Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330neo Economy Class Review

The Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330neo (A330-900) entered service in late 2024 with its inaugural flight to Melbourne. The aircraft will soon become the backbone of Malaysia Airlines’ medium-haul routes and a welcome replacement for its Airbus A330-300 on many Australian routes. Malaysia Airlines has placed a total order for 40 Airbus A330neo aircraft and expects to shift all its Australian operations to the new type by mid-2026.

This review covers my recent experience on the Malaysia Airlines A330neo in Economy Class from Melbourne to its hub in Kuala Lumpur.

Flight Details

Flight number	MH148
Origin	Melbourne (MEL)
Destination	Kuala Lumpur (KUL)
Aircraft type	Airbus A330neo (A330-900)
Class of travel	Economy Class
Seat number	12A
On-time performance	Departed 20 minutes late, but arrived on time
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

This flight was part of a one-way Economy Basic fare from Melbourne to Chennai via Kuala Lumpur, which cost me $500. Qantas recently began codesharing with Malaysia Airlines on its Australian routes, although only the more expensive fare buckets are available for booking on the Qantas website.

Qantas Frequent Flyer members can also redeem their Qantas points on Malaysia Airlines. This route has good availability and costs 34,700 Qantas Points + taxes in Economy Class.

Airport Experience

Malaysia Airlines uses self-check-in kiosks at Melbourne Airport. Bag drop provides priority queues for Oneworld and Malaysia Airlines Enrich status holders.

I have always found Melbourne Airport’s international security and immigration pretty efficient. Within 10 minutes of check-in, I was airside, walking past the duty-free shops.

Malaysia Airlines directs its Enrich Gold status holders, as well as Oneworld Sapphire members and above to the Marhaba Lounge. This lounge can also be accessed for a fee by anyone using LoungePair or Priority Pass. The Qantas International lounges at Melbourne Airport are also an option for status holders, provided the flight departs at a time when those lounges are open.

Note that Economy Class doesn’t include lounge access as standard, and as such does not contribute to the rating of the flight.

The Hard Product

I found the hard product on the Malaysia Airlines A330neo to be a huge upgrade over its A330-300 aircraft. The particular aircraft I flew on was just one month old at the time I flew on it. There was that new-plane bling and a clean, modern aesthetic.

Malaysia Airlines A330neo Economy Seats

Malaysia Airlines retains the 2-4-2 layout in Economy Class – great for couples or anyone trying to avoid the dreaded middle seat. The seats come with six-way adjustable headrests, and legroom is genuinely fantastic. I am not particularly tall (180 cm), but I felt like I had plenty of space to work with compared to the Malaysia Airlines A330-300.

Interestingly, the seat pitch is still the same as before at 32 inches, but the modern, thinner seats give much more usable legroom.

If you are a window person like me, make sure to avoid the mistake that I made on my return flight. Rows 14A and 14K are window seats without a window. Annoyingly, Malaysia Airlines doesn’t warn you about this during seat selection.

In-flight entertainment and Wi-Fi

The 4K Ultra HD screen was the first thing that stood out to me about this seat. At 13.3 inches wide, it is as big as many modern-day laptops, and it is extremely functional, as the touch interface is super smooth to use. The content selection was decent too, with a good mix of blockbuster movies and popular TV shows, including full seasons available for many titles. There was an interactive flight map, but I wished Malaysia Airlines had in-flight cameras as part of this refresh.

There’s also USB-C and USB-A ports for charging, plus Bluetooth to connect your own headphones to the entertainment system.

Malaysia Airlines offers free, unlimited Wi-Fi on its A330neo aircraft. This is a great inclusion, and it worked well for most of the flight.

If I were to nitpick, I really wish they would disable in-flight calls made over WiFi. A few passengers, including my seat neighbour, had their phones ringing mid-flight and even took calls on speaker.

The Soft Product

Basic amenities like a pillow, blanket, and headphones were left at the seat during boarding.

After takeoff, the cabin supervisor stopped by to greet me as an Oneworld Emerald member and took down my meal preferences.

About 90 minutes into the flight, the first meal service started. There were two main options available – a vegetarian pasta or a chicken curry with rice. I went with the pasta, which looked good. Unfortunately, in the process of filming, I spilled this on myself. The crew was incredibly kind and quickly offered me a replacement. Since they had run out of pasta, I ended up with the chicken curry instead. It was hot, flavourful, and far more spill-resistant.

The meal came on a fully stocked tray that contained a piece of bread, salted peanuts, roasted vegetables, cheese, crackers, and a cheesecake. A bottle of water and a choice of non-alcholic drink were offered as part of the lunch service. Alcholic beverages weren’t proactively offered but were available on request.

In summary, it was a decent meal service. In hindsight, the chicken curry was the better choice, and the sides provided were substantial.

Two and a half hours before landing, we received the pre-landing meal. This was more like a snack, and the options were either a vegetarian or a chicken sandwich. This snack-type service is similar to what’s offered on similar-length sectors out of Australia. Not filling, but I can’t complain either.

The crew were very professional throughout the entire flight. As we began our descent into Kuala Lumpur, they even lined up at their stations and collectively bowed to the passengers.

Arrival Experience

Almost all Malaysia Airlines flights from Australia to Kuala Lumpur land at the Satellite Terminal, although my next flight to Chennai was from the main terminal building. Despite having under 90 minutes between the two flights, I was able to comfortably transfer and connect to my next flight via the Aerotrain.

Malaysia Airlines Enrich Platinum and oneworld Emerald members can also use the complimentary chauffeur transfer service. To be honest, the train is much faster and operates every 2.5 minutes during peak times.