    Route: Shanghai Hongqiao Airport to Beijing Capital Airport Departure date and time of flight: 13:30pm in November 2012 Flight Number: FM9103 Flight duration: 2 hours 20 minutes Class: First Class Aircraft type: Boeing 757-200 Punctuality of the flight: The flight departed around 30 minutes late due to the late arrival of the in-coming flight. The majority of the flights coming in from Beijing are normally delayed because of the heavy traffic at Beijing Air Traffic. On the way to Beijing I took a photo of the sky over the city, and there were at least 15 jet stream contrails! I fondly recall that Geneva and London seem to have so many jet stream contrails. Any baggage issues: No issues- I only had hand luggage. On Shanghai Airlines, First Class passengers can carry up to 40kg of luggage. Comments on the check-in staff and any issues: I was originally scheduled to fly on China Eastern Airlines on their brand new Airbus A330 aircraft on this domestic route. However, 2 hours prior to the flight time I was informed by the airline that the flight had been cancelled because of some ‘technical’ issues. Therefore, I was reassigned to this Shanghai Airlines flight because China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines have a code-share agreement. Comments regarding the pre-meal service: Just drinks (non-alcoholic), and including tea and coffee. Comments regarding the first meal: For this two-hour flight, a light refreshment was offered in the First Class cabin. A tray containing hot dishes including: 1. Char shew crisp 2. Egg yolk in a white bun 3. Orange flavoured rice cake 4. Coffee flavoured rice cake 5. Passion fruit mousse cake 6. Platter of seasonal fruit Bread from the basket was offered as well. I took a soft bread bun. The above dishes were accompanied with tea or coffee. Comments regarding the drinks service: A second round of drinks were offered before (orange juice and water), during, and after the meal. In all there were a choice of 37 drinks in the First Class cabin. These included soft drinks, fruit juices, tea, coffee, wine, beer, and liquors. If that was not enough then try opting for a glass of fresh milk or herbal tea. Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any): None Comments regarding the second meal (if any): None Comments of professionalism of the cabin crew: The cabin crew seemed proud to work for Shanghai Airlines and were very welcoming. The passengers in First Class were kept well informed of any delays, and even the weather situation in Shanghai. Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort): The ageing Boeing 757 aircraft belonging to Shanghai Airlines had a seat configuration of 2-2 in First Class, and a configuration of 3-3 in Economy Class. The plane was not clean and the toilets showed signs of an aged plane- quite easily in fact as it had the old 1980s style toilet as opposed to the new toilet that most modern aircraft have. The cabin crew told me that in a few years the aging 757s will be replaced with Airbus A330 or even the Boeing 787; and the remaining 757s will be re-configured into cargo aircraft. Economy Class seats have a pitch of 32 inches, and a width of 18 inches (139 seats) First Class seats have a pitch of 38 inches, and a width of 21 inches (20 seats). Overall rating 1-10 (worst-best): 9                               Cleared for take-off! Ready for departure at Shanghai Hongqiao: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Shanghai Airlines  Shanghai Airlines, service with a smile!: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh Route: Shanghai Hongqiao Airport to Guangzhou Baiyun Airport Departure date and time of flight: 08:30am in July 2012 Flight Number: FM9309 Flight duration: 2 hours 20 minutes Class: First Class Aircraft type: Boeing 757-200 Punctuality of the flight: The flight departed around 20 minutes late due to the morning rush hour in Shanghai. We were behind a whole host of big jets such as an Air China 747, China Southern 777s, and even Hainan Airlines A330s. Rush hour at Hongqiao can be hectic. The flight route provided some fabulous views across to the horizon, and even had splendid views when coming into land at Guangzhou. Any baggage issues: No issues- I only had hand luggage. Comments on the check-in staff and any issues: No check in issues. Everything went perfectly smoothly at Hongqiao airport. Comments regarding the pre-meal service: Just drinks (non-alcoholic), and including tea and coffee. Comments regarding the first meal: For this two-hour flight, a choice of Chinese or Western breakfast was offered in the First Class cabin. I opted for the Western breakfast. A tray containing hot dishes including: 1. Oats porridge blended with corn cereal 2. A warm omelette, boiled carrots, a soggy piece of broccoli, sautéed potatoes and a small slice of bacon. 3. A warm croissant from the bread basket. 4. A pot of yogurt 5. A pot of freshly cut exotic fruit (dragon fruit, melon and water melon) 6. Anchor butter and strawberry jam The above dishes were accompanied with tea or coffee. Comments regarding the drinks service: A second round of drinks were offered before (orange juice and water), during, and after the meal. No alcohol, but plenty of milk, coffee and tea. There was also apple juice as well. Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any): None Comments regarding the second meal (if any): None Comments of professionalism of the cabin crew: The Cabin Crew seemed proud to work for Shanghai Airlines and were very welcoming. The passengers in First Class were kept well informed of any delays, and even the weather situation in Shanghai. Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort): The ageing Boeing 757 aircraft belonging to Shanghai Airlines had a seat configuration of 2-2 in First Class, and a configuration of 3-3 in Economy Class. The plane was not clean and the toilets showed signs of an aged plane- quite easily in fact as it had the old 1980s style toilet as opposed to the new toilet that most modern aircraft have. Economy Class seats have a pitch of 32 inches, and a width of 18 inches (139 seats) First Class seats have a pitch of 38 inches, and a width of 21 inches (20 seats). Overall rating 1-10 (worst-best): 10                            Route: Guangzhou Baiyun Airport to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport Departure date and time of flight: 18:35pm in December 2012 Flight Number: FM9316 Flight duration: 2 hours 10 minutes Class: Economy Class Aircraft type: Boeing 767-200 Punctuality of the flight: The flight was on time and landed on time as well. Any baggage issues: No issues- the bags arrived on time and in one piece. Comments on the check-in staff and any issues: The check-in staff were polite, and professional. There was no problem what so ever. Comments regarding the pre-meal service: Choice of drinks (tea, coffee, orange Juice, apple juice, lemonade, or coca cola). Gone are the days when alcohol was not served on domestic flights, but now that has changed and it is served. I opted to drink just water and even that was with caution! Comments regarding the first meal: Dinner was served around half an hour after take off. A cardboard rectangular box was offered for “dinner”. I carefully opened the box to find a whole host of junk food inside (like most airline meals on most Chinese airlines). A separate tray containing a circular piece of ham and some simple vegetables were accompanied with a boring bread bun. There was a neatly packed “fruit slices” box. This contained 2 cherry tomatoes, and 2 cubes of melon. The main dish was either an option of chicken and noodles, or beef balls and rice. I opted for the chicken with noodles. Comments regarding the drinks service: A second round of drinks was offered after the meal. There was alcohol offered (Tsingtao beer and Harbin beer). Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any): None Comments regarding the second meal (if any): None Comments on the in-flight system (if any): In this 767 there was no IFE. To make matters worse my seat light was not working (and neither was the seat light of other nearby seats that I tried), the “channel” and “volume” button was not working either, and to make matters worse the “flight attendant call button” was not working either! Comments of professionalism of the cabin crew: Some of the staff were professional but their English level was below par international standards- perhaps Survival 2 or A1 in accordance with the European CEFR standard! (For Flight attendants’ the required English level should be around B2 globally!). Improvements that could be made: While Shanghai Airlines does have new planes, it goes without saying that the Boeing 767-200 is rather ancient and needs to be cleaned inside. On the whole it is perfect for a short haul flight. Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort): The aircraft was cleaner than how Shanghai Airlines used to have their aircraft in the past. It seemed like that the aircraft was previously flown by TWA (Trans World Airlines) of the USA (I found out this piece of information from the galley because most of the galley material has the original TWA titles printed on it.) Overall rating 1-10 (worst-best): 7            Route: Guilin Liang Jiang Airport to Guangzhou Baiyun Airport Departure date and time of flight: 11:30am 17th June 2011 Flight Number: FM9399 Flight duration: 1 hour Class: ECONOMY CLASS Aircraft type: Boeing 737-800 Punctuality of the flight: The plane departed around 5 minutes late but landed bang on time because of the short flight. There was no holding into Guangzhou. Because the runway headings for both Guilin Airport and Guangzhou Airport lie on almost the same path, so therefore it was almost a straight flight from Guilin to Guangzhou with little or no turning (used runway 22R at Guangzhou for landing). Any baggage issues: No issues. I only carried hand luggage with me so there was no problem. Comments on the check-in staff and any issues: Check-in at Guilin Airport was easy and very efficient. It a very small airport with hardly any traffic whatsoever. Comments regarding the pre-meal service: None. Comments regarding the first meal: The passengers were given a heated small homemade bun that contained two slices of ham in a circle shape. It was O.K. for such a short flight, you could not ask for more. Comments regarding the drinks service: Just a bottle of water. Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any): None Comments regarding the second meal (if any): None Comments on the in-flight system (if any): None Comments of professionalism of the cabin crew: The crew were very professional and offered to assist in any way possible. It was such a smooth flight that I fell into a deep sleep. If it had not been for the slightly bumpy landing, I would never have realised that we had already landed. It was that smooth. Improvements that could be made: None. You cannot ask for more on such a short flight. Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort): Shanghai Airlines have a 3-3 configuration on their Boeing 737-800 aircraft for Economy Class and a 2-2 configuration for their Business Class cabin.            Shanghai Airlines 767 parked at Shenzhen- Copyright Navjot Singh  Shanghai Airlines 767: Copyright Navjot Singh Route: Shenzhen Airport to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport Departure date and time of flight: 09:30am on the 13th of September 2010 Flight Number: FM9370 Flight duration: 2 hours 10 minutes Class: Economy Class Aircraft type: Boeing 767-200 Punctuality of the flight: The flight was on time and landed on time as well. Any baggage issues: No issues- the bags arrived on time and in one piece. Comments on the check-in staff and any issues: The check in staff were polite, and professional. There was no problem what so ever. Comments regarding the pre-meal service: Choice of drinks (tea, coffee, orange juice, apple juice, lemonade or Coca Cola). There was no alcohol served on this flight. The orange juice looked like an “orange sludge” that had been out of date. Take a look at the photo and you’ll see what I mean. It was not drinkable- so I returned it back immediately. The cabin crew seemed not to care much and just smiled. Instead I opted to drink just water and even that was with caution! Comments regarding the first meal: Breakfast- which didn’t look like breakfast at all - was served around half an hour after take off. A cardboard rectangular box was offered for “breakfast”. I carefully opened the box to find a whole host of junk food inside (like most airline meals on most Chinese airlines). There was a carefully packed “fruit slices” box. This contained four cubes, 2 slices of watermelon and 2 slices of normal melon (these two fruits are favourite with Chinese people). There was a spongy tasting chocolate muffin (it tasted like soft bread with a horrible yeast taste and smell to it). As normal per Chinese airlines, there were two packets that contained the following: One was “dried beef cube sweets” while the other contained “sweet roasted peanuts”. The “dried beef sweets” were interesting. It tasted a bit like beef but imagine that some sugar has been put into your beef- that’s what it tasted like. The peanuts were good. But is this food good enough for breakfast? No, not really. Comments regarding the drinks service: A second round of drinks was offered after the meal. Again, no alcohol was served. Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any): None Comments regarding the second meal (if any): None Comments on the in-flight system (if any): In this 767 there was no IFE. To make matters worse my seat light was not working (and neither was the seat light of other nearby seats that I tried), the “Channel” and “Volume” button was not working either, and to make matters worse the “flight attendant Call button” was not working either! Comments of professionalism of the cabin crew: Some of the staff were professional but their English level was below par international standards- perhaps Survival 2 or A1 in accordance with the European CEFR standard! (For Flight attendants’ the required English level should be around B2 globally!). Improvements that could be made: I believe that on Shanghai Airlines, so many improvements can be made. The toilets need to be cleaner. The cabins are filthy and need to be cleaner. The seat IFE needs to be maintained properly. The in-flight food is a disgrace; however I fear that this would not improve as it’s the same for most Chinese airline companies. The staff speak poor English and this needs to be addressed seriously (i.e. what if there is an emergency?). Again like before, I fail to understand why this airline is part of the Star Alliance- has the Star Alliance group lost their sense of aviation quality? For the in-flight meal, they should consider serving a hot breakfast (Chinese or western); or a selection of nice sandwiches. Not the bits and pieces of junk food that they serve on these domestic flights’. It just ruins the image of the airline and the country- especially if you are flying with a company that puts itself in the same bracket as that of other “Star Alliance” airlines. Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort): The aircraft was not clean. As with most aircraft that are operated by Chinese airlines, the cabin had a strong stench of urine and an air of discomfort. I fail to understand why this is so. The toilets are filthy and had no tissue paper. The seats were comfortable enough for a domestic flight lasting for less then 3 hours I would say. However, I would think twice before flying with this airline company if I have to again. For long haul flights I would refrain from flying with them at all for many of the reasons outlined above (food, smell, health issues, language problems etc.). Overall rating 1-10 (worst-best): 5          Shanghai Airlines 767: Copyright Navjot Singh  Shanghai Airlines 767 parked at Shenzhen: Copyright Navjot Singh Route: Shanghai Hongqiao Airport to Shenzhen Airport Departure date and time of flight: 20:55am on the 15th of September 2010 Flight Number: FM9379 Flight duration: 2 hours 10 minutes Class: Economy Class Aircraft type: Boeing 767-200 Punctuality of the flight: The flight was delayed by over an hour and without any reason given. Any baggage issues: No issues- the bags arrived on time