MH A330's New J & Y+

webuser · Tue Mar 22, 2016 7:53 am

Haven't seen this news posted here yet.

Today's the public showcase of MH's A330 refitted with new J and a few Economy + seats.

Pictures from malaysianwings.com forum:

Showing the staggered J seats with shoulder/chest belt buckle visible below the headrest. 1-2-1 and 1-2-2 config.

Reclines fully flat now.

Some info.

Seating layout, less 1 row compared to current offerings.

Economy Plus section that's directly behind Business Class. Only 2 rows, same 2-4-2 configuration.

Economy Plus extra reclining. Missing one window on the 2nd row.

Looks like Row 7 of the old Business Class was removed and replaced with 2 rows of Economy Plus.
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Mal...ia_Airlines_Airbus_A330-300_V2.php

[Edit: Added new images]

[Edited 2016-03-22 01:07:19]

[Edited 2016-03-22 01:08:30]

smi0006 · Tue Mar 22, 2016 9:07 am

Interesting. Nice seats but a bit dull, bit of would grain or something wouldn't go astray- but understandable finishes considering MH current state. May look better with a pillow and head rest. Not a fan of the red in economy plus, not a relaxing colour.

Premium economy is an interesting market, Asian and Australian flying is a bit short for most people to justify it. CX have reported it does well long haul, but not that great to Australia. QF never bothered with it on their A330s. I'm not sure if the MH A330s justify it. Although maybe with the shift away from F, F becomes J, J becomes W? I also don't have access to their market research so they know better than I.

I do wish MH would rip the band aid off and rebrand! They have so much potential but they are wallowing and stagnating but I don't feel it can happen with their linkage to the past, poor performing coupled with tragic accidents.

webuser · Tue Mar 22, 2016 9:22 am

Malaysia Airlines seems to be marketing their Y+ as Economy Plus (Like extra legroom seats on LCC) rather than a Premium Economy product.

Some media press shots:

Famous "Throne" Seats (only 3 available)

Sleeping configuration.

Motorhussy · Tue Mar 22, 2016 9:54 am

Quoting smi0006 (Reply 1):
Premium economy is an interesting market, Asian and Australian flying is a bit short for most people to justify it. CX have reported it does well long haul, but not that great to Australia. QF never bothered with it on their A330s. I'm not sure if the MH A330s justify it. Although maybe with the shift away from F, F becomes J, J becomes W? I also don't have access to their market research so they know better than I.

I wouldn't describe it as a Premium Economy, rather an Economy Plus which may be more relevant to the regional markets like Australia with just a bit more leg-room and recline rather than truly notched up service.

J looks great, I wish them luck; they've had some shockers in that department.

bill142 · Tue Mar 22, 2016 10:31 am

Quoting smi0006 (Reply 1):
Premium economy is an interesting market, Asian and Australian flying is a bit short for most people to justify it. CX have reported it does well long haul, but not that great to Australia. QF never bothered with it on their A330s. I'm not sure if the MH A330s justify it. Although maybe with the shift away from F, F becomes J, J becomes W? I also don't have access to their market research so they know better than I.

Looks like its been put in a spot where you can't get 3 rows in and one row would have heaps of leg room. So marketing it as extra legroom seems like a good way to get some extra revenue.

gabrielchew · Tue Mar 22, 2016 11:51 am

The new J looks great. Shame they didn't come out with that 5 years ago (and lets face it, it's not a revoluntionary product. THey easily could have featured when the A330s were first delivered). Will the A380s be refitted with these seats?

I think it makes sense for thise two rows of Y+ to be sold at a standard premium from all Y fare classes, something like $150 per leg, maybe with a discount for status pax similar to DL & KL comfort seats. Flog them right up until "boarding complete". I assume it's just extra legroom rather than better soft product too?

sq_ek_freak · Tue Mar 22, 2016 12:26 pm

The new J is a nice upgrade from their current offering but far from industry leading. Hardly noteworthy really. But a welcome step in the right direction nonetheless.

Economy Plus seems like a good way to use wasted space in the cabin, but at 2 rows with the same 2-4-2 config as normal Y and what seems to be the same soft product it looks a bit of a joke, especially if seated in the second row. The first row looks legitimately more spacious than normal economy, the second row looks like a ridiculous prospect to pay an extra $100 or so for - especially since you've got misaligned windows to boot. My guess is that this mini 16 seat cabin will hardly be sold and will be filled up by FF's when the Y cabin is full/oversold, otherwise will remain mostly empty. I'd be interested to see how MH markets this mini cabin.

