The last time I had flown a Malaysia Airlines 737-800, I had experienced the scariest flight of my life. Since then, two 777s from the same airline had gone down: one shot down over Ukraine and the other crashed somewhere in the Indian Ocean.
Even so, I figured my chances of getting killed were still greater on the ride to the airport (Jakarta traffic is the worst in the word as far as I am concerned) then in the air. I didn’t sweat it. Note this review is from 2016. You can read why I publish older reports here.
Check-in was a breeze: there was just a short wait and I obtained my boarding passes all the way to London, despite the long layover in Kuala Lumpur.
With two hours to spare, I lounged hopped at CGK: none of the lounges are really worth writing about. I do like the old terminal Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Jakarta though. Plenty of greenery and natural light.
Boarding began about about 30 minutes prior to departure. Security screening took place at the gate.
Malaysia Airlines 720
Jakarta (CGK) – Kuala Lumpur (KUL)
Tuesday, June 21
Depart: 3:45 PM
Arrive: 6:50 PM
Duration: 02hr, 05min
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 3F (Business Class)
Malaysia Airlines 737-800 Business Class Seat
Business Class aboard the 737-800 contains four rows of 2-2 seating. I appreciated the well-padded seat with footrest and individual IFE. The buttons to adjust the seat were manual. A pillow and blanket were present at each seat.
Each seat featured a headphone jack, USB port, and power port:
Malaysia Airlines 737-800 Business Class Dining
Despite a flight time of under two hours, menus were distributed and a multi-course meal were offered.
Here’s the in-flight menu:
A cold towel and choice of non-alcoholic beverage were available prior to takeoff. Usually, the pink guava juice is served only out of Malaysia, but was offered and hit the spot (along with a cold towel) on a sweltering Jakarta afternoon.
Service began with an appetizer salad, served on a tray with fruit. A choice of bread was offered and I chose garlic, which was nicely toasted.
I chose baked fish for the main course, an excellent choice.
The fruit was ripe and served as a perfect dessert.
What a great meal for such a short flight. I enjoyed a glass of sparkling water to finish:
Does the menu look familiar? This meal was featured as a Meal of the Week last November.
Malaysia Airlines 737-800 Business Class IFE
I browsed the IFE and began watching The Revenant. There was a great musical selection plus games and TV shows as well. Decent noise-cancelling headphones were disributed.
Malaysia Airlines 737-800 Business Class Lavatory
The lavatory was small, but clean.
CONCLUSION
Great service, great food, and a comfortable seat: Malaysia Airlines regional business class offers an excellent product.
I had a long layover ahead of me in KUL before my A380 First Class flight to London.
Here’s some additional pictures from the flight out my window. RIP 747-400…
This is the right aircraft for this length of flight… I was recently on MH same B737 from BOM-KUL in Business Class which is just over 5 hours that departed just past midnight… NEVER AGAIN. Servis and meals were good but that seat for that long of a flight was horrible.
I have probably done this flight over a 150 times. But at some point in 2014 or so stopped flying MH as the planes were old, dirty and the food was soso. Moved over to GA who consistently offer a great experience despite it being a 737 as well.
Regionally dry airline?