26 reviews
This series covers a trip to China for our first "post-COVID" TPAC expedition. Please refer back to Part 1 for the full background.
The flight was a continuation of the business aspect of this trip, which required me to be in Xi'an after Beijing. This is a major airline route due to the weaker train competition. Pretty much every airline serves this route so there was no shortage of options. I preferred the 12:00 CA flight, but my coworker preferred the 10:55 HU flight. I've never flown HU before and it was operated by a B787 so agreed to try an out of alliance carrier knowing status provides little benefit for Chinese domestic flights. The flight was booked about a week out for 1280 RMB (~$180). As always, the Y fare in China includes 20kg luggage, free seat selection, and a meal.
HU's English website is very bare bones, but did let me do the required booking activities. As always, the Chinese app and website are full service and if you can navigate your way through, you will have access to more substantial services. The plane looked empty, so I picked a random window seat on the A side to get views of Beijing and Xi'an assuming a northern takeoff from PEK and landing in XIY from the north.
This report will cover the domestic hop from Beijing to Xi'an. As a reminder, the routing for this series:
The night before the flight, I tried checking in on both the English and Chinese versions of the HU webpage and was met with the same error.
We arrived at 9:10 to PEK T2, which is the main base for HU now that T1 is closed. There was no traffic on a Sunday morning and it took only 25 minutes from our hotel in Chaoyang District.
All the main players use T2 for domestic operations.
We headed inside, where again there was an explosives check. All bags were swabbed as we entered a cordoned off area. I was the last one in, so it was only 30 seconds before the test came back and we released into the terminal.
We went towards HU’s check-in counters by aisle E. Some self check-in kiosks along the way, which we did not use since we wanted to pool our luggage.
The economy line was long, but an agent directed us towards a special assistance line that was reserved for those celebrating birthdays, amongst others. Since we booked through our company travel agent, they couldn’t find our reservation and had to re-ticket us. This meant I lost my pre-reserved seat, 42A, but was offered 46K as a window seat instead. It took ~15 minutes and then luggage was checked. For China domestic flights, each Y passenger is allowed 20kg of checked luggage regardless of baggage quantity. Since we were traveling together, my slight overage of 21.4kg was offset by a coworker traveling with less weight.
With boarding passes in hand, we headed over to the security line, which was fairly empty. I took off my belt this time and successfully avoided a handsy pat down. The FIDS reaching airside showing our flight as on time departing from Gate 46.
The dark shopping area of T2 as I make my way to the lounge.
I used HU’s Fortune Wings Lounge, which is covered by Priority Pass and is relevant to this report on HU. The agent greeted me in English and scanned me in.
The lounge is a long skinny seating area along the windows behind the shops. The lounge was pretty quiet and no issues finding an empty seating area.
There was a buffet area with several hot dishes, cold and hot beverages, and a refrigerator with desserts/sandwiches/yogurt.
I had eaten breakfast at the hotel so just took a coffee and water.
The seating areas, which had charging ports at the base of the light poles.
This lounge had nice views of the tarmac, but they had the curtains drawn, which obscured the views. KL B789 taxing out.
My boarding pass after security stamped it.
At 10:05, I left to walk to the gate.
A peek out on the tarmac shows some nice wide bodies in special liveries.
Our gate is confirmed as paxbus as we head down to tarmac level.
Hainan Airlines, HU7237
Equipment: Boeing B787-800 [B-2728, delivered October 2012]
Departure: 10:55 (ATD: 10:59)
Arrival: 13:20 (ATA: 12:47)
Flight time: 1:48
Reaching the gate, they already have it marked as “last call” even though my boarding pass indicated a 10:15 boarding time.
We sat on the bus for a long time since we were waiting for final passengers. At 10:25, we departed as the last bus.
3U A321.
HU A333 rotting away at T1.
The old T1, which is now closed. All domestic operations condensed into T2 with the opening of Daoxing.
We pull up next to a HU A333.
But the star of the show today is our HU B788. When the weather is nice, a paxbus gate can’t be beat.
