Tuddy
Member
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2011
- Posts
- 242
After many flights and having read many a trip report, I though I’d give it a go. So go easy on me! I was heading over to China for a month to study Mandarin at university in Beijing, and with every Sunday off, I was naturally going to go on some flights and explore the country! I wasn’t planning on doing a trip report, so it’s a bit light on photos, with some flights having no photos at all (sorry!) but I’ll try to make up for that with descriptions of the quirks of Chinese domestic aviation. When I’m referring to legroom (sorry – no legroom shots), I’m about 6’4” – so that’s my yardstick.
Note: Sorry - but it keeps telling me that the files are too large to upload...despite being a young'un, I'm a bit unsure as to how to decrease the size...so my descriptions may have to suffice for lack of images. Sincerest apologies.
BOOKING
My flights Sydney to/from Beijing were booked with the respective airlines, whilst my domestic Chinese flights were booked online through CTrip. My round-trip bookings for Beijing-Xi’an and Beijing-Shanghai were made from Australia with my Australian credit card and this presented no issues. I made a further booking with my Australian credit card when in China for Beijing-Harbin round-trip. However, just prior to taking my Xi’an flights, I wanted to add passengers to the booking, however was told I would be unable to lest I email them my passport, photocopy of the front and back of my credit card and an authorisation form. There was no way that was going to happen, so they cancelled my tickets and the following day I went to their office to be told I needn’t have gone to the office after all and it was an error being told what I had been. So I made the booking again (at a higher price – and using a different Australian card because it wouldn’t accept my normal one) and was given a paper ticket. How retro! Then they proceeded to be good until I needed to change my Shanghai round-trip for personal reasons to a week later. They happily refunded me the Shanghai-Beijing leg (minus tax) from China Eastern to my Australian card. However, they needed a Chinese card to refund the Beijing-Shanghai money to, as despite my flight being on Hainan Airlines, the money needed to be refunded by Air China (more on that later). That was solved relatively easily with a Chinese friend helping me out. So in general, yes, use CTrip and you will have few issues, unless you are making lots of bookings like me when, well, one or two are bound to occur.
SYD-PEK CA174 24/11/12
A330-200 B-6073
STD/ATD 21:00/21:27
STA/ATA 05:50/05:22
Seat 47A
Load: 100%
Sorry, but no pics from this flight. First thing I noticed after I got on was that legroom was a tad…tight. Fun times for 11 hours. Flight left SYD on time and the crew quickly rolled out what could best be described as a mediocre dinner – I still don’t know what I had as the crew didn’t know how to say what it was in English. So let’s call it mystery meat with rice. The crew then did a lap of the aisle yelling out what I later found out to mean ‘who wants seconds?’ which was a rather novel concept for the boy used to Singapore Airlines’ menus and gentle pattering down the aisle for those who want more to eat. For the duration of the flight, my entertainment system didn’t work, and this issue was met by the crew with a shrug of the shoulders in some form of indifference (or maybe they didn’t know what I was saying in my Chinglish?). When going to the galley to find a pen to fill out my immigration form, the crew member I met said they didn’t have pens but sat me down, got me a hot glass of water (what is it with the Chinese and hot water?) and filled it out for me, before engaging in what must have been an hours conversation on what to see and do in Beijing and what apps I should download to communicate with locals when I get there. She really was very friendly and completely turned my otherwise poor opinion of Air China into a slightly better one. Arrived into PEK half an hour early to temperatures of -3, with a quick run through immigration and baggage collection.
