Review of Malaysia Airlines flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in Economy

Malaysia Airlines- On the Rebound?

2010 to 2025 has been a rough decade and a half for Malaysia Airlines. Things were initially off to a good start as the airline prepared to welcome the Airbus A380-800 as their new flagship and the airline was phasing out its long-term Boeing 737-400 & Boeing 747-400 fleets originally from the 1990s. At this time the airline joined the OneWorld Alliance in 2013, but in 2014 things took a dark turn…

In 2014 the airline saw two catastrophic disasters when Malaysia Airlines MH370 disappeared over the South China Sea, followed four months later by the shoot down of Malaysia Airlines MH17 over Ukraine. Both flights were operated by Boeing 777-200ER, which were quickly retired as a fleet in 2016 as the airline wanted to restructure and put itself in the right direction.

By the late 2010s, Malaysia Airlines was putting the events of 2014 behind them as they prepared to welcome a new decade and introduce some new aircraft into their fleet including the state of the art Airbus A350-900 as their new Flagship and the Boeing 737-8MAX to augment and replace their backbone Boeing 737-800 fleet… Then the CV-19 Pandemic came along…

By 2024 the airline had swiftly retired their Airbus A380 fleet, focusing in on acquiring brand new twin-jets, as well as the Boeing 737-MAX & Airbus A350-900 joining the fleet, the airline also became a customer of the Airbus A330neo to replace its now aging Airbus A330ceo fleet.

I flew with Malaysia Airlines in November 2024 on their Boeing 737-800 in economy class from Singapore Changi to Kuala Lumpur International to see what it is like to fly with the airline in late 2024/early 2025 and to see how things are going for the airline and whether I'd consider them for travel within Asia on future adventures.

Singapore Changi Terminal 2

I grabbed a taxi from my Hotel to the Airport for SG$48 (£24), which saw me flying from Terminal 2 at Singapore Changi, the Terminal which Malaysia Airlines flies from, as I passed the Airport on the way into Terminal 2, I got this quick phone picture of various Singapore Airlines & JetStar Pacific planes parked up ready for their flights that day!

After being dropped off at Terminal 2, it was off into the check in area to find the desks for Malaysia Airlines, again the app wouldn't let me check in for a one-way flight, but I enjoy getting a proper boarding pass for a souvenir as well as for a back up anyway, so it was a win-win. Plus I allowed for plenty of time from the previous day as I couldn't check in online. You'll notice the entrance to Terminal 2 at Singapore Changi offers a nice view of The Jewel, Crowne Plaza Hotel and the ATC Tower.

I got to the check in for economy class, and I was quickly sorted out. No hassle, it was simply due to me making a one-way flight and not being a resident or citizen of either Singapore or Malaysia. Once the formalities were done, it was off airside to hopefully do some plane spotting before heading off on my next flight!

I got airside pretty quickly. There was a quick checkpoint at the entry, but a new one would be required at the Gate as well. It would appear that Terminal 2 was mainly dominated by Singapore Airline's Asian-Pacific network as well as various Asian airline's including ANA All Nippon Airways, Air India and Malaysia Airlines, a sole exception being a United Airlines flight to San Francisco. 

A small area full of plants and a fish pond was in the middle of the shopping area, which was something I had found back in November 2023 when I stopped by Terminal 2 during my stop over from Sydney to London.

I wasn't too interested in getting a meal in the Airport, but I needed a boost whilst I waited on my flight, I found the ideal solution… a self-serve Coffee vending machine. I found it a bit quirky so I opted to try it out for a Cappuccino and it was delicious, not bad for a self-service machine! My drink cost roughly SG$3 (£1.75p) if I recall correctly?

I found a window by a café which was ideal for spotting a few Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900, Boeing 737-8MAX, Boeing 737-800 & Boeing 787-9, I also spied the United Airlines Boeing 787-9 operating the San Francisco flight. One thing I noticed about this part of Terminal 2 was there weren't many good areas to photograph planes if you weren't at the Gate area.

The Gate was eventually announced for our flight, Malaysia MH604 for Kuala Lumpur so I made my way over where another security check was performed at the Gate. 

I got through quite quickly and I opted to spot some other aircraft from the Gate whilst awaiting for boarding, both taxiing and taking off. It was mainly Singapore Airlines & Scoot planes I saw, but I did see a Star Alliance Airbus A330 from Air China as well as an Airbus A320 of Air India is Star Alliance!