We will be operated today by B-2728, a 10-year veteran of the HU fleet and their 2nd B787 received.
Boarding will be through L2, which gives some nice close ups of our enormous GEnxs.
Up the stairs we go.
So beautiful.
Fuselage shot.
Stepping in, a flight attendant greets me in English as I cut through the galley where the air marshal is standing. J was a 2-2-2 configuration on this B788 (pictures at end of report) unlike the reverse herringbone seats on their B789s in a 1-2-1. My seat for the flight, 46K, in the back of the rear Y cabin.
Settling in, the seat is quite spacious, not unexpected for a plane that was previously deployed on TPACs.
There are no entertainment boxes under the seat so plenty of storage space. As you probably already can tell, everything is red in this cabin with different patterns causing some eye soreness.
View of the cabin from my seat.
The IFE is a decent size, but not touch screen so requires the use of the antiquated remote to navigate. I’ll discuss content later.
Seat details with advertisement free antimacassars, a rarity in China. The headrests are fully adjustable.
Recline button and audio jack are both located in the arm rest.
There is an AC charging port below the seat (2 per 3 seats), but no USB connections.
Seat back contents are standard for a Chinese carrier: High Above magazine, safety card, and barf bag.
The in-flight magazine, High Above, had no fleet/route information, but at least provided a good challenge with a Chinese crossword puzzle.
The safety card on this HU B787.
As boarding concluded, an announcement offering cash upgrades to J was made. I didn’t inquire the price, but with an empty row of seats and a comfortable long-haul Y cabin, it didn’t seem a necessary change for a 1h45m flight.
The cabin door closed at 10:45. A picture of the cabin as the crew complete safety checks.
We pushed back at 10:46 as a 3U A321 taxied by. Our GEnxs whirled to life at 10:50 and we started our taxi.
The safety video was played on the monitors. It had a heavy western influence and some strange scenes of beach parties during the emergency evacuation.
The window dimmer shows some wear and tear on this 10-year old plane and there were quite a few stains on the seats.
A HU B789 follows us out.
We turn to align on Runway 36L.
Take off from PEK:
We lift up on a sunny, but hazy day that soon makes the ground disappear.
The IFE is fairly expansive, but obviously favors Eastern cinema. Unlike CA, there is no “WiFi” onboard. I didn’t watch anything, I only set the screen to the moving map (standard 3D Maps) and enjoyed the natural IFE through the window.
We were too far south so couldn’t see any parts of the Great Wall as we started our western trek from the modern capital to one of the many former capitals, Xi’an.
The cabin crew was released at 11:17. HU is gender equal for flight attendants, which is rare for an East Asian carrier. I think there were more male than female FAs on our flight. The air marshal walked around most of the flight, but said nothing of my photography. Headphones were offered from a basket by the FAs, I declined since I would just use the flight map on this short hop to Xi’an.
The terrain slowly turned to desert as we continued our route directly west out to Datong.
I quickly used the bathroom as the carts were getting ready for dispatch. They were your standard Dreamliner issue, but with little HU air fresheners.
A picture of the cabin as meal service starts up.
The tray table has a fold down cup holder and is bifold in design.
Meal service was done by carts and was from the rear forwards in my cabin. The male FA working my aisle spoke English well. The drink options were water, coffee, or tea. The meal option was chicken/rice or beef/noodle. I opted for a water and chicken/rice.
The hot dish revealed. It contained chicken and shiitake mushroom (as the label described the dish) on rice with a side of on choy and half a tea egg.
The snack box contained a roll, yogurt, chili paste, cutlery, and a packaged oshibori.
Domestic meals on Chinese carriers are still better than some long-haul offerings on western carriers.
Bamboo cutlery.
We flew at 8400m, right above the cloud level, which gave this bifurcated view above and below the smog.
Cloud coverage started as we turned to start our southern trek down to Xi'an.
The cabin was prepared for landing 45 minutes out so I rested my eyes as we slowly descended into XIY.
We looped around the city and approached XIY from the southwest.
Breaking through the rain clouds.
