Hainan Airlines regional international and domestic business class review: Good and excellent value but not quite five star.

[Austman]

On the Hainan Airlines website it is noted:

"In June 2025, Hainan Airlines earned the "SKYTRAX 5-Star Airline" designation for the 14th consecutive year, ranked 10th in the "SKYTRAX World's Best Airlines" listing, and secured top global or regional honors for Best Airlines in China, Best Airlines Staff in China, and Best Business Class Airline Comfort Amenities."

So, is it 5 star? Recently I took 4 x flights with Hainan Airlines, HU, all in business class.

It was a return ticket from KUL (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) to NNG (Nanning, China) via Hainan's hub HAK (Haikou, China). So regional international and domestic business class.

The flights:
1. KUL-HAK, scheduled at 3h30 duration.
2. xHAK-NNG, scheduled at 1h15 duration.

3. NNG-HAK, scheduled at 1h30 duration.
4. xHAK-KUL, scheduled at 3h40 duration.

The cost was USD 606.00.

The good:
Excellent value.
All flights were on time or early.
The cabin crew were delightful.
Check-in experiences.
The lounges offered in KUL and HAK (domestic and international).

The OK:
All flights were 737 operated with recliner seats in a 2-2 configuration.

The not so good:
In-flight meals and drinks were very limited on the KUL-HAK and HAK-KUL flights and non-existent (zero in-flight service!) on the HAK-NNG and NNG-HAK flights.
The domestic lounge offered in NNG was pretty poor. But all the domestic airlines, except China Southern, used it.
There was no IFE at all on 3 of 4 flights.
There was no Wi-Fi on any flight.
Although a partner with Velocity, there was no earning at all on the KUL-HAK and HAK-KUL flights.
They use KUL T2.
Not quite 5-Star by any means for these flights.

 

[Austman]

1. KUL-HAK, scheduled at 3h30 duration.

This was HU756, scheduled to depart at 21:15.

Hainan use KUL T2. One of the few full service carriers that do. They have just one flight each day. I tried to find out how early check-in opened but it was impossible to find! I guessed it would be 3 hours before departure and I was correct.

At exactly 3 hours before departure, HU check-in counters in row Z opened. And there was one for business class.




It was all nicely done and I was issued with a lounge invitation:




I was having almost a full day in transit in Haikou so only my KUL-HAK boarding pass was issued.

With 2 x 7kg or 2 x 10kg carry-on allowed in business class, and I was HLO, I wondered how the KUL T2 LCC carry-on "police" would let me through, at the entrance to international departures, with my single ca 11kg carry-on? The answer is they check your boarding pass and if not Air Asia or another LCC, you are directed to a separate line where your carry-on is not checked for weight.

I had no issue with my single carry-on on any of my 4 flights.

 

[Austman]

The Travel Club lounge at KUL T2 was quite good!

It's located out near the international P gates where HU depart:




If you have a Business Class invite, you can get house wine. Else, I think it's limited to soft drinks and beer.




And there's a sizable dining room with quite good food options:

 

[Austman]

On board you are offered bottled water, other soft drinks, nuts, a moist towel and slippers before take off:




I found out later than even hot drinks are offered to business class, before take-off, on request.

The seats are quite comfortable. Two rows of 2-2:




But food and beverage is limited.

It's a 3h30 international flight and there is no choice of food. It's a single offering on a tray with various items.

And the only alcohol available is beer. There's a choice of two. There's no wine, no spirits.







The crew are delightful.

 

[Austman]

I had a rather long transit in HAK (18h50) so decided to make the most of it at a good hotel in Haikou.

Next will be my domestic flight experience, HAK-NNG.

 

[clifford]

It actually seems surprisingly good. For the price.

 

[Austman]

The flight arrived early to HAK but it was still past midnight. Migration and Customs were quick and I was soon ordering a DiDi in the ride-hailing area. You need to use the Chinese version of the DiDi app. You can then set the language to English.

Haikou Meilan Airport is a pleasant enough airport.

 

[Austman]

2. xHAK-NNG, scheduled at 1h15 duration.

This was HU7029, scheduled to depart at 19:35.

Hainan have a dedicated business class check-in area for domestic flights. All quite nice and empty when I arrived:



You get a lounge invitation then it's off to domestic security which has dedicated lanes for business class. You need to get a lift up to the lounge, which at HAK domestic is called the HNA CLUB:




It's quite nice for a domestic lounge with the usual buffet but some cook-to-order options, ordered from a screen. And reasonable drinks.

 

[Austman]

On board, the same bottled water, moist towel and slippers were at the seat. And a packet of mixed nuts and berries which was the only food item supplied for this scheduled 1h15 flight!




The flight time was actually only about 50 mins. There was no in-flight service offered at all! On this smooth flight, the seat belt sign stayed on permanently, as did the toilet occupied light and the flight attendants remained seated. The crew's service was before take-off and after landing.

