My Aviation Stories
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Malindo Air: Flying from KL to Kota Kinabalu – A “Not Just Low Cost” Experience
There’s a new airline in town. Malaysia’s first hybrid airline model, Malindo Air, has successfully started its flights to East Malaysia on 22nd March 2013. Leveraging on the strength of Lion Air Group, the airline operates brand new Boeing 737-900ER aircraft currently providing thrice-daily services to Kota Kinabalu and four-times-daily services to Kuching. Over the last couple of weeks, I received quite a number of queries on Malindo Airlines from AzuanZahdi.com readers. People are still unsure on what to expect from...
read moreSubang SkyPark Air Show 2013 featuring the Breitling Jet Team
The Breitling Jet Team , the largest civilian aerobatic team performing on jets, was the main highlight of the Subang Skypark Air Show earlier today. I was around the area and could not resist dropping by at the airport to catch the Breitling Jet Team in action. Unfortunately I was a bit late and traffic towards the terminal was quite messy with people stopping by the roadside. Despite only enjoying the show from outside the terminal, it was still an awesome 20-minutes performance by the Breitling Jet Team over Subang’s...
read more#NepalAkuDatang Part 1: Road to Pokhara, the start of our little adventure
Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine myself starting a day by staring at the beautiful view of the first light of the sunrise shimmering over the Annapurna mountains. SubhanAllah, amazing view. More of these breathtaking photos in my Part #3 of #NepalAkuDatang post. In the meantime, please allow me to share the 10-hour journey that took us from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Pokhara, Nepal – our first stop of the trip. You may also click here for the complete list of my Nepal trip stories. Our #NepalAkuDatang adventure...
read more“Balik Kampung” with Malaysia Airlines MH1063
Malaysia Airlines, being the premium national carrier of Malaysia has always been my airline of choice whenever it comes to flying. Of course pricing plays an important role, therefore the moment there’s an on line sale, I would immediately grab the opportunity and book my tickets on Malaysia Airlines. Thanks to the recent online sale, I managed to secure affordable tickets for a quick weekend trip to Johor Bahru. Instead of the usual blog review about the flight, I’ve decided to do something different and do a short...
read moreA Surprise Birthday Party at 34,000 feet
9th November, it is that time of the year once again. On this day, (not-that) many years ago, I was born. After turning big 3 last year, I had planned for a much quieter celebration this year with my better half. As my birthday falls on a Friday followed by two nearby public holidays, we decided to do our year-end trip a bit earlier this year and Sri Lanka was picked as the destination. Coincidentally the only available date for an affordable flight ticket was on 9th Nov itself! It is almost impossible to sleep well before a...
read moreMalindo’s Walk-in Interview
Going to the airport 50km away to drop someone off is not one of the top items in my “favourite things to do on a weekend” list. However I could not say “no” to a good friend that have helped me a lot and because of that, on a fine Saturday morning, I found myself cruising on the ELITE highway heading towards KLIA. Since I was not rushing for any appointments (it’s Saturday!), I decided to park my car at the airport and have some teh tarik before heading back to Shah Alam. As my friend rushed to catch her...
read morePeanuts at 30,000 feet
On one fine Sunday morning, I was on-board a Malaysia Airlines flight from KLIA to Terengganu. A short 55 minutes hop on a Boeing 737-400. After a smooth take-off, we were comfortably cruising at an altitude of 30,000 feet flying above the cities and towns of Pahang heading straight to Terengganu. The little seat belt signs went off and three elegant and pretty looking stewardesses (aren’t they all?) jumped into action walking along the aisle serving juice and peanuts. “Would you care for some peanuts, Sir?” Even...
read moreFree AzuanZahdi.com Desktop Wallpaper (October)
Hi! This is something that I’ve been wanting to do. Thanks to a few of your requests, starting this month, I will be using some of my own photos to create desktop wallpapers that you can download and use it on your PC/notebook/tablet/smart phone. Anyone may use these images as a background on any monitor attached to a work or personal computer or on any smart phone or other mobile device, for free, as a desktop wallpaper only. (Do not redistribute or otherwise use or sell). Enjoy! For October: Wallpaper #1 – Yakovlev...
read moreFleapy.com: Finding Cheap AirAsia Flights the Easy Way
There are a lot of questions that I seem to get asked quite often by my blog readers and one of it has always been on ways to find cheap flight tickets. I have to admit that most of my personal trips are on cheap tickets, mainly bought during promotional period regardless of airlines. The trick is to find those random and cheap air tickets hidden in the system as part of an airline’s promotion. In today’s blog post I am sharing one website that has been a handy tool in finding cheap AirAsia tickets. Thanks to blogger Adameben...
read moreMalacca International Air Carnival 2012 – Fun Time for Family
There is not much information about the Malacca International Air Carnival 2012 that happened for the last 3 days. I only got to know about it through some of my friends’ Facebook updates when they attended the event. For an event that is quite significant in Malaysian aviation calendar (since it’s not the first time!), it is a shame that this event does not receive much coverage on mainstream and new media especially prior to the event days. Earlier today I was on my way from Johor Bahru to Shah Alam and “a quick...
