Taipei Taoyuan International

There was not much traffic at this was this early Monday morning and I reached terminal 1 of Taoyuan International Airport much earlier than I had expected. I had calculated with around 50 to 70 minutes but it took us only 40 minutes and so I arrived even before the counters of Malaysian Airlines were scheduled to open at 05:55. With free WiFi in the airport I was able to read the online news of Bloomberg, Neue Züricher Zeitung and ChannelNewsAsia, three of my favourite news apps. So the waiting time passed quickly.

The check in agents had already arrived and check in was opened a bit ahead of scheduled begin at 05:45. Check in is done by China Airlines for Malaysia Airlines. I asked the check in agent to check my luggage only to Kuala Lumpur, where I had scheduled an overnight transfer. My boarding pass was printed and my suitcase labelled with the baggage tag to Kuala Lumpur which was shown to me before it was attached to the luggage. I also received an invitation to the China Airlines Dynasty Lounge which is used by Malaysian Airlines in Taipei.

I took the stairs one floor up where the security check point and immigration is located. Security was not very busy and I passed it in less than ten minutes and immigration was also not very busy with only two passengers ahead of me.

There are no signs for the lounge right after immigration, but I had done my homework and already verified that the lounges were one floor up.

China Airlines Lounge Terminal 1

I decided to visit the China Airlines Lounge first and later see if I could visit the Cathay Pacific Lounge which was closer to my gate. I was welcomed at the entrance and my invitation was taken and I was shown direction to the Business Class section of the lounge. The lounge was contemporary designed with seating to the left and right and the buffet section in the middle of the second half of the lounge. There was a dedicated part for First Class Passengers and frequent flyer with the highest elite tear to which I had not access. Showers were available as well and also internet terminals. According to the webpage there are seats for 160 passengers in the business class section and for 57 passengers in the first class section. On the right side of the business class section was a buffet with Western dishes while the left side had a Chinese selection of dim sum and rice with prawns and vegetables but also sausages. Soups were also available from a bar area further down. The lounge unfortunately did not offer any windows and there was a constant stream of cold air from the air condition which was inconvenient.

I took a seat and grabbed some dim sum from the buffet and a soda water. I read a bit in the weekend issue of the FT. After 40 minutes in the lounge I decided to move over to the Cathay Pacific Lounge.

On my way to the CX lounge I passed several other lounges among those the Thai Airways Lounge and the Priority Pass Contract Lounge. There was also some maintenance done. Overall the long hallway appeared a bit run down.

Cathay Pacific Lounge

The Cathay Pacific Lounge is at the other end of the long hallway. I handed over my boarding pass and my BA Silver Card but the agent mentioned that I had to fly on one of the oneworld airlines to be able to access the lounge. Hm, Malaysian Airlines has joined Oneworld in November last year and I thought that this was in the meanwhile known to the other airlines, especially being it an Asian airline. I would have understood if Air Berlin or US Airways which joined only a couple of weeks earlier are not yet know, but MH? I pointed out the oneworld logo and also the signboard with member airlines on the desk and the agent looked it up and wrote down my BA Executive Club details from my card. The CX lounge is smaller than the China Airlines Dynasty Lounge but also offered a noodle bar – one of the main reasons for a visit. I ordered a beef noodle soup from the buffet. Like in Hong Kong I received a pager. While I was waiting for my soup to be prepared I took a seat and read a bit in the paper and watched the rain falling down as the Cathay Lounge had windows, which was another advantage above the Dynasty Lounge of China Airlines. Soon my pager flashed and my hot soup was awaiting me. It was good, tasty and hot ... Sometimes I am quite easy to please ...

Ten minutes before boarding should start I left the lounge and walked down to the gate passing the duty free shops. Not as extensive as at other airports but here as well one could have the impression that this it is a shopping mall with occasionally departing airplanes ...

Gate B 3 was one of the gates at the far end of the terminal 1 and I reached the waiting area around the scheduled boarding time. Our plane had arrived earlier on an overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur. but boarding had not yet started. I took a seat and waited for the boarding announcement to be made. I had only taken the seat for a few second, as the boarding announcement was made inviting first passengers travelling with infants and passengers sitting in Business Class and Oneworld Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby members to board the aircraft. There was a dedicated line for passengers travelling in Business Class and oneworld elites, which was open, while the Economy Class line was still closed. I did not wanted to skip the line of families queuing at the closed Economy Class line but was invited to do so by the gate agent ...

