Selamat Datang Malaysia Airlines Airbus A350 XWB — Photos and Review
“She is beautiful”
That were the only words that came out from my mouth the moment I had the first glimpse of Malaysia Airlines latest aircraft, the Airbus A350 XWB taxiing into Hangar 6 in KL International Airport this morning.
It could be her signature graceful sharklets of the Airbus A350 XWB or the “racoon mask” of the black cockpit windows, there is something about this particular plane that makes it such a sexy aircraft.
My love towards the Airbus A350 XWB is not new. Back in November 2014, I remember standing at KLIA’s runway fence when Airbus brought their Airbus A350 into KLIA for the first time for a demonstration tour. At that time, I knew that the A350 would look good in Malaysia Airlines livery. Click here to read about the A350 tour to KLIA.
And in February 2016, I was lucky enough to be invited by Airbus to Singapore Airshow with the Airbus A350 as the star of the show! Click here to read about that experience.
Besides an A350 fan, I am also a loyal customer of Malaysia Airlines having clocked more than 50 sectors last year and slightly lower than that this year. So it was natural for me to be super excited to be among the first few given the opportunity to check out Malaysia Airlines Airbus A350 XWB arriving today in KLIA. Thank you to those who made it possible for me to be invited 🙂
Arriving at Hangar 6, the positive ambiance of welcoming a brand new plane can be felt. Enthusiastic executives of Malaysia Airlines smartly dressed, animated members of airline’s partners, media representatives with their fancy cameras and lenses and this little aviation blogger all there in Hangar 6 with one objective — to give a warm Malaysian Hospitality Selamat Datang to this brand new plane.
By 11 am, flightradar24 showed that 9M-MAB, Malaysia Airlines first A350 XWB has entered Malaysian airspace approaching KLIA.
The formality of the event kicked-off with the arrival of Honourable Minister of Finance II, MAB’s Group CEO, members of the Board of Directors and Airbus’ representative.
As scheduled at 11:45am, the highlight of the event – the arrival of the aircraft. Started off with a fly past to showcase the brand new bird. A beautiful sight indeed.
The aircraft then made a quick loop and returned to land for the first time at its home base- KL International Airport.
Taxiing in to Hangar 6.
An interesting thing happened while we were waiting for the aircraft. With me was a group of Malaysia Airlines employees and while they were obviously excited with the arrival of the plane, at one point the emotions were a bit high for a couple of them.
Tears of joy were actually flowing from their eyes. It was sort of a reminder to me on how sometimes receiving a new aircraft can be very meaningful. It could be a sign of recovery, a milestone of achievement, a glimpse of hope of an airline regaining its glory. Keep it up guys!
Customary water canon salute by Malaysia Airports AFRS team.
Ladies and gentlemen, the new star of Malaysia Airlines, the Airbus A350 XWB.
A bit about this new Airbus A350 plane. Malaysia Airlines Airbus A350 features a total of 286 seats in 3 cabin configuration — first, business and economy (premium and normal economy). The six new aircraft will eventually replace the existing six Airbus A380.
It is a smaller plane but one of the obvious reasons of the change is the cost effectiveness of the A350 is much better per seat vs. the super Jumbo of A380. At the end of the day, this decision is in-line with the strategic direction of Malaysia Airlines towards recovery and better financial sustainability.
The delivery team being welcomed. Must be a cool experience flying an almost empty, brand new plane all the way from Toulouse.
Features of the new aircraft being showcased through a video presentation.
I had the opportunity to also preview the interior of 9M-MAB. However it was a quick tour of the cabin and with quite a number of other people at the same time, taking some good photos was quite a challenge.
Starting with the first Class, of course.
I was informed that Malaysia Airlines is the first airline to offer a first class cabin on the Airbus A350. 4 seats that can make your 13-hour journey to London an experience by itself!
Although not quite a suite, these 4 first class seats offer high partition walls and a sliding door which gives a sense of premium and privacy. Ample storage areas and space for work, dine or just enjoy the luxury of first class travel.
The 35 business class seats are quite a familiar sight. At one glance, it reminded me of the A330 Business Class seats and layout.
Good news for solo travellers — the “throne” seats are still there!
Judging from the load of premium classes for the London route, the Airbus A350 is set to continue provide a premium experience for the passengers upfront and providing a good return to the airline.
There is some good news for the 247 passengers at the back as well. The economy class also offers some enhancement to existing flying experience of the A380. Firstly the A350 is equipped with higher ceilings, large windows and LED lighting that is designed to reduce jetlag.
The in-flight screens are bigger too!
Seats in economy have a standard 31 inches leg-room and configured based on the 3-3-3 layout. There is however some “special seats” like the one in Row 26.
And for those willing to pay more to enjoy 36 inch of leg-room, the A350 also offers 27 seats with extra legroom which could be branded as Premium Economy.
Some extra shots of the cabin.
A cabin crew that I met shared how the galley is significantly more advanced in comparison with the A380.
And the lavatory is more modern. I did not try it though. 😛
I will do a full review of this new aircraft when I fly to Bangkok next week. Although not quite a long haul flight, at least it would give a bit more time and space for me to try out what this new aircraft has to offer.
Till then, congratulations Malaysia Airlines on receiving the first Airbus A350 XWB, blue skies ahead!
hi, i planning to do a youtube video,if you dont mind, can i use your photo on my youtube video.
sure, as long as there is appropriate credit please.
