Flight Review: Malaysia Airlines MH721 from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Terminal 3 by Airbus A330-200 (ex-Air Berlin)

It was a simple “cross-platform transfer” for me at Kuala Lumpur International Airport with my arriving MH614 flight from Singapore parked at the gate just beside my next MH721 flight to Jakarta. With a quick transit time of 75 minutes between flights, this was thankfully an easy transfer with almost no walking.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Heading immediately into Gate C4 through security screening after arriving at Gate C6.

Boarding was going to be in only 4 minutes time.

Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-200 9M-MTY was operating on my Malaysia Airlines MH721 flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Terminal 3. While the fare was high, flying on the ex-Air Berlin Airbus A330-200 was a draw for me to fly MH to Jakarta.

The gate hold room of Gate C4 was quite full too, looks like this would be a full flight too.

Heading down the aerobridge as quickly as I had arrived, looking back at my MH614 flight.

The aerobridge here was divided by class, which can most probably be split into 2 gates for narrowbodies as a multiple aircraft ramp system (MARS) gate.

Malaysia Airlines MH721

Boarding 9M-MTY.

Taking a peek at the Business Class cabin on board the Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-200 (ex-Air Berlin).

The interior of the Economy Class cabin of the Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-200, still featuring the Air Berlin seats. The front seats are Air Berlin’s XL economy seats with the logo removed, and Malaysia Airlines sells it as Economy Class with Extra Legroom.

The regular legroom on board Economy Class on the Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-200.

In-flight entertainment (IFE) is available on board the Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-200 with individual screens on the seat back. However, the seat back in front of me was showing some wear with the inside sponge very visible beside my IFE screen.

It was indeed quite a full flight to Jakarta, and understandably so since during my time of travel, Malaysia Airlines was only operating 1 flight a day.

Headsets were handed out to be used with the IFE system.

A hygiene safety video was played before the regular safety video.

I was hoping to get the new 2022 Malaysia Airlines safety video, but this was not loaded on this aircraft yet.

The old safety video was still used for this Airbus A330-200.

Once the safety video was done, the lead-in screen for the IFE was a plain white. I touched the “Begin” word to begin.

The white-on-white screen looked like I had just pressed something on the settings. However, I touched “Home” to see where it would bring me to.

Ah, yes. A menu. A variety of shows were available, but were quite outdated. However, the world froze up for 2 years prior to my flight, so it’s not like there’s plenty of new shows to watch in the world too.

#throwback to the UK with a Classical Music for a Royal Occasion music playlist available on board Malaysia Airlines.

Since there was not much to watch on the IFE, I spent my whole flight on the flight map.

It was very afternoon, but the times on the IFE were about 8 hours ahead. I wonder if it’s because the time settings were at GMT+0 in Malaysia.

A meal service was provided on this flight with 2 options. I forgot what the other one was, but when flying in Malaysia and offered Nasi Lemak, you should pick it.

I’ve had hits and misses with Malaysia Airlines’ Nasi Lemak before, but it deserves a second shot.

The meal was served in a cardboard box with a side of salted peanuts and Nasi Lemak peanuts and ikan bilis, along with a small bottle of water.

I can’t remember the full taste of the Nasi Lemak since my flight was more than 1 year ago, but I remembered that it was good.

For drinks, coffee, tea, orange juice, apple juice, and water were offered from the drinks trolley. A basic selection.

The clean toilet on board the plane.

The mirror also had Hollywood lights along the sides.

About half an hour more to Jakarta.

Shortly after the last picture was taken, the flight map was not available to be shown.

Disembarking from the aircraft upon arrival with Thank You messages shown on all screens.

Walking through the Business Class cabin since I’m on the right aisle to exit from the front door.

A quick sneak peak at the Malaysia Airlines Business Class seat on board the Airbus A330-200.

Malaysia Airlines MH721 at Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Terminal 3.

Heading up the aerobridge.

Heading down the escalator to the arrivals level.

It’s a 7-minute walk to immigration on the very long Terminal 3.

Definitely getting this.

Before going through immigration at the time of my flight, all passengers must scan to check-in on the PeduliLindungi Mobile App. The queue for scanning lasts for approximately 1 second.

Those without the PeduliLindungi Mobile App are diverted to manned counters for manual registration where queues are formed, with waiting times for sure.

As I had prepared for my arrival registering my vaccination status on the PeduliLindungi Mobile App already before arrival, I could check-in with ease like a local and went straight to immigration where there was no queue.

I would assume that there is no more need to do this.

Heading past baggage reclaim since I had no baggage to reclaim. Do note that the cheapest fare on Malaysia Airlines does not include any check-in baggage.

Another annoyance faced by foreigners, foreign mobile phones cannot work in Indonesia with a local Indonesian SIM card unless the IMEI is registered. There is a queue at baggage reclaim for IMEI registration for foreign mobile phones to use an Indonesian SIM card.

Roaming on foreign mobile phones is allowed without registration though, which I did. Hence, I did not queue for registration and headed straight through customs.

Customs was quick and I was out in Indonesia in less than a minute.

Heading out of the arrival hall.

There is a counter for the KA Bandara Railink train, but it was not in use. Nevertheless, I simply took the Skytrain to the Airport Railway Station and got my ticket there on the spot.

Conclusion

While airfares were high, I took the opportunity as an excuse to finally fly on the Malaysia Airlines ex-Air Berlin Airbus A330-200. Upon boarding, I was left slightly disappointed with the wear and tear on the seat, and no interesting shows to watch on the IFE. A meal was provided which I welcomed, but for RM1000 return, it was still pretty expensive as Malaysia Airlines is no longer “full-service” since my fare comes with 0kg of check-in baggage. Sure, Malaysia Airlines provides food, but if that’s the only hard product differentiation, RM15 for an international meal on AirAsia would fix the difference. Nevertheless, my curiosity on the Malaysia Airlines ex-Air Berlin Airbus A330-200 has been satisfied with this flight.