Photos: MAS' Airbus A380

By David Flynn, July 2 2012
Photos: MAS' Airbus A380

Malaysia Airlines joined the ‘superjumbo club’ this weekend with the debut of its first Airbus A380 flights between Kuala Lumpur and London. Here’s a first look inside the Malaysia Airlines’ Airbus A380.

Seat layout

MAS will pack 494 seats into its six A380s, with a layout similar to that of Qantas and Singapore Airlines – first class in the nose downstairs, business class upstairs and economy spanning both decks.

(That said, SQ's second raft of A380s sets aside the entire upper deck for business class.)

There'll be AC outlets for every seat in first and business class, of course, while passengers in economy will need to share one power outlet between every two seats.

However, every seat from tip to tail will include a USB port for recharging iDevices and other travel tech en route.

World's widest first class beds

At the front of the main deck, in a 1-2-1 configuration, are eight lie-flat beds.

Each has a generous 87 inch pitch (compared to 80 inches on MAS' Boeing 747), stretches to 89 inches in full flat bed mode and is 40 inches wide.

This gives MAS bragging rights to the world's widest first class bed, being 5 inches more than Singapore Airlines offers on its own A380 flagships.

All first class berths come with a massive 23 inch video screen and no crying babies within earshot – as Australian Business Traveller reported last year, babies will be banned from MAS' first class on the A380.

MAS' highly-regarded inflight dining includes the ‘Chef-on-Call’ facility, which is currently exclusive to first class passengers but on the A380 will be extended to business class.

Business class gets a boost

66 business class seats on the upper deck will stretch out in a standard 2-2-2 layout.

Each will have a 74 inch pitch (well beyond the 58 inches on MAS' Boeing 747), fold out into a 72 inch lie-flat bed and sport a 17 inch video screen.

As reported last year by Australian Business Traveller, in what was at the time seen as a vote of confidence in the economy, MAS has boosted the number of business class benches from its original configuration of 52.

Economy class and the 'kid-free zone'

Each A380 also carries a total of 420 economy seats of 18 inches width, a six inch recline and 32 inch pitch. Each seat has a 10.6 inch video screen.

The lower deck has 350 economy seats in a 3-4-3 layout, with the 70 economy seats on the upper deck arranged in 2-4-2.

More noteworthy is that, as Australian Business Traveller exclusively reported in April this year, Malaysia Airlines has declared the upstairs economy section to be a kid-free zone.

All children under the age of 12 – including infants – travelling in economy will be assigned to seats on the lower deck. MAS says they won't be seated in the upper economy section unless the downstairs economy section is completely full.

The move is aimed at ensuring a more restful and enjoyable trip for business travellers who have to fly in economy.

Keep up to date with the latest news for business travellers and frequent flyers: follow @AusBT on Twitter.

David

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.

21 Feb 2012

Total posts 40

This will be interesting when MAS joins Oneworld. It'll be a good alternative to Qantas, while still maintaining points and status.

British Airways - Executive Club

07 Jun 2012

Total posts 18

I would have written the same thing!

I'm going to try the new MAS' A380 as soon as MAS will join oneworld. 

I hope other big airlines like the gulf carrers will decide to join an alliance, that would expand their network and the choice for FF

Malaysia Airlines - Enrich

11 Oct 2012

Total posts 19

Unfortunately MAS is will not be doing the KL-SYD route with the A380s. Pity.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

18 Oct 2012

Total posts 130

Has anyone used the new A380 Business class seats out of KL to London ? 

I would like to know if they were comfortable and fully lie flat? I went on their new A330 in Business and cant say the seating was real confortable or lie flat ... :(

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

23 May 2012

Total posts 268

I have and the seat is quite comfortable but not fully flat, unfortunately. If it was, it would've been a real competitor! It does have a lot of legroom and the seat is definitely worth a 3.5-4 star, definitely at least 4 if it was fully flat!

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

18 Oct 2012

Total posts 130

Seriously? Not a flat ?? I dont get airlines like MAS that fork out the $$$ for an A380 ( 6 of)  only to fit it out with below standard seating. Not to mention direct isle access in J class . Their price point is comparable to EK, SIN , and even Thai now  have it in theirs. Very disapointing MAS :(

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

18 Oct 2012

Total posts 130

And their promotional video on youtube  does state that the j class seats are fully flat seats . Im confused!

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

18 Oct 2012

Total posts 130

Just to update A380 J class seats on MAS , This is the reply I recieved from MAS." We have checked and yes they are fully flat bed seats" (from Global Customer Care team)

So the confusion continues....

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

18 Oct 2012

Total posts 130

Dear Mr. 

Thank you for your email.

We have checked that A380 business class , is fully flat bed seats.

Thank you ,

Ambia

Malaysia Contact Centre|

Global Customer Contact Centre|

www.malaysiaairlines.com


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