As I prepared for another business trip in Asia, I stumbled upon a small number of photos from a flight I took earlier this year in September. So here is a short overview of Shenzhen Airlines during an internal flight in China.
My trip starts in Dongguan, an industrial town located midway between Hong Kong and Canton in Southern China. The evening before the flight, my Chinese friend who had been in charge of organizing the trip received an SMS from the airline. It forewarned us that our next day's flight to Xian would be delayed by an hour. So business as usual as regards internal flights in China, I can't remember ever taking a flight with an on time departure and arrival.
The morning of our flight, a cheap and convenient airport bus takes us from Dongguan city center to a very modern Shenzhen Airport. The ride takes a little over an our and a bit.
The check-in hall is extremely impressive. We head to the joint Shenzhen Airlines/China Airlines counters to drop our bags. With no queue at check-in and security we are make our way through to the Shenzhen Airline lounge courtesy of my Star Alliance gold card. By this time, the flight delay announced the evening before is extended by another hour.
At the lounge we are provided with a beeper system that will ring once the flight is ready for boarding. Very convenient and saves the hassle of checking the boards for the latest information on the boarding time for the flight.
The path to the spacious lounge looks a bit like this:
After many hours in the lounge where I ate in the restaurant, had coffee in the coffee area, used the massage chairs, the toilets, watched TV and surfed the web, boarding for the flight was finally called.
The display screen by the boarding gate has not been updated with the new departure time, I doubt it bothers many passengers. Everyone is eager to board. Boarding process was very quick, you could be mistaken you were boarding a flight in Japan.
The jetties are sponsored by Ping An bank which is headquartered in Shenzhen. Once on board there is a small business class, with very colorful and seemingly comfortable seats. The flight is full!!
Seat pitch is nothing to complain about. I fell asleep rather quickly after takeoff, and woke up briefly for the light food service. Here again nothing out of this world.
I am finally woken up by the wheels hitting the runway in a very rainy Xian.
Quite disappointingly, the aircraft does not make its way to the terminal, but rather to a remote parking stand. Thankfully I had rainwear within reach in my carry-on.
One last shot of the aircraft before sheltering from the rain in the airport passenger bus. Even in the rain Xian is a great place to visit for those interested in Chinese history and culture, I highly recommend it.
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Verdict
Shenzhen Airlines
6.0/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew7.5
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering4.0
Shenzhen - SZX
7.1/10
Efficiency7.5
Access5.0
Services8.5
Cleanliness7.5
Xi'an - XIY
7.1/10
Efficiency7.5
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0
Conclusion
Aside from the flight delay, which was very well managed in the sense that the airline kept us well informed, this was an overall very pleasant flight. Nothing special or extraordinary but I would definitely fly with Shenzhen Airlines again.
Ground service in Shenzhen is very good, there is a special business class check-in lounge, and the airport lounge post security is really excellent. Service on board was good, people asking for more than one drink were served and the crew's English was much better than what I have experienced on other intra China flights.
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Welcome and thank you for sharing your experience on this regional airline.
This is the first time that I have seen an airline provide a beeper for flight announcement, although I have seen other lounges use the beeper system when waiting for showers.
I am not surprised by the English level from the staff of this carrier. Shenzhen is next to HKG after all.
Hi there. Thanks for sharing this first report with us! very interesting and exotic route on an exotic carrier (for Westerners anyway). Shenzen Airlines seems pretty decent and the airport looks awesome, including the lounge. Glad to hear the crew's English was good. You often hear stories of the opposite on internal China flights. Looking forward to more reports!
The lounge is very decent, and the beeper is a distinct plus. Xi'an is indeed a premier tourist destination in China, so much so that Westerners do not realize that the Chinese view it as a second tier city. Thanks for this comprehensive report !
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This is the first time that I have seen an airline provide a beeper for flight announcement, although I have seen other lounges use the beeper system when waiting for showers.
I am not surprised by the English level from the staff of this carrier. Shenzhen is next to HKG after all.
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Xi'an is indeed a premier tourist destination in China, so much so that Westerners do not realize that the Chinese view it as a second tier city.
Thanks for this comprehensive report !
Interesting how so many airlines in China are actually a subsidiary of CA, MU or CZ but still operate under their own brand.
The snack onboard is a bit disapointing compared to what other airlines offer on shorter chinese flights.
The lounge looks quite good
The catering is disappointing
Looking for your next report
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