Malaysia Airlines MH604 (SIN-KUL)

My Boeing 737-800 for this short sub-1hr flight was 9M-MXD, a then 14 year old aircraft that has spent its entire service life with Malaysia Airlines since March 2011 when it was delivered new from Boeing as part of the then replacement of the Boeing 737-400 fleet. Eventually this fleet of Boeing 737-800 will retire in favour of the Boeing 737-MAX which is now coming into the MH Fleet. 

The airline boarded from the rear of economy class once the business class & pre-boarding was called, but to my surprise the Business Class was completely empty… I was surprised that Malaysia Airlines didn't try offering some complimentary or cheap upgrade offers to some of the OneWorld status holders on this flight… I myself would have been more than happy to take an upgrade at a good price.

I was seated in Seat 7A, I booked a slightly higher package fare that included free seat selection into the booking as it wasn't that much more than buying the basic fare and paying extra alone as "al a carte". I noticed the Boeing Sky Interior had been fitted on this Boeing 737-800, I am not sure if it has had this cabin since 2011 or if it was the result of a cabin refit in 2023, though likely due to the latter option.

After pushing back, we made our way directly down past Terminal 4 where we lined up for a departure on Runway 02C.

Our departure out of Singapore Changi took us North straight out towards the islands of Pulau Tekong Kechil and Palau Tanjung Surat before we made a North-Westerly turn towards Kuala Lumpur and mainland Malaysia. As we departed I got a good shot of a Vistara livery Airbus A321neo (the airline officially merged into Air India the previous week) and a Pokémon livery Boeing 787-9 of ANA All Nippon Airways.

Despite the scattered clouds, it was a lovely day for flying between the two capital cities. As we turned around towards Kuala Lumpur, I got a final glimpse of Singapore Changi as we powered to our cruising altitude. I also checked out the magazine provided by Malaysia Airlines, which had a fleet page of the current fleet as of late-2024.

Getting the inflight wi-fi to work was quite easy, I found the IFE section for Malaysia Airlines and noticed a shopping area, I had a browse of it and I was very tempted by the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 model, but I opted to not buy it. I tried ordering a snack item off the Bistro for an extra 5MYR (£0.75p), but it didn't arrive and no payment was taken. It was worth a try, but I guess the system isn't activated on short hops like this, but is probably more likely to work on a longer flight.

A complimentary service was still provided, with the crew handing out a bottle of water, a bag of peanuts and a banana bread. I also plugged my phone into the charging port and it worked a treat! I also found this little fold out stand for phones and tablet devices, which is a nice feature.

The Boeing Sky Interior looked quite nice, the flight crew left the blue mood light on, but this would have looked amazing during an evening or night flight. I also found the video version of the safety demonstration, so I had a cheeky watch of this as by the time I next fly Malaysia Airlines, the airline would likely have a new safety video.

The flight was pretty similar to the one taken a few days earlier on my Air Asia flight, but still the views as we flew North across the coastline of Malaysia was pretty nice as it shifted between Urban holiday town areas and endless field areas.

When we arrived into Kuala Lumpur International Airport, we made a few turns during our arrival, flying over rural areas between South Kuala Lumpur city and around a town called Seremban. Once we lined up for arrival, we flew in over the towns of Port Dickson, Lukut, Sepang before flying over a vast area of forestry before we landed on Runway 32L! 

Malaysia Airlines uses KLIA1 & the KLIA Satellite Terminal, which means the main runways for arrivals and departures are Runway 32L/14R and Runway 32R/14L. We didn't have a long taxi over to Terminal One, but we parked up on a very quiet stand, we must have arrived in-between the main morning rushes for the airline's short-medium haul flights.

I waited for most of the passengers to leave the plane, so I could get some final shots of the economy and business class cabins before leaving the aircraft. The modern slim leather seats were quite comfortable for this 1hr flight between Singapore & Kuala Lumpur, and I quite liked the two-tone colours of Grey & Blue.

I left my Boeing 737 feeling reasonably impressed by Malaysia Airlines, I would definitely consider flying them again within Asia. I am also keen to now try them long-haul on their Airbus A350-900. With that it was back into KLIA, this time getting to see Terminal 1, I opted to fill out my immigration digital form on before making my way over as I knew what to do after last time.

One thing that hasn't worked from this was I put my BA Executive Club number on this booking and it as of March 2025 hasn't gone onto my account, I even did an email in January 2025 to put in a request for a missing trip, it still hasn't been put on my account or even been acknowledged by BA if the flight wasn't eligible. But other than this, my experience was good!

My main reason for a day long return to KLIA after my last visit a few days earlier was to enjoy a day plane spotting at Kuala Lumpur, whilst prioritising my previous visit on going into the city itself. I got some really nice catches at KLIA 1, using a viewing area in the landside section of the airport for this.