It was an early (but not obscene) start in Kuching to catch the Malaysia Airlines direct flight from Kuching to Hong Kong (via Kota Kinabalu). FYI, direct means same plane (in airline lingo); it doesn’t mean non-stop. It was 1h30 plus 2h55 with a fairly long turnaround at Kota Kinabalu of 1h05 (unlike AirAsia’s 25 min turnarounds).
The new Boeing 737-800 was extremely annoying with a high-pitch whine audible in the cabin even when on the ground. I was ready to bail while taxiing for the first flight but I managed to bear both flights. Strangely, the crew turned the inflight entertainment for the domestic leg but not international one. There were two different sets of crew for each flight so maybe the ones on the second leg didn’t know how to turn it on! It wouldn’t surprise me.
Seated in row 14 (exit row) I had tonnes of legroom for my long (not!) legs. But even though this was the last exit row (with the exit in front and none behind), the seat didn’t recline. That is highly unusual because non-recline seats are normally located in front of an exit only (to prevent hampering evacuation should the seat be reclined).
We arrived into Hong Kong on time at the newish satellite terminal where they put most narrow-body flights, which means that we were with lots of mainland Chinese flights. While we disembarked by airbridge, we had to be bussed from this satellite terminal to the main terminal and that took about half hour including all the walking and waiting.
As my flight to Auckland is on standby, I couldn’t be checked straight through. I had to enter and leave Hong Kong, changing from the arrival level to the departures. Hong Kong airport immigration queues always look worse they they actually are. But distances are large, so it isn’t a great place to make tight connections. I made it to the Air New Zealand counter as it opened 3 hours before the flight which seems like perfect timing. But it did take 1h30 from disembarkation to check-in.
I had the choice of the Thai Airways, United and two credit card lounges and opted for Thai. Don’t know why. Time went quickly with a shower and a feed.