AngMoh · Tue Mar 22, 2016 12:48 pm

Personally, I find the 1-2-2 J seating weird. In the end, all business seats have direct aisle access except for 3 window seats at one side only.

BrianDromey · Tue Mar 22, 2016 1:16 pm

Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 5):
The new J looks great. Shame they didn't come out with that 5 years ago (and lets face it, it's not a revoluntionary product. THey easily could have featured when the A330s were first delivered). Will the A380s be refitted with these seats?

Looks to be the Vantage XL seat, which is the latest version of of the seat. It has one of the longest beds in the sky. Interestingly it is the same seat EI have just rolled out across their A330 and 757 fleets. It's surely not coincidence that the current MH boss is ex-EI?

chrisrad · Tue Mar 22, 2016 1:18 pm

Quoting sq_ek_freak (Reply 6):

The new J is a nice upgrade from their current offering but far from industry leading. Hardly noteworthy really. But a welcome step in the right direction nonetheless.

Still better than anything EK offers on the 777!

panamair · Tue Mar 22, 2016 1:38 pm

Quoting BrianDromey (Reply 8):
Looks to be the Vantage XL seat,

It's actually the regular Vantage seat (not the XL), which is why it's 1-2-2 alternating with 1-2-1 on the A330. The Vantage XL is wider, which would have meant all 1-2-1 on the A330.

EI and LX also have the regular Vantage seat, while QF and SK have chosen the Vantage XL.

http://www.thompsonaero.com/news-and-events

http://www.thompsonaero.com/lopas

infinit · Tue Mar 22, 2016 1:53 pm

Quoting sq_ek_freak (Reply 6):

The new J is a nice upgrade from their current offering but far from industry leading. Hardly noteworthy really. But a welcome step in the right direction nonetheless.

Quoting AngMoh (Reply 7):
Personally, I find the 1-2-2 J seating weird. In the end, all business seats have direct aisle access except for 3 window seats at one side only.

Trying to be the industry leader isn't always the best strategy. Like all businesses, airlines need to make money at the end of the day and the way to do that is to understand the market they serve. Malaysia Airlines is now a regional airline except for one long haul route. A 1-2-1 configured business class is probably not going to be profitable since they are probably not going to be able to command the fare premium for that. However, they didn't stray too far from that so I think its commendable and innovative.

Only a few pax won't get aisle access in this configuration and not everyone even is as particular about it. If I'm travelling with a family member or a friend I certainly wouldn't mind it.

On another note, EK's new J is 2-3-2 configured leaving many pax without aisle access!

webuser · Tue Mar 22, 2016 2:24 pm

Quoting AngMoh (Reply 7):

Personally, I find the 1-2-2 J seating weird.

That pair of seats by the window would be useful for honeymooners who wants to be together and also still have the window seat.

Quoting BrianDromey (Reply 8):
It's surely not coincidence that the current MH boss is ex-EI?

I would think that when you hire someone, you not only hire that person for his skills, abilities, knowledge etc.. but also his goodwill gathered from his past business contacts. He may have managed to secure a good price on these seats being a 'returning' customer?

Motorhussy · Tue Mar 22, 2016 2:52 pm

Quoting panamair (Reply 10):

Hopefully they'll go for the XL version in the A380 to serve the longhaul needs.

sq_ek_freak · Wed Mar 23, 2016 1:10 am

Quoting chrisrad (Reply 9):
Still better than anything EK offers on the 777!

Tell me about it! Volume over comfort and substance for sure. Don't get me started on the soft product either, miles behind others.

Quoting infinit (Reply 11):
Trying to be the industry leader isn't always the best strategy.

As seen with EK's "refreshed" product - it just doesn't seem EK sees it worthwhile to have anything more than a decent Biz offering.

webuser · Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:31 am

For those who hasn't already seen this.

A review of Malaysia Airlines' new Business Class on its inaugural flight to Sydney, giving a more detailed and personal experience of the product in service.

http://www.ausbt.com.au/malaysia-air...s-class-review-kuala-lumpur-sydney

Quoting motorhussy (Reply 13):
Hopefully they'll go for the XL version in the A380 to serve the longhaul needs.

I've only seen photos of their A388's current Business Class. Other than it having the windows seat not having direct aisle access, are they not up to standard/quality?

GuyBetsy1 · Sun Mar 27, 2016 9:58 pm

Rebranding isn' as simple as everyone thinks. As the national airline, every decision has to go through Malaysia's Parliament and that alone will take time. Glad that the new business class seats got the approval fast. MH could do with a change.

MH A330's New J & Y+

MH A330's New J & Y+

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RE: MH A330's New J & Y+

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