Flight Review – Malaysia Airlines MH602: Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (for Yangon) by Boeing 737-800

MH602 is Malaysia Airlines‘ first daily morning flight from Singapore. I opted to fly to Yangon with Malaysia Airlines as it was the cheapest way there, even when compared with budget airlines. As such, my flight would involve a transit in Kuala Lumpur, combined with a flight departing in the early morning from Singapore.

Unfortunately, Malaysia Airlines is one of the very few airlines in Changi Airport which does NOT provide an early check-in service, even after double-checking with both Malaysia Airlines and Changi Airport if I could check-in the day before when the counter is open for another flight, as such, I had to show up at the check-in counter at an unearthly hour of 4.40am.

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MH602 is codeshared with Firefly, SilkAir and Singapore Airlines.

Showing up a few minutes before the check-in counters are open at Row 5, with some passengers queuing already.

Looks like the screen format of the check-in row is similar to a common check-in. Hmm, wonder why I couldn’t check-in the day before when the counter is open for night flights then.

I was checked through to Yangon since I’m on a single booking. As such, I received both boarding passes at Changi Airport already.

Do note that the mobile boarding pass or print-at-home boarding pass (with verification stamp required) is not accepted for flights departing from Singapore.

My boarding pass for my MH602 flight to Kuala Lumpur.

My boarding pass for my onward MH740 flight from Kuala Lumpur to Yangon. Seems like KLIA has figured out my onward gate number already.

I recognised the dreaded bus gate of F51 on my boarding pass, and true enough, here’s the solo Malaysia Airlines plane parked at a remote stand as seen from the Sunflower Garden.

This would be my first time taking a bus to a plane at Changi Airport. The only time I did it previously in Changi was when I flew in with Firefly a few years ago, so the plane had to park at remote stand anyway since it was a turboprop. Thanks Malaysia Airlines. 🙄

Heading to Gate F51 to board the bus to Kuala Lumpur. Oh wait.

Gate F51 is the same bus gate as the Changi Airport Terminal 4 Transit Area Free Shuttle Bus Service.

Heading down to the bus bay after clearing at-gate security.

There are two bus gates at Gate F51, namely, F51L and F51R. Gate F51R is dedicated for the Changi Airport Terminal 4 Transit Area Free Shuttle Bus Service. The positioning of the bus bays are similar to how MARS gates are designated on the apron.

Heading to Gate F51L for my bus to the plane for KL.

The interior of the apron bus to get to the remote stand.

Arriving at my plane to KL. 9M-MSF would be on duty for this short shuttle today.

Disembarking from the apron bus.

Only one door of the bus is open, leading straight to the boarding stairs.

Not a fan of the inconvenience of bussing to a plane, but I guess it offers a rare experience in Changi Airport (though I’ve read other online reviews which say that Malaysia Airlines always buses passengers onto MH602 due to the overnight layover. Hmm.).

Boarding the very full plane to KL.

Thankfully, this Boeing 737-800 came with the proper Economy Class interior and not using the ex-Firefly birds.

The legroom on board Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 737-800. Not the most impressive for a full-service airline. I think Malindo’s legroom is more generous.

I got an aisle seat this time, so no window views of this short flight. Anyway, most of it would be in darkness with this early morning departure.

The safety video was played during pushback.

I thought the sound was quite out of sync with the stewardess when talking, as if it was two different persons as even the speed of the heard voice and the stewardess talking on the video was off.

More than half of the video was also from the passengers point of view, which I thought made it a little shaky. Also, this may not be very clear to first-time flyers.

The video ended with a Doa for Travelling.

As headphones were not distributed for this flight, I just clicked around the screen to read random information.

Thankfully, I’m not on the ex-Firefly plane with 189 passengers in Economy Class.

Once the seatbelt signs were switched off, the snacks service began.

The distribution of snacks was rather quick, since MH only offers a pre-cupped juice and a pack of peanuts for this flight. Hmm, I kind of wish I’m on AirAsia now as I can get a proper on-board breakfast for an additional S$4/RM10.

Oh well, at least I can view the flight path on the IFE screen.

The IFE can also be operated with the attached remote control on top of the touch-screen function. This control would be necessary for adjusting the volume (if headphones were available).

A USB power socket is also available. However, it seems to be simply a charging socket and not something to sync your phone to the IFE system with.

The IFE screen upon touchdown.

Disembarking from the plane.

Heading up to the internationals area.

My plane was parked at Gate G10 (A10), the last gate of the G Pier.

Heading to the central part of the terminal.

Interesting to see these new arrival signages along the pier, showing the departure process, similar to the ones at Heathrow. Also, it shows pretty clearly that the transfer between KLIA and klia2 is on the landside. Maybe plans for the airside transfer have been abandoned?

I headed to the Satellite Terminal to get a snack during the transit since 100ml of orange juice and 40g of nuts does not constitute breakfast. Using the Aerotrain, it looks like MAHB has acted on my complaint regarding the non-functioning exit signs. Thanks for the fixed hardware, but the part about the illogical staff response still has not been answered yet.

Overall, the flight was nothing much to shout about as everything was rather basic with the legroom, small snack and IFE without headphones. Thankfully, this flight was booked just as a shuttle to my transit point of Kuala Lumpur, and I don’t think I’ll ever pay a full fare on Malaysia Airlines from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur just for a complimentary pack of peanuts and a cup of juice.

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