05 May 2014
TPE – KUL
[Taipei Taouyan International – Kuala Lumpur International]
MH 409; Boeing 737-800 (9M-MXS)
Gate B 3
07:55 – 12:40 [effective 07:54 – 12:51]
Business Class
Seat 04 F

Oh, how I look those view by other passengers ... Anyway, I wanted to use the opportunity to be the first on board to take a few pictures of the plane without passengers.

Pre Departure Drink

Orange Juice

I stored by belongings in the overhead compartment and the seat in front of me. I was asked for my choice of pre-departure drink and I asked for an orange juice. Another flight attendant hung my jacket. The closet is in the rear part of the plane, which means one has most likely no chance to get it during the flights and the flight attendant asked me to put everything out of the pockets. My pre-departure drink was delivered along with the headphone while the other passengers were still boarding the aircraft. I also received the printed menu. A minor detail, but it is still nice to receive a printed menu as this gives you more time to make up your mind what to choose.

I was still the only passenger in Business Class and it turned out that it would remain that way: Business Class was only me. The flight attendant also mentioned that my seat in row 4 did not recline as much as the seats in the first three rows.

The cabin of our Boeing 737-800 consisted of four rows in a 2 – 2 configuration while Economy was 3 -3 configuration. In so far the layout was very similar to what you can expect on board many US airlines. The plane was one of the newest in the fleet of MH and delivered only a couple of weeks ago on March 05, 2014 brand new. The Boeing 737-8H6 WL is leased from GECAS, one of the biggest airplane leasing companies in the world. It was powered by 2 CFMI CFM56-7B26E engines with a thrust of 26300 lbf or 117 kN. And the first impression was that there were barely any scratches and everything looked nice. The seats in Business Class were blue leather seats and offered international power outlets. The seats had also a footrest and two small fold out trays for glasses – very much like on many other airlines. The 10.6 inch TV screen was in the back of the seat in front. Seat pitch in Business Class is 42 inch and a seat width of 21 inch while in Economy Class the seat pitch is 30 inch and the seat width is 17 inch.

The safety video was shown while we were still at the gate. At 08:00 we were pushed back and taxied to the runway 05L at the opposite of the terminal.

We had to wait after a China Airline 737 before it was our turn at 08:15. It was till raining and the clouds were very low, therefore we did not get to see much of the landscape below.

Once airborne fasten seat belt signs were not turned off immediately but the crew began to prepare the service. I was asked what I wanted to have for breakfast and I was still unsure what to have.
Time to read the printed menu (click on icon - opens new window)
In the end I went for the frittata. A bit uninspired, but I had dim sum in the lounge and were not quite into the Malaysian food offerings. I went for a glass of champagne to go with the breakfast.

Main Course

Mushroom and Cheese Frittata
With Chicken Patty, Capsicum, spinach and tomato sauce

Champagne Drappier Brut Carte D'Or NV

I had already folded out my tray table from the armrest and the flight attendant now laid it with linen and the tray with the meal arrived soon later. Given that I was the only passenger, there was no cart used and I would thought it would have been strange if they had prepared it only for me.

Everything was placed on the tray and later croissant, rolls and pastries were also offered. My glass of Champagne was frequently topped up during the meal service. The portion was not very large but sufficient and good.

As my tray was cleared I was asked if I would like to have a hot beverage and I went for a cup of tea. I started my laptop and worked for some time until I had updated most of the things and decided to watch another episode of Top Gear for the remaining flight time.

Roughly 45 minutes before we were scheduled to arrive in Kuala Lumpur the flight deck gave us an update of the remaining flight time and the weather forecast for Kuala Lumpur; there was the chance for a thunderstorm in the evening but right now it was a partly cloudy sky. The crew began to prepare the cabin but with only me in Business Class it was a leisurely and easy going flight. I had only an empty mug which was taken away. At this stage I was not asked to put my seat upright, despite the general announcement was made to do so. But I think this was more meant for the other passengers behind the closed curtain. I was also given an invitation for the fast track security line at Kuala Lumpur.

Finally we were already quite low, the flight attendant made the last round through Business Class and opened the curtain and handed me my jacket. We approached KUL and touched down on runway 32 L and taxied for our gate at the main terminal passing the satellite terminal. I could see a few parked wide bodies, among those an MH 747-400.

We finally reached the gate at the main terminal and one crew member closed the curtain and blocked the aisle so that the hoi polloi could not invade the calm area of the Business Class Cabin. This was a bit strange and I was tempted to tell them, that since I was already ahead, it was okay to open the curtain but thought it is done this way and why change it ...

I headed to immigration, where longer lines awaited me and also at the Premium Line was a longer line. Luckily at a couple of minutes another counter was opened which speeded up things significantly. My luggage was already on the belt and after I bought a ticket for the Airport Express to KL Sentral, I was on my way to the airport station.

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