南方航空A380 香港北京首航之旅(First + Business)

Background
From 2011, China Southern Airlines receive their first A380 and using it in PEK-CAN-PEK route, I always want to try the service but never finalize. Heard that CZ would start using A380 to Hong Kong in January, I think I must take this opportunity to check this out, and start my “Chasing the A380 project”

Booking
Called the CZ’s Hong Kong reservation hotline, but found their price was higher than their website, so I go for the website booking. Generally, mixed class cannot be done online but luckily, First Class on the outbound flight was zeroed out so the system changed my request to Business + First. CZ online booking is quite user friendly, however when I pay by credit card, their third party payment agent said the payment was success but CZ’s system said failed. I called the card center to make sure my card is charged so I call CZ’s 24 hours hotline at 3 a.m. with my not-so-fluent Putonghua, the staff was very friendly and sorted out the problem in no time, they said they have to issue the ticket manually but that department would not start working until next morning. The agent asked me to e-mail my details like passport number, contact number, and tell me not to wait for them and go for sleep first, a very heart-touching gesture!

I woke up in the next day, I found my e-ticket in my mailbox already (sent at 8:01 a.m.!), and I call the Hong Kong reservation to assign the seats. The experience was wonderful, the lady in Hong Kong office was very polite and asks whether I would like to enter the frequent flyer number, and do I need special meal, and most importantly, she thanks me many times for supporting their company, something that I never happen to me.

On the day of travel……
I parked my car at car park 4 in HKIA


Aisle J for CZ Check-in


Check-in counters with decoration


Should be a great event today




I passed the immigration quickly as I wanted to see the A380 as soon as possible.
Ahhh….she is there! No……it is SQ’s one. She looks sad today as she cannot park at Gate 15 today. Gate 15 is dedicated to SQ’s A380 since it is closest to SQ’s lounge and it is the only A380 gate with 3 bridges in HKIA.


Oh yes, she is arriving!


Around the corner now


1 day-old B-6318 looks smart, right?


Once B-6318 docked at the gate, the ground started to be very busy, including the catering truck


I walked to the Gate 15, it’s full of decoration for the first flight.


And ceremony also, the participants are all VIP!


So I take the time to visit the lounge
Lounge invitation


It’s so old-fashioned…


The lounge is located at upper level near Gate 16, opposite to KA’s lounge


A380…


Lounge entrance, A380 again


The lounge is a Star Alliance lounge


Most of the Chinese airlines use this lounge


View from the lounge


Seats



Food in the middle



My breakfast


Strange that the ice-cream was served in the bowl


The ceremony was over


And the VIP was having cocktail


2 March 2012

Hong Kong (HKG) – Beijing Capital (PEK)
Airline: China Southern Airlines
Flight: CZ 309
Aircraft: A380-800
Registration: B-6138
Seat: 28K (Business)
Gate: 15
Arriving Gate: 212

Gate 15


Boarding Pass


B-6138


I should follow this


Look like this is so important for CZ




My first time using this new bridge at Gate 15


Almost there


The second Business cabin


My seat 28K



Seat pitch


Side bins, I have two



Details of the seat











The IFE control and the earphone plug is at the front, not so good design


Welcome drink and towel was offered


28K is at the edge of the wing


View from my seat


Reading materials


Back of the magazine


User guide for the seat



Safety Information



Booklet introducing CZ’s A380


Slippers


While waiting for the VIP, let’s walk around, and soon I discover a washroom setting that I never seen before.
The disabled toilet with 2 doors


Main door opened


Both door opened


More photos, second business cabin



Let’s use seat 29K to do some demonstrations


Table out


Fully flat


The doors closed at 15:10 and we started push-back


Takeoff roll was long as always, the flight duration would be 2hr30min


The Wingtip


IFE contains about 80 movies and 100 TV shows, but I want to try to use the USB port, yes, the system can read the mp3 files


Noise cancelling headset




Remote control



IFE replaced the duty-free booklet



Drink service after takeoff, if you ask for water, the FA will ask you to drink the bottle water at your seat


Chinese tea with nuts


Table was set for meal


All on a tray
Appetizer – Pork Belly Slices Chinese Marinated
Cold Veg Snack – Asparagus Pencil with Cherry Tomato/Mesclun
Soup – Red Date & Beef Shank Soup
Main Course – Yu Hsiang Chicken with Fungus, Steamed Rice
The meal was very nice, especial the main course


Like the logo on the spoon


Dessert – Clafoutis Raspberries Cake, Fruit Plate


After the meal, time to explore more
Upper deck economy cabin


2-4-2


Last row


Emergency exit row


Door L3 of the upper deck, crew rest on the left


Crew rest area


Not open for visit


Stair to main deck


Lift for cart


Rear galley opposite to crew rest


Some events were happening in the front, a VIP was reading a poem, another giving a speech and followed by a song from a FA


Like the wall


Champagne after the events


Galley around Door 1 upper deck





Stair to the main deck


The Best Business seat 11K


Front Business Cabin


Storage in front of Seat 11K


Cake for celebration the inaugural flight


Bar


Washroom in front of Seat 11A





Middle pair seats


Blanket


Start descending to Beijing


Landing was smooth, and there was a screen said celebrating the success of the inaugural flight


B-6318 docked at Gate 212 after 10 minutes, and I arrived the Airport Express Train Station 10 minutes after deplane


Train to the city


Dinner with a friend in “Hua’s Restaurant”, nice food and live performances


Stayed at the Langham Place, Beijing Capital Airport just next to PEK Terminal 3
Room was big

After few hours of shut eyes, before checking-out to the airport, let’s do some plane spotting in the room




