Kuala Lumpur

Tag Archives for Kuala Lumpur.

The MH 17 Full Report (and summary)

As many have speculated, the Dutch Safety Board Report have found that a Russian made BUK missile brought down the plane. The missile travelling at three times the speed of sound exploded just above the cockpit of MH17 at an altitude of 10.1km (33, 000 feet). Eight hundred pre-formed fragments in the missile punctured the plane bringing it down in one and a half minutes. The three crew members in the cockpit were killed immediately. The Board found multiple missile fragments in their bodies. This video shows the painstaking reconstruction of the Malaysian 777:   The speed…

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MH370- Reunion gives news but not answers

The news that part of an aeroplane has washed up on the shore of the Island of Réunion last Wednesday gives little comfort to families and friends of those who were on Malaysia Airlines 370 that disappeared on March 8, 2014. Confirmation by Malaysia on Friday, that the part is a flaperon and is indeed from a Boeing 777 tells us that it is likely that the plane did indeed end up in the sea. It does not tell us how, where or why. (See wsj: What is a flaperon?) Additional information emerged that a suitcase was…

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Unique Nok Air – Trip Report

a yellow and white logo

Today, I was one of three “farangs” (foreigners) on a Nok Air 737 completely full of Thai people travelling from Bangkok, Thailand to Phuket. I could not work out if this was a random coincidence or do most foreigners not choose Nok? Me? I have wanted to fly the bright yellow Thai “Premium Budget” carrier for some time and today’s flight gave me that opportunity! Nok is the 90th airline I have travelled with since I started flying in 1968! Nok means bird in Thai. They are largely a domestic operation with an international flight to Myanmar. Booking:…

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Malaysia’s Marketing Fail

Poor Malaysia Airlines, they cannot put a foot right it seems. “We are committed to regaining the confidence of our customers and sending them on memorable holiday experiences as a trusted five-star carrier.” Lee Poh Kait, Malaysia Airlines regional senior vice president, Australia, New Zealand & South West Pacific. After a horror year, Malaysia Airlines have started to rebuild. Apart from lowering fares to ridiculous levels, its major shareholder has announced a complete transformation of the loss making carrier. In addition, the airline is looking for ways to market itself. Its latest campaign has been pulled,…

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Empty Malaysia planes herald “no surprise” restructure

My partner flew Malaysia Airlines two weeks ago and had the choice of four empty rows of five seats per economy passenger to stretch out in. This was how empty the plane was. A photo doing the rounds of the internet shows a starkly empty Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 operating as flight 146. The service which departed Melbourne at 740am flying direct to Kuala Lumpur arriving at 1415 on Thursday 14 August 2014 had about 60 people on board. My next Malaysia Airlines flight is in two weeks. I called to arrange a “good seat” to find that…

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Will I keep flying?

First of all it was MH370, then MH 17, then Taiwan, Iran, one in Mali and a shooting at a plane in Pakistan. Lots of people have been asking me whether I will keep flying after these horrific events. A poll, conducted for TheStreet by GfK at the end of July found that 36% of Americans feel afraid to fly internationally. Women are more fearful than men, older people are more fearful than younger people. For an Australian who flies Malaysia Airlines a lot and who has traversed the skies above the Ukraine a few times in my Europe voyages,…

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Malaysia Airlines waiving all fees for changes

Malaysia Airlines have announced that they are waiving all fees for changes to travel from today until further notice to all MH destinations. Apparently spooked by the second incident involving a Malaysia Airlines jet in four months, customers are calling travel agents to cancel bookings with the carrier. As I said, earlier today, the airline is already struggling financially. Further cancellations will really put pressure on the carrier and accelerate the need to re-structure the carrier. All MH flights are operating as per normal schedule.   Related Posts Future Options for Malaysia Airlines? Malaysia Airlines Flight…

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Moved by a post at One Mile at a Time about MH 17.

I was very moved by a post today by Ben Schlappig (aka Lucky) over at One Mile at a Time. He spoke to a guy in a queue at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. The guy was flying on MH 17 which came down whilst flying over the Ukraine. Its a very powerful post. It made me reflect how close we come sometimes to the edge of life? How many contacts do we have with people who we never know their futures?  I was releived to get a text back from one of my friends who is a cabin…

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Malaysia Airlines Passengers by Nationality

Malaysia Airlines have released the nationalities of the passengers aboard MH 17, the plane lost over the Ukraine on July 17: Australia: 27 Belgium: 4 Canada: 1 Germany: 4 Indonesia: 12 (including 1 infant) Malaysia:  43 (including 15 crew & 2 infants) Netherlands: 154 Philippines: 3 United Kingdom:       9 Unverified: 41 The company is currently notifying the next-of-kin of the passengers and crew. Families of passengers and crew contact:  +603 7884 1234 (Malaysia) or +31 7 0348 7770(Netherlands). For media queries contact: +603 8777 5698/ +603 8787 1276. The airline is providing regular updates at:…

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Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 [updated]

Shocked to see that a passenger plane has allegedly been shot down. Air traffic controllers lost contact with Malaysia Airlines flight 17 at 1415 GMT ) as it flew over eastern Ukraine towards the Russian border. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry advisor Anton Herashchenko has claimed that Malaysia Airlines MH17 was allegedly shot down from its 10,000 metres (33,000 ft) height cruise altitude.  MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The Boeing 777-200 had 283 passengers (early reports said 282) and 15 crew members. Amsterdam airport CEO says the flight  had  154 Dutch, 27 Australians, 23 Malaysians and six Britons…

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