PEK-HRB CZ6657 2/12/12
A320-200 B-6766
STD/ATD 07:25/07:15
STA/ATA 09:20/08:58
Seat 46J (middle)
Load: 98% (one or two free seats)
Booked this flight two days before travel through CTrip. Wasn’t sure what to expect but got to the airport nice and early and check-in was a breeze. Was quite interesting seeing the amount that some people wanted to check-in for a simple domestic flight – especially boxes of electricals and home wares. Got boarding pass and quickly got through the ID check, security and pat down. Boarded on-time onto the rather new A320 (still had a new smell) and the crew were all smiles in getting everyone on board. All announcements were in English and Mandarin. Then they rolled out the food, and as someone used to receiving at most a half-eaten apple and cup of tea on a SYD-MEL flight, they gave me so much! And then they came through to ask if I wanted seconds – so I humbly obliged. Then, as an interesting point, the crew came to my travelling companions and me to specifically ask if we were enjoying our flight and anything we believed that they as a crew or as an airline could do to improve the flight for us. I don’t think I’ve ever had this on an airline – particularly in Y class! I later went back to ask for a pen so I could write something down (partially hoping for a freebie a la SQ) and was given a China Eastern pen to borrow by the cabin crew – interesting. They then got us all strapped in for landing and we got in twenty minutes EARLY and it was a glorious “minus 14 degrees below zero” when we landed.
HRB-PEK CA1622 2/12/12
737-700 B-5043
STD/ATD 21:00/21:00
STA/ATA 23:10/23:10
Seat 21C (aisle)
Load: 100%
Having had a marvelous day in Harbin (it really is somewhere everyone should add onto their China itinerary – ice festival or not – with the Japanese germ warfare centre, Siberian Tiger Park and centre of town all well-worth seeing), it was time to head back to Beijing. Following the brilliant flight of that morning, I was part wishing I could return on the similarly timed CZ flight, but alas, not to be. After consuming some of the local produce in the form of a Harbin Beer at the gate, it was time to board (with the boarding announced in a manner similar to a Rex flight out of some regional centres with the airline representative yelling out “Boarding!” at the top of his lungs in Mandarin and English. Charming. The well-aged 737-700 served us well with the crew providing pillows and blankets for the short hop. Legroom was a bit on the tight side. Left on time and as soon as we were at cruise, the crew did a round of drinks and then handed out some kind of burger. Whilst it was nothing to write home about in appearance, it tasted quite nice, and having missed their call for seconds, I went to the back galley to be given a giant smile and an additional THREE burgers! Very happy chappy. Landed on time.
PEK-XIY HU7137 9/12/12
737-800 B-5623
STD/ATD 07:45/07:35
STA/ATA 09:45/09:25
Seat 29D (aisle)
Load: 100%
Was looking forward to this flight as I’d heard good things about Hainan Airlines. Strolling into the airline’s dedicated terminal (T1), checkin was easy as we queued up and received our boarding passes within 10 minutes of stepping out of the taxi (although something to note is that one must line up for every counter individually, unlike most airports in Australia where one line is for multiple counters – something repeated across all airports I experienced). Security was quick, and I even had the ID check lady say “Australia! Koala!” to me when stamping my boarding pass. Very pleasant terminal in general. Boarded on time onto a BSI aircraft (I almost wet myself when I saw the peach-hued lights from the jet bridge as I excitedly told my travel companions what we were boarding). Legroom very generous. Breakfast was rolled out in the form of congee, as well as a snack box, and multiple drinks services were conducted. Crew was very friendly, though English was limited (that was OK with me – more opportunity to practice my Mandarin!). Landed 20 minutes early.
XIY-PEK MU2119 9/12/12
A321-200 B-6329
STD/ATD 21:05/21:05
STA/ATA 23:05/22:38
Seat 44K (middle)
Load: 100%
Xi’an as a city is not somewhere I would rush back to. Sure, it had the Terracotta Warriors and they were definitely a must-see. However, other than this wonder, there was nothing else that really grabbed me about the city, from its pickpockets to its grime, its poor signage to monotonous architecture and rude locals. Give me Harbin any day of the week, but Xi’an – you can keep it. Xi’an’s relatively new Terminal 3 was very pleasant and offered all sorts of shops to not in any way tempt the average university student. Wasn’t expecting much out of China Eastern, although we did leave on time and legroom wasn’t too bad at all on this older – or perhaps poorly-up kept – aircraft (better than Air China, but not as good as Hainan Airlines or China Southern). Was expecting a meal service as I’d been given on all other flights – but was told by my the gentleman next to me that this wasn’t to be and we would only be served non-alcoholic drinks…many, many times (I counted at least 5 trips down the aisle in the 75 minutes of cruise). The lovely gentleman could then see that I was struggling through some Chinese grammar exercises and so proceeded to, for over an hour, help explain to me (in broken English and Mandarin) different aspects of grammar and then tested me on it at various stages. To this day, those grammar points are the firmest in my mind and I couldn’t thank the man enough. Flight landed way ahead of schedule.
