Hello everyone The 24th July my parents celebrated 20 years of marriage and they decided to make a family trip for this special occasion About 2 months before leaving we started to evaluate all the possibilites and in a week we made a sort of round-the-world journey: USA, Caribbean, Fjords' cruise and so on… After all this we finally decide the destination: CHINA We booked an organized group tour with one of the best Italian tour operator with departure date 12nd August. The tour comprised 4 cities: Beijing, Xi'An, Guilin and Shanghai for a total of 12 days Personally I was very happy because of the many different airlines and planes we would have tried. And obviously also because I've never been to China and it had always fascinated me. Here is the itinerary:
After spending 2 days in Guilin, enjoying its natural heritage, it's time to leave to Shanghai, IMO the most thrilling part of the travel. We were driven to the airport in late morning Differently from Xi'An there was no baggage control at the terminal entrance The check-in hall looked like a big and dark warehouse Moreover the A/C seemed to be insufficient for a so big hall and it was a bit hot inside The local guide left us in front of Group Check-in desk and in about 10 minutes we obtained our BPs My boarding pass The flight would be operated by Suparna Airlines (IATA: Y8, ICAO: YZR), partially owned by Hainan Airlines The queue for the security checkpoint was huge, about 30 minutes waiting according to the check-in lady Our flight reported to be on time 38 minutes after check-in we were airside The document control was really slow because the agent checked Western names letter by letter and the control itself was meticolous as always The boarding had already started, but fortunately the airport was very small Our gate The plane for today's flight: B-1577, delivered in August 2016 (1,1 years old) and previously belonged to GOL Transportes Aéreos and Aircastle Going down the jetway Nice nose! Air Changan Boeing 737
THE FLIGHT
Fuselage shot Even this Boeing 737 is equipped with SkyInterior My seat was in the 3rd last row The pitch was right for a 2 hours flight The view from my seat China Souther Boeing 737 pulling into the gate Cabin during boarding with blue mood-lighting Winglet with Hainan Airlines logo Guilin Since we were among the last to board the pushback started immediately after we took our seats Shandong Airlines Goodbye Guilin China Eastenrn Boeing 737 Taxiing to the unique RWY at Guilin
And off we go! Fortunately the weather wasn't cloudy as previous days and we were able to see wonderful landscapes around Guilin This was also because Guilin is definitely smaller than Beijing or Xi'An so there's less pollution
About 35 minutes into the flight lunch service started Mood-lighting passed from blue to orange There was a choice between two meals
Chicken with noodle or beef with rice
I chose chicken and it was really tasty Definitely a good lunch to be on a plane Being close to Shanghai we started flying over a white layer of clouds After lunch the crew passed with duty free cart and I bought a nice Boeing 787-9 model in Suparna Airlines livery Maybe I'm the only one in Italy to have it XD Very nice box too About 30 minutes before scheduled landing "strange things" started to happen We began the descent but about 5 minutes after the plane rose again After flying a little bit more it started again to descent Amazing coastal landscapes
Landing announcement was done in Chinese and in a very poor English and the only understandable words were "Landing" and "Shanghai" The plane continued his descent over swamp areas
And than the city suburbs The smog and humidity level is perceivable Condos Factories and warehouses Last moments on air And finally welcome to….HANGZHOU!
STOPOVER IN HANGZHOU
My big passion for aviation also includes a big fashion for airports and their architecture While we left the runway I immediately saw the Terminal and I didn't recognize it I had clear in my mind the images of Pudong Airport Terminal 1 and 2 and seeing another terminal was quite strange We were parked on a remote area quite far from the Terminal but full of other planes Our guide came and told us that due to bad weather in Shanghai our flight was diverted to Hangzhou (IATA: HGH , ICAO: ZSHC) It wasn't still unclear if we would have wait there or be desembarked to be transferred to Shanghai by bus or train She also told us that this was said during the announcement but it wasn't so clear in English What really impressed me was the total absence of reaction from Chinese people. Maybe if something like this happens in Italy or Europe in general people will start to loudly complain.