I noticed that some pax still used the toilet. And so then did I. So it seemed to be allowed. On my way back to my seat, I asked if any beverage was available and I was offered two beers to choose from. No glass provided. I was allowed to keep the one I didn't drink.

 

[Austman]

3. NNG-HAK, scheduled at 1h30 duration.

This was HU7030, scheduled to depart at 22:00.

NNG is not a major airport for Hainan. They have just two flights a day, both to HAK.

Again, there is a dedicated check-in desk and separate security lanes for business class. But the lounge offered, optimistically called the First Class Lounge, is pretty poor. No buffet food on my visit although you could see where it would be - except it was a cleaned, empty serving area. Only cup noodles and small packaged biscuit like snacks. And soft drinks including tea and coffee. And crowded. Most domestic airlines use this lounge. Only China Southern has its own lounge that I suspect is much better.

The lounge staff showed me another option. There was a "bookshop" like lounge which had the same food and drinks but a considerably more pleasant atmosphere. I decided to brave it with cup noodles, haha!



On board, were the usual items waiting at the seat. I knew there would be no in-flight service, so I asked for a beer before take-off. This time I was given a glass!




Again, the seat belt sign stayed on for the duration of the very smooth flight and the crew remained seated. The crew's service was before take-off and after landing. Delightful as usual.

 

[Austman]

Haikou Meilan International Airport hotel accommodation.

This is interesting. HAK airport, not Hainan Airlines, provides transfer hotel accommodation and dining services to eligible passengers. With an overnight transit of 8 hours, I qualified. It all looked pretty good and there are no other accommodation options at HAK airport itself.

Here are the details:

Haikou Meilan International Airport dining and hotel accommodation

After arrival, I went the to the information counter. My details were checked and I has given a QR code to photograph and show to the hotel staff. And directed to the hotel's free shuttle bus. As I was solo, I'd have to pay the hotel a supplement of RMB 200 (about AUD 42.00).

At the hotel it was bad news. The hotel was totally full and I'd have to wait for a room to become available. I was only number 2 in the queue but they couldn't tell me how long my wait might be. With only 8 hours between flights and with it already approaching midnight, I wanted a room ASAP. I found a Hampton by Hilton about 20 mins away by DiDi for about AUD 84.00, so booked that.

 

[Austman]

4. xHAK-KUL, scheduled at 3h40 duration.

This was HU755, scheduled to depart at 07:30.

Hainan have dedicated business class check-in counters for international flights. It wasn't the same location as for domestic flights and it wasn't a separated area.

Again, you are given a lounge invitation. For international departures, Hainan doesn't operate its own lounge. You are directed to the optimistically named First Class Lounge but it's a much better lounge than its namesake in NNG domestic airport. A world apart in reality:





On board, before take-off were the usual offerings. It was still before 7:30am, so I asked for a coffee:



And I knew there would be no choice of meals once in flight. Again you get a tray with various offerings, more breakfasty this time:

 

[Austman]

And that's my TR.

All up, a pretty good experience although, given the duration of the flights, I had expected the in-flight food and beverage offerings to be better.

I expect that Hainan long haul flights, in business class, are much better in that regard.

 

[jase05]

And that's my TR.

All up, a pretty good experience although, given the duration of the flights, I had expected the in-flight food and beverage offerings to be better.

I expect that Hainan long haul flights, in business class, are much better in that regard.

Flown plenty of domestic J Chinese flights across all carriers and yes the food and beverage offering aren’t great. Our last one on China Eastern KMG-CGK we were given a tiny bottle of water as we were seated and then absolutely nothing for the flight of just over an hour. Did not see the staff for duration of flight.
The J product on Hainan back to Australia was pretty good food and beverage wise IMO
I think I still have Hainan as marginally top of my tree for J experiences with Chinese carriers but Xiamen aren’t far behind and I like their product. A couple of China Eastern long haul experiences were a bit average but has been a while and I must say their new product looks very decent and reviews seem mostly positive.

 

[AIRwin]

There was a "bookshop" like lounge which had the same food and drinks but a considerably more pleasant atmosphere. I decided to brave it with cup noodles, haha!

Ironically the words on the bookshelf is a quote from Shakespeare:
"Books are the nourishment of the world. Life without books is like the earth without sunlight. Wisdom without books is like a bird without wings."

 

[GDale]

I believe a civil aviation policy was introduced in China a few years back that prevents crew from providing service for the first and last 30 mins of flight - and since then, flights of an hour or so no longer have any onboard service from any airline. That's why you're sometimes provided packages snacks or a bottle of water upon boarding.

On lounges, many in China follow designated meal times and do not provide hot food outside of those hours. A bit surprising given the relatively low food and labour costs.