PEK-SHA HU7607 22/12/12
A330-300 B-6529
STD/ATD 07:50/08:00
STA/ATA 09:55/10:02
Seat 11A (window)
Load: 98%
Got to the airport about 40 minutes ahead of departure and so checked in quickly (done easily enough with HU in Terminal 1 as I found out the week prior), got through security and heard the final boarding call for my flight. I hadn’t previously seen the gate I was boarding at and was feeling incredibly lost when I saw a sign for it pointing downstairs – boarding via a bus! Was incredibly excited about this – until I saw how fogged up the windows were, meaning no photos for me
On the plus side, the bus trip did take about 15 minutes to get to the plane crossing multiple runways and passing all kinds of aircraft – I think this plane was parked as far away as possible from the terminal! Got on the rather new feeling A330-300 to a bit more mood lighting (HU really loves their mood lighting!). Heaps of legroom and a giant screen greeted me, and, as an observation, a majority of the people getting on were what could best be classified as ‘hipster’ – perhaps HU is the VX of China? Left a bit late and once up in the air offered multiple options for breakfast, with the crew speaking fluent English and (naturally) Mandarin. Entertainment options were very good for the ~2 hour flight down to Shanghai, and would be good for any international flight on the airline. Flight landed slightly behind schedule.
SHA-PEK CA1856 22/12/12
737-800 B-2649
STD/ATD 21:00/21:05
STA/ATA 23:25/23:14
Seat 18L (window)
Load: 100%
Misjudged how long it would take me to get back to the airport (on the subway it takes ~20 minutes from East Nanjing Rd) so got there early enough to get an earlier flight. Asked the rep at checkin to be told I’d probably be allowed to for no charge if I went to another counter but asked if he could check on his computer whether he thought I’d be eligible for a free change. After tapping away he had a shocked look on his face before telling me that I’d only paid airport taxes and surcharges – no actual fare in my booking so there was no way I could move to an earlier flight. No issues, it was only half an hour difference. Boarded on-time and, yet again, found the legroom to be a bit on the tight-side. Pillows and blankets were handed out and we left slightly behind schedule. Up in the air, we were provided drinks and a salmon mornay sandwich. Lights were dimmed for a majority of the flight allowing a good opportunity to sleep and occasionally see the lights of a Chinese city below. Landed ahead of schedule at a remote stand and getting onto the bus to get to the terminal the winds were brutal – never have I been so cold! Thankfully, taxi queues were very short meaning a quick return to uni.
PEK-SIN SQ807 23/12/12
777-300ER 9V-SWD
STD/ATD 16:40/16:45
STA/ATA 23:20/23:27
Seat 36H (aisle)
Load: 80%
The day after getting back from Shanghai, it was time to head home. Check-in was reasonably quick and thankfully the check-in agent didn’t pay too much attention to baggage limits (mine was well over the permitted 23kg). Once through security, PEK T3 is relatively uninspiring in terms of places to eat, although thumbs up for the lack of duty free maze. Started boarding on time. Interiors were new (entertainment system etc.) and cabin crew friendly, helping pax store bags etc. Was initially allocated a window seat, yet was asked by the Singaporean couple in the middle and aisle if they could have the window in exchange for the aisle as the wife wasn’t feeling well. No issues there! Was waved off from Beijing by a little man (as I’ve heard is characteristic in Japan). Shortly after takeoff was served dinner and I chose western option of beef in a mustard sauce. Quite tasty. However, this was all that was offered for the duration of the 6-hour flight – not quite enough in my mind, even if they were to offer a refreshment prior to arrival in Singapore. Crew, as is to be expected with SQ, were very friendly throughout and up for a chat when I went to the galley for some water (they later stopped by with a large bag of goodies for me – postcards, pens and playing cards). Flight landed slightly behind schedule and there was an airline rep waiting at the gate for passengers connecting onto my flight alerting us of our gate and the need to hurry to it.