read moreReview: MH136 Adelaide to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines
Back in March/April 2012, my family and I were in Adelaide for a short holiday and my sister’s graduation. I have written a few blog posts narrating the fun time we had in Adelaide and its surrounding towns throughout the 8-days stay. Click on any of the links below to check it out: Parafield Airshow 2012 – An Awesome Aviation Event! Cleland Wildlife Park and Mt Lofty Summit Adelaide’s Toy Factory & Big Rocking Horse Granite Island and Victor Harbor’s Ocean Adventure Tour Beerenberg Farm and St Kilda Adventure...
read moreMalaysia Airlines First A380 Comes Home
9M-MNA, the first Airbus A380 aircraft of Malaysia Airlines with special celebration livery arrived home on the 29th June 2012, amidst a ceremonious event at KLIA. I was at the terminal for some work matters when I heard about the arrival of the A380 and armed with my camera and a basic lens, I managed to snap some photos. I’m sure by now there are many other better quality photos out on the net but here are some from my camera. By the way, this is the same Airbus A380 that I was on board during the historical joyride flight...
read more#MyBigFlight MAS A380 Story: Love at First Flight
As an aviation fan, flying on an Airbus A380 has always been an item on my “aviation to-do checklist”. I’m lucky enough to have flown on many types of passenger aircraft from the tiny Twin Otter to the Queen of The Skies – the Boeing 747, but there is something unique about the A380 that makes it so sexy and attractive. From the time that I first saw the A380 back in 2005, I’ve been telling myself that one day I would get the experience to fly on one. 2005… 7 years after I stood outside the perimeter fence...
read moreSouth Australian Aviation Museum: A Must-Visit for Aviation Enthusiast
A few months back I visited and blogged (click here to read) about Malaysia’s own Royal Malaysian Air Force Museum which features a range of Malaysia’s air force hardware. Despite having fun during that visit, I knew that RMAF museum has a lot of catching up to do to be at par with other aviation museums out there. As part of my Adelaide holiday trip back in March. I managed to slot it a quick few hours slot into the already packed itinerary to visit Adelaide’s South Australian Aviation Museum (SAAM). A short train ride...
read moreParafield Airshow 2012 – An Awesome Aviation Event!
Hello everyone. It feels good to be back and writing on AzuanZahdi.com after a short break. Many have asked me about my blog post on the recent trip to Adelaide, Australia so for the next few posts I would write about some of the cool places that I visited throughout my one-week visit. I’ll start with an awesome event that I attended just 3 hours after arriving in Adelaide – the Internode Parafield Airshow 2012! The Parafield Airshow is a small scale biennial airshow that is run by a committee made up of volunteers from...
read moreThe Big Flight – Be the First to Fly the MAS A380
Get ready for an interesting and historical milestone in the Malaysian aviation history. A journey of epic proportions. After years of waiting, Malaysia Airlines will finally receive their first Airbus A380 Super Jumbo aircraft sometime in June. This is an exciting news for Malaysia Airlines and the local aviation scene and I foresee the arrival of the A380 will bring lots of joy and smile for aviation fans in Malaysia including myself. In conjunction with the arrival of the first Malaysia Airlines A380, the airline is...
read moreRMAF Museum: Preserving a Part of Our Aviation History
I have always wanted to visit the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Museum. For a good 3 years (2007-2010), I drove passed the museum every morning on the way to work and I kept telling myself that one day I’ll stop by and check out what the museum has to offer. Finally after reading the news about the Sg Besi Air Base going to be closed to give way for housing development, I decided that I need to make the visit as soon as possible. And today 10th March 2012, a lovely Saturday, I had successfully made a deal with my better...
read moreReview: MH1058 Malaysia Airlines JHB-KUL – Operated by Firefly
A lot of things have been said about this unique arrangement. The once-upon-a-time Firefly Airlines awesome jet service based in KLIA servicing East Malaysia destinations has now been ‘synergized’ to be part of Malaysia Airlines in-line with the on-going Comprehensive Collaborative Framework (CCF). The beautiful sight of orange colour Boeing 737-800 planes in KLIA (and of course the orange skirts! :p ) is now history as all the planes have now been repainted to MAS colours. After reading a few trip reports online, I was made...
read moreSingapore Airshow 2012: Another Awesome Experience!
The Singapore Airshow is back! After attending the 2010’s edition of the Singapore Airshow (click here to read), I’ve become a big fan of this biennial event. It is by far the biggest aviation event in the region with a great mixture of general, civilian, business and military aviation action throughout the week. Despite the usual beginning-of-the-year workload at the office, I’ve ensured that the weekend of 18th Feb 2012 is reserved for the Singapore Airshow. After purchasing the ticket online and collecting it at a...
read moreEvening Air Tour over Subang with JFK
Being an aviation fan, I never pass up on an opportunity to fly. When I heard that the ‘hot-shot celebrity pilot’ Johan Farid Khairuddin or better known as JFK was organising night flights to earn his night flying hours, I quickly grab the opportunity to experience for the first time flying on a light plane during sunset. After a couple of tweets and BBM messages, we agreed to fly on Sunday 080112. Weather was not on our side. It was cloudy and raining prior to the flight. While it is perfectly safe to fly in this kind of...
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