But now it's time to continue the report… The international terminal KLM 787 parked at the terminal All Nippon Airways 767 and Asiana 777 China United Airlines 737 landing behind us LuckyAir 737 (it's just an impression or the tail looks like British Airways' one?) Air China A321 at the remotes SF Airlines 757F at the apron where we were parked too Shanghai Airlines A330 The view from our parking area The only announcements made by crew reminded us to relax and not to smoke on the plane Actually really useful Most of the people stood and walked around the plane and the crew distributed some drinks I spend most of the time chatting with my group mates and playing Sudoku About 1 hour and half after a Malaysia Airlines A330 parked next to us Really amazing plane and livery
About 3 hours after landing in HGH some planes parked in the nearby started to move to the RWY…a good sign The guide, translating us from Chinese announcement, told us that PVG was opened again and we would have departed soon Shanghai Airlines A330 pushing back and leaving Loong Air A320, a really nice livery Meanwhile Shanghai Airlines A330 took off After 2 hours and 50 minutes we left our stand XiamenAir 737 in SkyTeam livery Taxiing to the RWY China Southern A321 The apron where we waited SF Airlines 757Fs, China United Airlines 737, Spring Airlines A320 and Malaysia Airlines A330 Malaysia Airlines A330 Who would have imagined we would "visit" a fifth city (or his airport)
FLIGHT TO SHANGHAI
3 hours and 20 minutes after landing we took off again to Shanghai-PVG Hangzhou from air Enormous road interchange Outside the weather became more gloomy as we approach Shanghai
Costa Crociere's ship The flight lasted about 40 minutes I don't think we reached a high cruise altitude because we started to descent immediately after climb Shanghai Port Approaching Pudong area Racing with Turkish Airlines 777 landing from IST maybe Last moments in air Lined up to land on RWY 16L/34R Pudond Airport Terminal 2 Without any doubt now…Welcome to Shanghai Crossing RWY 16R/34L Delta Airlines 747-400 Cathay Dragon A320 We were parked on a remote stand in front of the new terminal under construction The cabin during desembark Fuselage shot Bye bye
SHANGHAI AIRPORT AND MAGLEV
The bus ride to the terminal took 27 minutes! We spent about half of this time in the middle of the apron waiting for who-know-what Unfortunately the windows were steamy and I wasn't able to take pics of beutiful aircrafts outside like a Qantas A330 passing close to us :/ Shanghai Pudong Terminal 2 is very big and has a very nice architecture Our baggages were already on the belt fortunately At the exit the local guide was waiting for us to take the bus We kindly asked her to meet directly at the hotel, located on Nanjing Road, because we wanted to experience the MagLev MagLev station is located between Terminal 1 and 2 The ticket costs ¥40 (instead of ¥50, if you show your BP) that is about 5 euros. I heard it was very expensive but because Subway ticket costs ¥4 Baggages were checked at the entrance Train model in the waiting hall Time to board the train Train rear before departing The train left at the precise moment shown on the timetable Rapidly we reached cruise speed of 300km/h Usually the speed is 420km/h but in the evening is a bit "slower" Inside the coach is larger than normal trains In 8 minutes we made the 30,5 km ride to Longyang Road station Front of the train The station has an interchange with Shanghai Subway Line 2 which brought us to the hotel The day after we changed a little bit the program to visit the city in less time I was very excited because Shanghai had always fascinated me TO BE CONTINUED…
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Verdict
Hainan Airlines
6.0/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew6.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering6.0
Guilin City - KWL
4.8/10
Efficiency3.0
Access6.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0
Shanghai - PVG
7.4/10
Efficiency7.0
Access9.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness8.5
Conclusion
This flight was unlucky from the beginning Fortunately the stopover in Hangzhou was not so long and the crew do their best to ensure passengers' comfort
5 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
Thanks for this FR. I really love this livery, although I don't know if it belongs to HK Airlines, Hainan Airlines or Yangtze River. What a shame to have crews that don't speak enough english to be understood in your case it wasn't a serious situation but in an emergency...
Thank you so much for the appreciation The livery belong to Yangzte River that now is called Suparna You are right about English but I see that the situation is the same in all China :/
Suparna is part of Hainan Airlines, and yes you need a good amount of Mandarin to understand the crewmates. We did have a good delay twice flying into PVG from NNG, due to congestion weather, or whatever reason, and so my family tries to avoid that city.
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5 Comments
I really love this livery, although I don't know if it belongs to HK Airlines, Hainan Airlines or Yangtze River.
What a shame to have crews that don't speak enough english to be understood in your case it wasn't a serious situation but in an emergency...
The livery belong to Yangzte River that now is called Suparna
You are right about English but I see that the situation is the same in all China :/
Small typo: the metro ticket from PVG to Nanjing Road is RMB7
You save RMB37 while wasting 37 more minutes
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