SIN-SYD SQ231 24/12/12
A380-800 9V-SKQ
STD/ATD 00:45/00:45
STA/ATA 11:50/11:40
Seat 47H (aisle)
Load: 75%
Boarded on time and handed my duty-free order to the purser upon boarding (who doesn’t want a SQ A380 of their own?) and they flight was reasonably empty. I got a whole row to myself! Crew were again very friendly and we left bang on time. Refreshment served just after takeoff in the form of a ham and cheese croissant which was very tasty. Later in the flight, went to chat with the crew about different aspects of the airline, where they were next travelling and the like – very interesting conversation. Shortly after, one of them came past with a small plate with some slice one of the crew members had made, as well as some business class chocolates. A bit later on, another crew member came past with a bag of goodies (again, playing cards, pens and postcards) as well as the model plane (handed to me with a “Merry Christmas from Singapore Airlines”). This crew really were something. Breakfast was served as we were crossing into New South Wales and we landed into SYD about 10 minutes early. Customs was brisk, my bag off quickly and no quarantine checks seeing me on the curbside before midday!
CONCLUSION
Air China: In general, Air China weren’t too bad. I’d be in no rush to use them again for a long-haul flight, however for domestic services they provided necessary services, and I’m lead to believe are the only airline to provide refreshments outside meal periods. 6/10
China Southern: Very friendly crews and the personal touch of asking if there was anything we needed and our feedback earned them brownie points, as did the early HRB arrival. New aircraft and copious amounts of food also did them well. 7.5/10
Hainan Airlines: This airline is brilliant and I look forward to them one day returning to SYD. From the new aircraft to the ontime performance to the friendly crews to the amazing amounts of food…this airline really does deserve its 5-star rating from Skytrax and I wouldn’t hesitate to pay just a little bit more to use them again. 9.5/10
China Eastern: Ok, so this airline isn’t as great as the rest of them. It got me into PEK early and gave me drinks – but where was the friendliness? The cleanliness? The food? 5/10
Singapore Airlines: It’s Singapore Airlines – need I say any more? 10/10
Any questions feel free to ask, and of course feedback is welcome!
Note: Sorry - but it keeps telling me that the files are too large to upload...despite being a young'un, I'm a bit unsure as to how to decrease the size...so my descriptions may have to suffice for lack of images. Sincerest apologies.
BOOKING
My flights Sydney to/from Beijing were booked with the respective airlines, whilst my domestic Chinese flights were booked online through CTrip. My round-trip bookings for Beijing-Xi’an and Beijing-Shanghai were made from Australia with my Australian credit card and this presented no issues. I made a further booking with my Australian credit card when in China for Beijing-Harbin round-trip. However, just prior to taking my Xi’an flights, I wanted to add passengers to the booking, however was told I would be unable to lest I email them my passport, photocopy of the front and back of my credit card and an authorisation form. There was no way that was going to happen, so they cancelled my tickets and the following day I went to their office to be told I needn’t have gone to the office after all and it was an error being told what I had been. So I made the booking again (at a higher price – and using a different Australian card because it wouldn’t accept my normal one) and was given a paper ticket. How retro! Then they proceeded to be good until I needed to change my Shanghai round-trip for personal reasons to a week later. They happily refunded me the Shanghai-Beijing leg (minus tax) from China Eastern to my Australian card. However, they needed a Chinese card to refund the Beijing-Shanghai money to, as despite my flight being on Hainan Airlines, the money needed to be refunded by Air China (more on that later). That was solved relatively easily with a Chinese friend helping me out. So in general, yes, use CTrip and you will have few issues, unless you are making lots of bookings like me when, well, one or two are bound to occur.