and in one piece. Comments on the check-in staff and any issues: The check in staff were polite, and very professional. There was no problem what so ever. Comments regarding the pre-meal service: Choice of drinks (tea, coffee, orange juice, apple juice, lemonade or Coca Cola). There was no alcohol served on this flight. The orange juice looked like an “orange sludge” that had been out of date. Take a look at the photo and you’ll see what I mean. It was not drinkable- so I returned it back immediately. The cabin crew seemed not to care much and just smiled. Instead I opted to drink just water and even that was with caution! Comments regarding the first meal: Dinner (if you call it dinner that is), was served around half an hour after take off. It did not look pleasing and I dare not to eat this kind of food before going to sleep. A cardboard rectangular box was offered for “dinner”. I carefully opened the box to find a whole host of junk food inside. The first thing I took out of the box was that horrible looking “hamburger”. It was a small attempt by the Shanghai Airlines catering staff to copy MacDonald’s; and what they thought they had succeeded in doing so badly. There was a small wheat bap with a single slice of Chinese style mam that was bigger in diameter than the burger itself. It tasted like chewy plastic. The only kind of fresh food were the 2 slices of melon fruit- and that was it. I then moved onto the 3 small packets contained inside the box. One of them, would you believe, contained mint flavoured cough drops. Cough drops in an in-flight meal? Are you serious? I thought. What insane person decided that they should start serving Cough drops to passengers on a domestic flight, and that even in a Chinese Autumn (which felt like summer!). The taste was horrible. Even if I had a cough I would take these tablets’ because the taste and the flavour were not good at all. The other two packets contained “dried and preserved plum” and “sweet and salted walnuts”. Both edible but not required on an in-flight meal. My verdict? If this kind of food started being served on a European flight, there would be widespread complaints and it will make headline news. Perhaps even a lawsuit against the airline. I was not full after eating parts of the provided food and would not recommend it to anyone. Comments regarding the drinks service: A second round of drinks was offered after the meal. Again no alcohol was served. Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any): None Comments regarding the second meal (if any): None Comments on the in-flight system (if any): In this 767 there was no IFE. To make matters worse my seat light was not working (and neither was the seat light of other nearby seats that I tried), the “Channel” and “Volume” button was not working either, and to make matters worse the “flight attendant Call button” was not working either! Comments of professionalism of the cabin crew: Some of the staff were professional but their English level was below par international standards- perhaps Survival 2 or A1 in accordance with the European CEFR standard! (For Flight attendants’ the required English level should be around B2 globally!). Two of the flight attendants ignored my calls simply because their English was not good so they could not communicate with me. Improvements that could be made: I believe that on Shanghai Airlines, so many improvements can be made. The toilets need to be cleaner. The cabins are filthy and need to be cleaner. The seat IFE needs to be maintained properly. The in-flight food is a disgrace; however I fear that this would not improve as it’s the same for most Chinese airline companies. The staff speak poor English and this needs to be addressed seriously (i.e. what if there is an emergency?). I fail to understand why this airline is part of the Star Alliance- has the Star Alliance group lost their sense of aviation quality? Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort): The aircraft was not clean. As with most aircraft that are operated by Chinese airlines, the cabin had a strong stench of urine and an air of discomfort. I fail to understand why this is so. The toilets are filthy and had no tissue paper. There was no air freshener and when I asked for one, no one understood what I meant. The seats were comfortable, however I would think twice before flying with this airline company if I have to again. For long haul flights I would refrain from flying with them at all for many of the reasons outlined above (food, smell, health issues, language problems etc.). Overall rating 1-10 (worst-best): 4           |
 Navjot Singh inside an Airbus A320 cockpit of British Airways at Heathrow Airport About Airline PRThis is a special section on Airline Branding, and Airline Public Relations written by me on all the flights I have been fortunate enough to have been on. These are not records taken from somewhere else, but are actual flights I have been on. Most of the flight trips are officially sponsored by the airline companies in order to promote their certain routes, and aircraft. Airline promotion and PR related work in the aviation industry is one of my expertise. 
Navjot Singh at a Chinese Military Airfield
Watch exclusive videos below taken in the cockpit of a Boeing 777-300ER in-flight over Chinese Airspace.
Special thanks goes to Turkish Airlines B777-300ER Cockpit Video 1B777-300ER Cockpit Video 2
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