiary carriers, or perhaps a fight on a shorter run to China, you will either need to make the trip to a Malaysia Airlines office and buy the tickets in person, or else go through a travel agent and pay a commission. This is a considerable handicap for many business fliers, as well as travelers who are already in Malaysia. However, these difficulties are common with many Southeast Asian airlines, which are proving slow to adapt to E-ticketing.

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Malaysian Airlines

Tengku Azmil has been engaging in a lot of baby talk lately. And so have more than 600 readers of this blog, but more on that later.

The Malaysia Airlines chief executive, whom you can find on Twitter as @tengkuazmil, has been bombarded with questions in the Twitter-sphere this week about the pros and cons of the airline's policy of banning infants from first-class cabins.

"We already hand out noise canx headphones in 1st class. They don't work so well for babies crying," he tweeted in response to an inquiry. To another: "It's only 1st class tho."

To be clear: The airline won't let infants travel first class, whether on passengers' laps or in seats of their own. Infants are, however, allowed in the business and economy classes. It's been that way for several years, I learned from one of Azmil's tweets, so he's been doing a lot of explaining over the years.

Malaysian Airline
Malaysian Airline
Malaysian Airline
Malaysian Airline
Malaysian Airline
Malaysian Airline
Malaysian Airline

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