SYD-PEK CA174 24/11/12
A330-200 B-6073
STD/ATD 21:00/21:27
STA/ATA 05:50/05:22
Seat 47A
Load: 100%
Sorry, but no pics from this flight. First thing I noticed after I got on was that legroom was a tad…tight. Fun times for 11 hours. Flight left SYD on time and the crew quickly rolled out what could best be described as a mediocre dinner – I still don’t know what I had as the crew didn’t know how to say what it was in English. So let’s call it mystery meat with rice. The crew then did a lap of the aisle yelling out what I later found out to mean ‘who wants seconds?’ which was a rather novel concept for the boy used to Singapore Airlines’ menus and gentle pattering down the aisle for those who want more to eat. For the duration of the flight, my entertainment system didn’t work, and this issue was met by the crew with a shrug of the shoulders in some form of indifference (or maybe they didn’t know what I was saying in my Chinglish?). When going to the galley to find a pen to fill out my immigration form, the crew member I met said they didn’t have pens but sat me down, got me a hot glass of water (what is it with the Chinese and hot water?) and filled it out for me, before engaging in what must have been an hours conversation on what to see and do in Beijing and what apps I should download to communicate with locals when I get there. She really was very friendly and completely turned my otherwise poor opinion of Air China into a slightly better one. Arrived into PEK half an hour early to temperatures of -3, with a quick run through immigration and baggage collection.
PEK-HRB CZ6657 2/12/12
A320-200 B-6766
STD/ATD 07:25/07:15
STA/ATA 09:20/08:58
Seat 46J (middle)
Load: 98% (one or two free seats)
Booked this flight two days before travel through CTrip. Wasn’t sure what to expect but got to the airport nice and early and check-in was a breeze. Was quite interesting seeing the amount that some people wanted to check-in for a simple domestic flight – especially boxes of electricals and home wares. Got boarding pass and quickly got through the ID check, security and pat down. Boarded on-time onto the rather new A320 (still had a new smell) and the crew were all smiles in getting everyone on board. All announcements were in English and Mandarin. Then they rolled out the food, and as someone used to receiving at most a half-eaten apple and cup of tea on a SYD-MEL flight, they gave me so much! And then they came through to ask if I wanted seconds – so I humbly obliged. Then, as an interesting point, the crew came to my travelling companions and me to specifically ask if we were enjoying our flight and anything we believed that they as a crew or as an airline could do to improve the flight for us. I don’t think I’ve ever had this on an airline – particularly in Y class! I later went back to ask for a pen so I could write something down (partially hoping for a freebie a la SQ) and was given a China Eastern pen to borrow by the cabin crew – interesting. They then got us all strapped in for landing and we got in twenty minutes EARLY and it was a glorious “minus 14 degrees below zero” when we landed.
HRB-PEK CA1622 2/12/12
737-700 B-5043
STD/ATD 21:00/21:00
STA/ATA 23:10/23:10
Seat 21C (aisle)
Load: 100%
Having had a marvelous day in Harbin (it really is somewhere everyone should add onto their China itinerary – ice festival or not – with the Japanese germ warfare centre, Siberian Tiger Park and centre of town all well-worth seeing), it was time to head back to Beijing. Following the brilliant flight of that morning, I was part wishing I could return on the similarly timed CZ flight, but alas, not to be. After consuming some of the local produce in the form of a Harbin Beer at the gate, it was time to board (with the boarding announced in a manner similar to a Rex flight out of some regional centres with the airline representative yelling out “Boarding!” at the top of his lungs in Mandarin and English. Charming. The well-aged 737-700 served us well with the crew providing pillows and blankets for the short hop. Legroom was a bit on the tight side. Left on time and as soon as we were at cruise, the crew did a round of drinks and then handed out some kind of burger. Whilst it was nothing to write home about in appearance, it tasted quite nice, and having missed their call for seconds, I went to the back galley to be given a giant smile and an additional THREE burgers! Very happy chappy. Landed on time.