Hello Azuan!
An extremely good review with many details quality photos of MAS NEW A350-900.
It is good to know that MAS are installing First Class on thus nww aircraft. However, i felt that it is a bit too TIGHT/SMALL/NARROW in this so called Suite.
On the other hand, Biz Class is as good as their A330 with Semi-Private. Love this open Biz Class.
Good to know for ordinary traveller that there us an ECONOMY PLUS SEAT with 36 Inches in Pitch. This is very good for Long Haul flight.
While Economy seat arw on par with other airlines if not better.
Thank you Azuan for this informative review.
Best Regards,
Franklin @ Travel Therapy Guy
hi Franklin,
Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Regards,
Azuan
Nothing fancy. Just like an upgrade of A330 with J class.
yeap… for J Class, the interior is pretty much the same. Good for consistency and provided that their A330 J Class is relatively new.
so what will happen to the 6 a380?
it will be used for Hajj and Umrah charter under a different entity.
Hi Azuan, allow me to share your story on my FB
Feel free to share. Thank you
Hai Azuan , first class memang cool dan modern. Window boleh auto closed. Business class sebenarnya okay tapi screen IFE kecil dan nampak x brp mahal. Macam Qatar airways punya A350 ada small bar dekat area exit kpl terbang hnya utk business class passenger sahaja. Lagi nice kalau MAB ada bar tu. Pastu utk economy class pulak seat nampak kosong macam murah. Macam x best laa kalau 12 jam flight tapi seat murah sngat. Xde control hnya touch screen. Btw gambar semua nice. Kalau boleh bgkan review ni dekat MAB lagi nice.ðŸ‘ðŸ¼
Hi Taufiq,
Many thanks for the comments. Actually i pun tak dapat explore lama that day. InsyaAllah this Saturday akan fly so dapat la review lebih sikit.
A very good point on the “bar area”. baru la exclusive lebih sikit kan. Some comments i baca pun cakap tak banyak beza 1st class and business class on this A350
Pretty good intro Brother Azuan… Would love to try the First Class someday..
thank you Sir!
Hi En Azuan. Just like you, i tried my luck to book “F” seat Row 1 for PEN, BKK trip. It was all successful and sweet endeavour, until today i have received an email stating that My chosen row 1 seat being relocated to seat row 2, with the following reasoning “Kindly note that due to a change of flight MH1140 / Dec 24, 2017, your previously reserved seat 01A has been reassigned to seat 02A”. I checked online and yes, they are still flying A350 that route on that day. Just wondering did you face similar issue? I am just curious, whether MH has now just realised that they should’ve blocked that Row 1 long time ago for these testing regional flights? hehehe… hope you can shed me some light En Azuan 🙂 Thank you!
Hi Aidil, yes I was reassigned. Latest post has the story.
Hi, Azuan
I got kicked from seat 1A that i previously choose from MH782, now MH changed my seat to 8A
did you experience the same case?
yes, choose a good business class seat 🙂
Excellent looking first class, but i feel business could be a little better – larger screen for IFE and maybe a little more finishing touches like mood lighting built into the seats. Overall solid product though.
MAS really needs to expand their long haul fleet. Waiting for the 787s to arrive, hope they’ll do well and expand to include 777s in the near future.
I have tried the business class and I’m quite happy with it. Check out my latest post.
Malaysia Airlines dah buat yang terbaik pun. Macam komen di atas tentang First Class yang agak sempit katanya. Masa A380 ada First Class tapi tanpa ‘pintu’ observer kata ‘no privacy’ tapi dalam masa yang sama First Class milik Air France dan Lufthansa juga lebih terbuka ruangnya, tiada pula yang komen lebih.
Malaysia Airlines perkenalkan suite baharu ini sudah jauh lebih baik dan setanding dengan pesaing lain di rantau kita.
Cuma seperti yang saya lihat, tiada sebarang sambutan meriah yang dibuat MH sempena penerbangan sulung ke Pulau Pinang 🙁
Semoga Malaysia Airlines terus maju.
Thanks for your comment En Amir. Tak apa, kita berbincang dan bertukar pendapat secara sihat untuk kebaikan airlines kesayangan kita 🙂
mana gambar aku? ;p
kau level IG bro… haha
Hi Azuan
Why is the seating arrangement at row 26 is 2-3-2?
Assalamualaikum En Azuan,
Saya Pn Shahira, editor untuk buku teks yang diterbitkan oleh Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia. Saya ingin memohon kebenaran untuk menggunakan iklan yang ada di website tuan. Sila hubungi saya melalui email faridzatul.shahira@gmail.com atau 013-2182806 agar saya dapat membuat permohonan secara rasmi.
Sekian, terima kasih.
w’salam Pn saya akan reply kepada email
Hi Azuan,
I’m travelling on the A350 from London to KL. Would like to know more about the premium economy seats. Can the armrest be lifted so that my 5 year old can lie across two seats?
thanks,
Johan
Hi Johan,
I think it is possible although i would check with the airlines directly. thanks
Salam,
Nice review and pics. Love them.
I would like to double confirm, is there any prayer area in this plane such as stated in their seating diagram.
Much appreciated if you have the answer.
wsalam, it should be as per the seat map