Flight Number HU 407
Departure from Shanghai at 02:05 AM
Seat 17A
Hainan Airlines only recently begun flying direct between China and Israel and now operates direct flights from Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen operated by 787 and A330 aircraft. Hainan has two types of business class seats on their 787 aircraft in a 2 – 2 – 2 configuration and another in a 1 – 2 – 1 configuration. At the time of booking, the aircraft seatmap showed the better 1 – 2 – 1 layout, though that was not the case once I boarded the plane. Despite my slight disappointment regarding the seats, I was extremely impressed by my first ever flight with Hainan Airlines.
The Lounge
Hainan Airlines doesn’t have their own lounge at Shanghai Pudong Airport. I was given access to lounge #69 which was very basic with limited food and drink options, only a single shower room, and just felt very dull.
I checked the Priority Pass app and found that I had access to the China Eastern Lounge which looked significantly nicer.
I walked about 5 minutes to the other lounge as was very glad I did. Though it was average at best, the China Eastern lounge was modern, with multiple shower rooms and decent food compared to lounge #69.
Boarding
Our aircraft was parked at a remote gate so we needed to be bussed from the terminal to the plane. I arrived at the gate after boarding had begun and was able to go right through on the business class line.
Hainan Airlines provided a separate bus for business class passengers with seats for everyone, however the van was quite cramped and very warm. Still, it was better than standing on a more crowded bus with the rest of the passengers!
After a five minute drive, we arrived at the beautiful Boeing 787 that would be taking us to Tel Aviv.
Seat and Cabin
Hainan has 2 variations of the 787 aircraft in their fleet with two types of business class seats in different configurations. Due to a last minute aircraft swap, I flew on Hainan’s older business class with 30 seats over 5 rows in a 2 – 2 – 2 layout, rather than the reverse herringbone seats in a 1 – 2 – 1 layout on their other 787’s which I was expecting. The cabin is full of red color which I liked, though it’s certainly meant to cater more to the Chinese taste. While the cabin is well designed, I was glad only half the seats were occupied, giving a lot more space to each passenger. Had the cabin been full, it would not have been nearly as enjoyable of a flight.
When I thought this plane would be the 1 – 2 – 1 business class configuration, I selected seat 17A, a single window seat in the middle of the cabin. With the new configuration, 17A was a window seat in the last row of the cabin which I was fine with as well as I had no one sitting next to me.
I found the seats the be quite comfortable and wide, with plenty of legroom. Each seat has an armrest on either side, with the IFE remote, water bottle, and headphone jack located in a small compartment underneath the center armrest. The center console of the two seat pair also holds the tray table, as well as a reading light.
Behind the seat in front of you is the ottoman which becomes part of the bed when in lie flat mode, as well as storage for your shoes, amenity kit, and in flight magazine and safety card. The IFE screen was a good size, though not the most modern screen and quality could have been better.
Entertainment
The entertainment options on this flight were quite limited. From an airline that was nearly perfect in most other ways, the TV and movie options were a huge disappointment as I couldn’t really find something I wanted to watch. Overall one of the worst IFE systems I’ve used. Thankfully I was mostly trying to sleep on this flight so I didn’t mind.
Food
Upon boarding, I was handed both a food and drink menu for the flight. To my surprise, this was one of the most extensive menus I’ve ever had on a plane with options for a light meal, full dinner, anytime snacks and of course breakfast before landing in Tel Aviv. The drinks menu was equally as impressive.
The menus read as follows:
I was still quite hungry as the food options in the lounge were not too good, so I decided to order a full dinner. I started dinner with the beef and pumpkin skewers which were divine, perfectly cooked.
Next I was brought a tray containing my duck breast appetizer, beef filet for the main, as well as a bread basket. The food tasted great, probably the best meal I’ve ever had in business class.
I finished off the meal with a chocolate cake and fruit plate, both of which were very good.
I was woken up for breakfast about 2 hours before landing in Tel Aviv. I already had the iced coffee I ordered waiting at my table along with a warm towel.
I wasn’t so hungry for a big breakfast and decided to order the waffles which were just okay. A bit on the dry side…
This was accompanied by some yogurt with berries and nuts as well as a basket of pastries, both of which I didn’t love.
I asked for another fruit plate with some extra cantaloupe (Chinse cantaloupe is incredible) and they gave me this:
I was very happy with my fruit!
Overall, my breakfast wasn’t nearly as good as the dinner service, though that’s usually the way it is with breakfast, even in first and business class. I was very happy to see iced coffee on the menu though and the fruit plate ended up being more than enough for me.
Service
Upon boarding, I was shown to my seat 17A and offered a warm towel, menu for the flight, as well as a glass of champagne with some warm nuts.
A duvet, slippers, as well at the amenity kit were already waiting at my seat, while the Porsche Design headphones were distributed later before takeoff. My dinner order was taken while still on the ground by a lovely Korean flight attendant who took very good care of me on this flight.
Once in the air, dinner service began quickly and moved along at a good pace to allow everyone to eat and get to sleep quickly. Hainan offers pajamas to all business class passengers, though I had to ask for them.
I travel with my own Lufthansa First Class pajamas which I love, so I didn’t try these though they seemed comfortable. Once my table was cleared, I was asked if I would like the bed to be made. Hainan offers a mattress pad, as well as a great pillow (I asked for a second one) and duvet. Overall probably the second best business class bed I’ve ever slept on after Qatar Airways Qsuites.
Overall I was very impressed by the Hainan service which I had read before was quite good.
Bottom Line
Wow, I was extremely impressed by Hainan Airlines’ Business Class on this flight. While Mainland Chinese airlines aren’t often highly regarded by non Chinese, I found Hainan Airlines to be one of the best airlines I’ve ever flown. While I don’t love the 2 – 2 – 2 seat configuration, I was very comfortable on this flight and had great privacy as the seat next to me was empty. I would gladly fly with Hainan Airlines again, hopefully with their better business class seat next time!
