Canadian slammed online after calling KLIA “worst airport” over a burger, sparking Malaysians’ backlash and viral reactions.

A Canadian traveller has drawn criticism online after labelling Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as “one of Asia’s worst” — basing his judgement on a single meal at a fast food outlet.

In a video shared on social media, the man appeared visibly unimpressed while seated at the outlet, making a displeased expression as he ate.

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The caption of the post read: “Kuala Lumpur In Malaysia might have been one of the worst”, while the overload text in the video read, “Eating burger at one of Asia’s worst airports.”

Though the video showed a burger with a rather measly patty, the remark quickly went viral and did not sit well with Malaysians, many of whom questioned the fairness of evaluating an international airport based on a burger purchased from a global fast food chain.

Several netizens highlighted the irony of travelling halfway across the world only to dine at a franchise commonly found in North America, arguing that such a choice hardly reflected the diversity of food options available at the airport.

Others suggested that his criticism may have stemmed from unrealistic expectations, while some accused him of making a sweeping judgement about Malaysia based on a limited experience.

Amid the backlash, a handful of commenters opted to respond with data instead of emotion.

One noted that KLIA ranked second globally in connection ratio in the 2024 OAG Megahub Index, behind London Heathrow, underscoring its status as one of the most connected airports in the world.

They stressed that airport infrastructure, efficiency and global connectivity have little correlation with the quality of a single fast food meal, urging a more balanced perspective when assessing a major international hub.
“Came to Malaysia, decided to rate an airport by ordering an American Franchised food. So white,” one user called budakwang commented.

“You went to Malaysia and ate a burger at a franchise outlet at the airport… then complained about the experience. That’s like going to Italy, eating at a gas station, and saying Italian food is overrated,” amirul.s4fri pointed out.

“In service satisfaction assessments – KLIA is among the top 10 airports in the world. In global flight connectivity – KLIA ranks 4th in the world / No. 1 in Asia. In the overall Skytrax evaluation – KLIA is ranked around 65th in the world. The worst?” saiful__bahri01 asked.

“Mate, the worst thing you can do is complain to Malaysians about their food. Even worse? The franchise outlet is not even ours.

“Brace for it, you’ll have that sourface for longggg time,” amrazd joked.

 The Sun Malaysia