As I mentioned in my previous post in which I reviewed the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge for domestic flights, we scored big-time with the MH Upgrade jackpot, securing seats on our flight to Kota Kinabalu, MH2614, in Business Class.

After a pleasant but unremarkable few hours in the lounge, we headed to the gate at close to boarding time to find not only that there was no boarding taking place, but there was also no plane. 20 minutes later, and our trusty steed was presented to the gate, with everyone lining up almost instantaneously.

Priority boarding was a wrestle if ever there was one, and we had to jostle through the thickening crowd, to have even half a chance of being on-board early. I do wish Malaysia Airlines would set up proper queues leading up to the gate scanners and not allow it to turn into the rugby scrum it did.

On-board, and this was my first time trying out the new-look short-haul business class. We were seated right across Row 1, and initial impressions were that legroom has certainly been a victim of this recent reconfiguration. It wasn’t particularly troubling, at least in Row 1, but was definitely much more akin to bulkhead legroom in British Airways’ premium economy cabin.

Similarly, the seats, while decently comfortable, would be nothing unique or particularly special to write home about – I certainly wouldn’t relish sitting in one on one of the longer flights to say, Nepal or India. And that’s before we come to the apparent maintenance issues I’ll come to in a moment…

There's also the removal of the seatback monitors, leaving premium and economy passengers alike to stare at the back of the seat in front, or the bulkhead. In-flight entertainment could be enjoyed using your own device and headphones, but staring at a 6-inch (if even) screen for 2 hours seems like far too much work.

A selection of juices and water was offered prior to departure, which we enjoyed while relaxing in what was becoming an incredibly warm cabin. I’ve noticed this now on both Malaysia Airlines & Batik Air – both cabins seem to be unable to stay cool while on the ground in KLIA. Mind you, as I’ll come to in a few posts’ time, Batik Air gave me plenty more reasons not to stay cool.

We pushed back on time, and with no in-flight entertainment monitors anymore, the very recent safety video has been now replaced by a manual demonstration instead.

Once into the air, my Mother’s attempts to rest her arm on the armrest of her seat, 1C, came to an abrupt end as she nearly fell into the aisle after the whole armrest panel slide vertically down to the ground. Several attempts by passing crew – with increasing aggression – to remount the armrest panel, were completely ineffective, and ultimately she was left sitting in her seat with the armrest panel now flush with the seat itself. So much for a peaceful doze.

Efforts by her, her seatmate in 1A, and Vannesha in 1F to recline their seats also led to disappointment as the recline feature seemed to have become unworkable in all 3 seats (mine was OK – but a 25% functionality percentage isn’t exactly a terrific result in a recently renovated cabin).

Once again, the crew did their best to recline the seats, namely by shoving each seatback with as much force as possible with the occupants still in-situ. Again, probably one of the least premium or upscale experiences once can imagine. For my part, I have to say I was quite shocked and annoyed to see such poor maintenance / functionality issues on full display in such a new cabin.

Without further delay, meal service commenced and on offer today was either ‘Korean chicken’ or ‘Korean fish’, as you’d expect on a domestic flight in one of Asia’s culinary capitals that isn’t Korea.

The meal overall – similar to previous disappointing lunches I’ve had on Malaysia Airlines short-haul – was a bit of a let-down, chicken in some kind of weird, presumably ‘Korean’, sauce that all tasted a bit low-grade. The best thing about it to be honest was the garlic bread.

After that, in spite of the inability to recline, the cabin fell silent as nearly all passengers – myself included – drifted off for an hour’s power nap before our very scenic approach into Kota Kinabalu airport.

In many ways, the previous Malaysia Airlines short-haul business cabin actually lasted much better, and in my opinion was in absolutely no need of replacement from a passenger perspective.

Overall, this was a very average flight and business class experience with a poor cabin experience and meal offering letting down a friendly and hard-working crew. For the low cost of the MH Upgrade, this flight was worth it, but it’d have been complete madness to pay full price.