PEK-XIY HU7137 9/12/12
737-800 B-5623
STD/ATD 07:45/07:35
STA/ATA 09:45/09:25
Seat 29D (aisle)
Load: 100%
Was looking forward to this flight as I’d heard good things about Hainan Airlines. Strolling into the airline’s dedicated terminal (T1), checkin was easy as we queued up and received our boarding passes within 10 minutes of stepping out of the taxi (although something to note is that one must line up for every counter individually, unlike most airports in Australia where one line is for multiple counters – something repeated across all airports I experienced). Security was quick, and I even had the ID check lady say “Australia! Koala!” to me when stamping my boarding pass. Very pleasant terminal in general. Boarded on time onto a BSI aircraft (I almost wet myself when I saw the peach-hued lights from the jet bridge as I excitedly told my travel companions what we were boarding). Legroom very generous. Breakfast was rolled out in the form of congee, as well as a snack box, and multiple drinks services were conducted. Crew was very friendly, though English was limited (that was OK with me – more opportunity to practice my Mandarin!). Landed 20 minutes early.
XIY-PEK MU2119 9/12/12
A321-200 B-6329
STD/ATD 21:05/21:05
STA/ATA 23:05/22:38
Seat 44K (middle)
Load: 100%
Xi’an as a city is not somewhere I would rush back to. Sure, it had the Terracotta Warriors and they were definitely a must-see. However, other than this wonder, there was nothing else that really grabbed me about the city, from its pickpockets to its grime, its poor signage to monotonous architecture and rude locals. Give me Harbin any day of the week, but Xi’an – you can keep it. Xi’an’s relatively new Terminal 3 was very pleasant and offered all sorts of shops to not in any way tempt the average university student. Wasn’t expecting much out of China Eastern, although we did leave on time and legroom wasn’t too bad at all on this older – or perhaps poorly-up kept – aircraft (better than Air China, but not as good as Hainan Airlines or China Southern). Was expecting a meal service as I’d been given on all other flights – but was told by my the gentleman next to me that this wasn’t to be and we would only be served non-alcoholic drinks…many, many times (I counted at least 5 trips down the aisle in the 75 minutes of cruise). The lovely gentleman could then see that I was struggling through some Chinese grammar exercises and so proceeded to, for over an hour, help explain to me (in broken English and Mandarin) different aspects of grammar and then tested me on it at various stages. To this day, those grammar points are the firmest in my mind and I couldn’t thank the man enough. Flight landed way ahead of schedule.
PEK-SHA HU7607 22/12/12
A330-300 B-6529
STD/ATD 07:50/08:00
STA/ATA 09:55/10:02
Seat 11A (window)
Load: 98%
Got to the airport about 40 minutes ahead of departure and so checked in quickly (done easily enough with HU in Terminal 1 as I found out the week prior), got through security and heard the final boarding call for my flight. I hadn’t previously seen the gate I was boarding at and was feeling incredibly lost when I saw a sign for it pointing downstairs – boarding via a bus! Was incredibly excited about this – until I saw how fogged up the windows were, meaning no photos for me
On the plus side, the bus trip did take about 15 minutes to get to the plane crossing multiple runways and passing all kinds of aircraft – I think this plane was parked as far away as possible from the terminal! Got on the rather new feeling A330-300 to a bit more mood lighting (HU really loves their mood lighting!). Heaps of legroom and a giant screen greeted me, and, as an observation, a majority of the people getting on were what could best be classified as ‘hipster’ – perhaps HU is the VX of China? Left a bit late and once up in the air offered multiple options for breakfast, with the crew speaking fluent English and (naturally) Mandarin. Entertainment options were very good for the ~2 hour flight down to Shanghai, and would be good for any international flight on the airline. Flight landed slightly behind schedule.SHA-PEK CA1856 22/12/12
737-800 B-2649
STD/ATD 21:00/21:05
STA/ATA 23:25/23:14
Seat 18L (window)
Load: 100%
Misjudged how long it would take me to get back to the airport (on the subway it takes ~20 minutes from East Nanjing Rd) so got there early enough to get an earlier flight. Asked the rep at checkin to be told I’d probably be allowed to for no charge if I went to another counter but asked if he could check on his computer whether he thought I’d be eligible for a free change. After tapping away he had a shocked look on his face before telling me that I’d only paid airport taxes and surcharges – no actual fare in my booking so there was no way I could move to an earlier flight. No issues, it was only half an hour difference. Boarded on-time and, yet again, found the legroom to be a bit on the tight-side. Pillows and blankets were handed out and we left slightly behind schedule. Up in the air, we were provided drinks and a salmon mornay sandwich. Lights were dimmed for a majority of the flight allowing a good opportunity to sleep and occasionally see the lights of a Chinese city below. Landed ahead of schedule at a remote stand and getting onto the bus to get to the terminal the winds were brutal – never have I been so cold! Thankfully, taxi queues were very short meaning a quick return to uni.