The brand new Baoneng Motor plant.
Landing in XIY:
We had a smooth landing on Runway 05L, but the pilots liked to tap the brakes which made our plane very jerky as we slowed to taxi.
A CZ A320 lifting up as we make the u-turn back to the terminal.
GS A320 landing behind us, a subsidiary of HU.
Welcome to Xi'an.
We pull in to our gate at T2 next to a CA A333 over 30 minutes ahead of schedule.
The ground crew prepares to raid our ship.
JD A320 leaving, also a subsidiary of HU.
FU B738 leaving.
I waited to the end and was the last to deplane. A picture of the rear Y cabin.
The full flat J product in 2-2-2 configuration.
The crew thanked me for flying as I headed out through L1. No HSBC here in XIY, it will be a local Shaanxi bank.
A last look at B-2728 before it returns to PEK.
It was a moderate walk down to the baggage claims.
Reaching our baggage claim, I noticed everyone was looking at something on the pillar.
Closer inspection shows a screen with a live video of the baggage handlers so you can watch them unload the bags to ensure they aren't mishandling them.
Needless to say, bags were already being offloaded by the time I got there and I was quickly on my way to meet our driver who walked us out to the parking lot between T2 and T3.
It is worth noting that the metro now reaches XIY and is the terminus of Line 14 that goes to Xi'an North Railway Station.
I'll leave off this series here as I begin my short 1-day stay in Xi'an for work. Thanks for stopping by!
Hainan Airlines is one of those carriers that has a contentious Skytrax 5* rating. It's hard to judge airlines based on domestic flights, but I found HU to offer one of the better domestic products in China with good all around performance across all metrics. I'll reserve judgement on their star rating until trying a long-haul flight.
PEK T2: Check-in and security were both well organized and reasonably efficient. The airport is quite dark through the shopping areas and could use a refresh, but there are large glass windows at the gates that allow for good spotting. As a domestic only terminal, there are very basic services available. The HU Lounge was clean and had decent catering (again, considering this is only for domestic departures).
Cabin/IFE: Wide body aircraft will always be more comfortable with their more generous seat pitch and in-seat IFE. Having an empty row to myself certainly helped as well. These older B788 cabins are showing their age after 10-years of service. There was no USB charging, but they did have AC outlets under the seats. The IFE is older and not touchscreen. The content was so-so, but I only used the moving map and should not be heavily penalized on a <2 hour flight.
Crew: English ability was good and were borderline friendly during service versus the typical robotic distribution of items.
Catering: Options for the hot meal and options for drinks (although only 3 options) is an improvement on what CA offered on the previous flight. The food was quite good. The only criticism is the snack box was on the light side and there was no dessert.
XIY T2: Clean and modern. The bags were off as soon as I got to the claim and they had the cool video of the baggage handlers working. The airport is connected to the metro now, but it is still a decent ride away from the city center.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 8 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Beijing (PEK) → Xi'an (XIY).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Hainan Airlines avec 8.0/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 1 minutes.
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2 Comments
Hainan have really had their ups and down lately. They and sister carrier Hong Kong airlines were already experiencing financial problems in the months leading up to the pandemic and Covid all but bankrupted the Hainan group. I believe the Chinese govt stepped in to save the Hainan group, previously China's largest private carrier. So I've been interested to see if they'd maintained a 5* level of service in the post-Covid era. Like you mention it's hard to judge on a domestic flight, especially since Chinese carriers have good service standards on short-haul in general.
Thanks for sharing!
Their whole ordeal was very reminiscent with OZ and Kumho. Under the new Fangda ownership, the HU service looks un-changed on domestic routes since there is a well-defined domestic product that is uniform across all carriers in China except maybe 9C. It's actually what is the best part of China domestic flights, regardless of carrier, you pretty much know what service you are going to get. Long-haul is probably a whole different situation and with AS joining OW, it will be interesting to see how the HU/AS relationship continues to influence their ability to pull passengers away from the major alliances on TPAC routes when they start to reappear.
Thanks for stopping by Kevin!
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