The quickest and easiest way of reaching Kuala Lumpur is to fly non-stop. Flights now take about thirteen hours from London to reach Kuala Lumpur. The return leg takes about half an hour more due to headwinds encountered flying west. Since March 2001, only Malaysia Airlines (MAS) offers non-stop flights from London Heathrow (up to 3 flights a day) and Manchester (four times a week) aboard their Boeing 747-400 workhorses, following British Airways' withdrawal after over 50 years of serving Malaysia.
14 of MAS' Heathrow services currently operate under a code-share agreement with Virgin Atlantic. This agreement allows Virgin Atlantic to sell seats on-board MAS’ flights - whilst not physically flying the route themselves. Passengers holding Virgin Atlantic tickets are advised that the service and facilities offered on these Virgin code-share flights are that of MAS. In 2003, Malaysia Airlines and Garuda Indonesia signed a wide-ranging code-share agreement which will now also see Garuda place its 'GA' code and flight numbers on the London service 7 times a week.
Fares offered by MAS and Virgin Atlantic are often not the cheapest and usually start from around £500 return during the low seasons. However, these national carriers do offer the advantage of ‘local’ departures from alternative UK or Malaysian airports with the domestic sectors often thrown in for free. In the UK, bmi (formerly British Midland) provides connecting services from local UK airports on behalf of MAS, to connect with the Heathrow flights.
Cheaper fares can often be found with many other airlines with fares starting from as low as £350 return. These include Gulf Air (via Abu Dhabi or Bahrain), Emirates (via Dubai), Royal Jordanian (via Amman) and SriLankan (via Colombo). Qatar Airways (via Doha) and Yemenia (via Sanaa) are the latest carriers attempting to cash in on this route since British Airways' departure from Malaysia.
Incidently, British Airways announced that it does intend to return to Malaysia and launched an interim code-share service with Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong in 2002. Being not the most convenient of connections given the long flights involved, it remains to be seen if their return to Malaysia will be a successful one.
Asian airlines offering indirect services include Royal Brunei and Singapore Airlines (both via Singapore) and Thai Airways (via Bangkok), with Singapore Airlines being Malaysia Airlines' strongest competitor.
It is often worth checking with the airline concerned if you are allowed any stopovers on the way – which would allow you to visit their home-cities before continuing on to Kuala Lumpur.
If you are on your way to Australia, New Zealand,or any other Asian city, Kuala Lumpur is still as popular as ever as a stopover city to break your journey. These passengers on overnight or 2-3 night stops still make up KL's largest group of visitors. Malaysia Airlines offers a free KL stopover with most tickets sold, whilst only Virgin Atlantic, Austrian Airlines and KLM continue to offer KL as a stopover destination.
Package Holidays
Most travel agents however continue to offer Kuala Lumpur as part of a package tour or longer holiday. These packages often include stays in another part of Malaysia (often resorts or islands) or are sold as part of a Far Eastern or Australasian package. These are often worth looking into if you are stretched for time, as the tour operator will organise most of the travel arrangements and internal flights are often included. The larger tour operators operating in Malaysia include Kuoni, Hayes & Jarvis, Thomas Cook and (interestingly) British Airways Holidays.
Malaysia Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific also have a separate ‘Holidays’ department which organizes tour packages and can often include Kuala Lumpur into your itinerary. More information can be obtained at any high-street travel agent or from the airlines direct.
Getting there from Ireland
Major Airlines Operating from Britain and Ireland
Discount Ticket Agencies
Specialist Tour Operators
SAGA Holidays , specialises in tours for the over 50's and occasionally has routes that may cover Kuala Lumpur. Generally speaking however, many over 50's simply book with any of the mainline tour operators since Malaysia in general is a fairly easy country to travel in.
Due to the distance between the UK and Malaysia, there are numerous airlines offering indirect flights between London and Kuala Lumpur – with a change of aircraft at its homebase. The only European airlines currently offering competitive fares are KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines and Austrian Airlines.
Kuala Lumpur itself is becoming increasingly popular as a one-stop destination given its recent push to become a shoppers', diners' and golfers' haven. The larger tour operators now offer KL as a citybreak and deals can often be found for 5-7 nights with flights and hotel accommodation included.
There are no direct flights between Ireland and Malaysia, but bmi offers convenient connections with Malaysia Airlines' services at Heathrow. Alternatively, pick up a deal travelling from the UK and cross the Irish Sea using Aer Lingus, British Airways or Ryanair.
T:020-7491-7979. Six weekly flights to KL via Mumbai and Chennai. An unpopular route but cheap fares often advertised.
T:0845-601-0948 (within the UK only). Daily connections via Vienna, flying with its subsidiary Lauda Air on-board the latest Boeing 777.
T:0870-850-9850. Flies twice daily into Singapore, from where you will need to pick up the KL Shuttle service (operated by MAS or SIA) to connect into KL.
T:020-8834-8888. Flies twice daily from Heathrow to Hong Kong, from where it then operates three flights a day into Kuala Lumpur.
T:0870-243-2222. Flies from both Gatwick and Heathrow to KL daily via Dubai. An award-winning airline for service made additionally popular with its reasonable fares.
T:020-7467-8600 . Garuda returns to London with the help of Malaysia Airlines by code-sharing on MAS' daily morning departures from Heathrow.
T:0870-777-1717. Flies Heathrow-Kuala Lumpur four times a week via Abu Dhabi.
T:020-8750-9000. Flies up to twice daily from many UK airports via Amsterdam. All Amsterdam-KL flights operate non-stop and half are operated by MAS under a code-share agreement.
T:0870-607-9090. Malaysia’s national carrier flies three times a day on Tues, Wed, Sat and Sun, twice daily on all other days from Heathrow. MAS also flies four times a week from Manchester to Kuala Lumpur non-stop. Other UK airport departures are available with its UK partner - bmi.
T:0845-774-7767. The Australian carrier flies twice daily from Heathrow into Singapore on its 'Kangaroo' run. Connections for KL can be arranged by Qantas with MAS and SIA.
T:. Relatively new airline but doing extraordinarily well on its KL route. Qatar now flies daily from Heathrow with connections to KL. On certain days their flight stops over at Kathmandu for those interested in taking the scenic route.
Flies twice a week from Heathrow to KL via Amman and Bangkok using their new Airbus A340s.
T:020-7747-0007. Flies from Heathrow three times a day into Singapore. SIA also flies daily from Manchester. SIA operates a regular shuttle service with MAS between Singapore and KL allowing convenient transfers at Singapore.
T:020-7930-4688. Flies daily from Heathrow to Colombo, with daily onward connections to KL.
T:020-7491-7953. Flies daily from Heathrow to Bangkok with connecting flights to KL taking an additional 2 hours.
T:01293-747-747. Operates a code-share service from Heathrow on MAS’ flights twice-daily. Passengers are adviced that check-in is at MAS counters at Heathrow.
T:(020)7323-3213. Quite possibly the most exotic carrier to grace this busy route, Yemenia offers twice weekly service via Sana'a (with a long wait there) flying on its Airbus A310s.
Kuala Lumpur being a developed city doesn't really attract specialist adventure tour operators since they really cater for off-the-beaten-track type holidays. Many companies however do have tours covering Borneo and it should be possible for you to combine such a tour with an extension to KL should you so wish to do so.