PEK-SIN SQ807 23/12/12
777-300ER 9V-SWD
STD/ATD 16:40/16:45
STA/ATA 23:20/23:27
Seat 36H (aisle)
Load: 80%
The day after getting back from Shanghai, it was time to head home. Check-in was reasonably quick and thankfully the check-in agent didn’t pay too much attention to baggage limits (mine was well over the permitted 23kg). Once through security, PEK T3 is relatively uninspiring in terms of places to eat, although thumbs up for the lack of duty free maze. Started boarding on time. Interiors were new (entertainment system etc.) and cabin crew friendly, helping pax store bags etc. Was initially allocated a window seat, yet was asked by the Singaporean couple in the middle and aisle if they could have the window in exchange for the aisle as the wife wasn’t feeling well. No issues there! Was waved off from Beijing by a little man (as I’ve heard is characteristic in Japan). Shortly after takeoff was served dinner and I chose western option of beef in a mustard sauce. Quite tasty. However, this was all that was offered for the duration of the 6-hour flight – not quite enough in my mind, even if they were to offer a refreshment prior to arrival in Singapore. Crew, as is to be expected with SQ, were very friendly throughout and up for a chat when I went to the galley for some water (they later stopped by with a large bag of goodies for me – postcards, pens and playing cards). Flight landed slightly behind schedule and there was an airline rep waiting at the gate for passengers connecting onto my flight alerting us of our gate and the need to hurry to it.
SIN-SYD SQ231 24/12/12
A380-800 9V-SKQ
STD/ATD 00:45/00:45
STA/ATA 11:50/11:40
Seat 47H (aisle)
Load: 75%
Boarded on time and handed my duty-free order to the purser upon boarding (who doesn’t want a SQ A380 of their own?) and they flight was reasonably empty. I got a whole row to myself! Crew were again very friendly and we left bang on time. Refreshment served just after takeoff in the form of a ham and cheese croissant which was very tasty. Later in the flight, went to chat with the crew about different aspects of the airline, where they were next travelling and the like – very interesting conversation. Shortly after, one of them came past with a small plate with some slice one of the crew members had made, as well as some business class chocolates. A bit later on, another crew member came past with a bag of goodies (again, playing cards, pens and postcards) as well as the model plane (handed to me with a “Merry Christmas from Singapore Airlines”). This crew really were something. Breakfast was served as we were crossing into New South Wales and we landed into SYD about 10 minutes early. Customs was brisk, my bag off quickly and no quarantine checks seeing me on the curbside before midday!
CONCLUSION
Air China: In general, Air China weren’t too bad. I’d be in no rush to use them again for a long-haul flight, however for domestic services they provided necessary services, and I’m lead to believe are the only airline to provide refreshments outside meal periods. 6/10
China Southern: Very friendly crews and the personal touch of asking if there was anything we needed and our feedback earned them brownie points, as did the early HRB arrival. New aircraft and copious amounts of food also did them well. 7.5/10
Hainan Airlines: This airline is brilliant and I look forward to them one day returning to SYD. From the new aircraft to the ontime performance to the friendly crews to the amazing amounts of food…this airline really does deserve its 5-star rating from Skytrax and I wouldn’t hesitate to pay just a little bit more to use them again. 9.5/10
China Eastern: Ok, so this airline isn’t as great as the rest of them. It got me into PEK early and gave me drinks – but where was the friendliness? The cleanliness? The food? 5/10
Singapore Airlines: It’s Singapore Airlines – need I say any more? 10/10
Any questions feel free to ask, and of course feedback is welcome!