Video of the View from Langham Place, Beijing Capital Airport

Arrived PEK Terminal 2 by hotel shuttle bus, my flight is ready to check-in


Check-in counters are after the customs


Aisle C


CZ 310 to Hong Kong


Premium Class check-in


First Class here


My boarding pass before immigration


After immigration, Gate 212 is not far away


B-6138 was parked here since yesterday night from Hong Kong


Head to the lounge to have some food first
Lounge Invitation


Entrance


First Class section



Food corner


The food was not that good


At 8:10 a.m., an agent came to the lounge to escort me to board the plane

3 March 2012

Beijing Capital (PEK) – Hong Kong (HKG)
Airline: China Southern Airlines
Flight: CZ 310
Aircraft: A380-800
Registration: B-6138
Seat: 2K (First)
Gate: 212
Arriving Gate: 15

Gate 12


B-6138


Boarding pass (after immigration and security) and the seat map


Back


Premium passengers on the right


Seating plan


Boarding now


I will be in Main Deck


Turn left on the first bridge


Door L1


Seat 2K




While asking where I should store my hand luggage, the FA brought me to here
Every First Passengers have their own locker, located between Door L1 and Seat 1A


Inside the locker


Instructions of using the locker


View from seat 2K


Seat pitch


The seat and table


Ottoman



Every seat has a set of mattress and Duvet


IFE remote control and storage box


Seat control


Welcome drink, snack and towel were offered


The senior FA offered me a tour to the aircraft, how can I reject?

First Economy Cabin on Main Deck


Second Economy Cabin on Main Deck


Third Economy Cabin on Main Deck……Look the same, right? XD


3-4-3 on main deck


Business Class upper deck, loading was light


After the tour, the doors were closed and we start pushing back. During taxiing, I saw her from North Korea




And my favorite aircraft, A340-600 from HU (ex-CX)


The takeoff queue was long, we were airborne 20 minutes later
IFE was switch on


Remote Control with LCD



Noise cancelling headset




Table was set, note that the table is not that big as EK/SQ, and the alignment is not that central


Round 1


Soup – Sea Cucumber Soup with Keip, very nice presentation and delicious!



Appetizers – Hot Spicy Green Soy Bean Salad, Abalone with Maggie Sauce and Chicken Jelly with Lily and Jasmine, the abalone was tender


Main Courses – Prawn Ball, but contain fish and scallops too


Although I was quite full already, the FA still recommend me to try their signature “China Southern Deluxe Beef Noodle Soup Ensemble”
The soup based need 17 hours to prepare by using beef bones, the beef was soft and the noodles were “al dente”, the FA emphasized that everything were prepare separately and just put together before serve. The noodles came with coriander, black beans and chili.


Dessert – [Left]Sweet Soup with White Fungus, Pear and Wolf Berry, [Right] Sweetened Red Bean Paste with Coconut Milk


Fruit Plate


When I finished the meal, we were already halfway


As I was the only passenger in First, so the FAs were quite free to help for some photos of the seats.
Flat Bed position


Bed set


Must have a good sleep


Door closed


Divider rose


Some more about the seat


Doors


Life jacket position


I spend some times to find the switch of the lights but cannot found any…

……later, I discovered that once the seat going fully flat, the light extinguished automatically


Seat pocket


Another side



Guide of the seat



Cabin without any overhead bin


Washroom time




First Class bar


Stair to Upper Deck


Just enjoy the flat bed


RR Trent 900 engines


Article about A380 on PEK-HKG route


First Class Galley


Touched down after 3hr10mins, I can feel that the crosswind was strong, the landing was not that smooth


Reflection from Satellite, the end of the trip


Docked at Gate 15, I was keen to use the door L1 to deplane as starting from 4 March, SQ will takeover Gate 15 for SQ856/861 and CZ have to use Gate 60,62,64,66 which only have 2 bridges, i.e. Door L1 will not open in Hong Kong anymore


Thank you B-6138 and China Southern Airlines!


Souvenir for the inaugural flight


First Class Slippers, shoes bag


Menu


Comment:
Lounge:
Both HKG and PEK lounge were not operated by CZ, so do not expect too much.

Service:
FAs were friendly and attentive, the service level can compare with the major international airlines in the world. Especially during the First Class sector, I chatted with three FAs, they share many things with me, including Beijing’s culture, their life as a FA or something about food, and I believe they love their job and the company.

But one thing I was quite surprised is that they always think what they are offering is not as high level as other airlines, but I told them that according my experience, both their hardware and software were top level and can compare with some major airlines in the world.

Meal:
One word: Wonderful! The food was tasty no matter in Business Class and First Class. For the First Class meal, I believe CZ has spent many times to decide the menu. Ingredients were high quality, presentation was good and you can see they weigh Chinese culture in the meal. If you like Chinese cuisine I believe you would think the same as me too!

Hardware:
Business Class: Nothing fancy, but functional. The seats are wide (compare with my previous HX A330 ride) and the pads are supportive, plus the side bins of the A380. I see no problem to stay in those seats for 10+ hours

First Class: The Suites provide very good privacy. Seats are big and comfortable, the pads are not as great as EK but CZ’s seats are very good already.

Entertainment:
IFE contains many Asian/Western Movies, TV shows and Music, I believe you can find the thing you need, but it would be nice if CZ can put the external cameras in IFE!


I found the experience is wonderful, I can’t believe the improvement of the airlines in China can be so huge. I really look forward CZ to put the A380 in the long-haul routes so that more foreigners can experience the China Hospitality! Well done China Southern!

Thanks for reading!

[ 本帖最後由 sutrak 於 2012-3-5 05:28 編輯 ]

CZ呢個first class位同CA新77W用o既first class可以話係一樣，只係有o的細微地方唔同

我反而有興趣想知個張首航紀念品 - 金色登機證係一張金色卡紙還是係薄金 ?

要改變客人崇洋的心理不是一朝一夕的事, 不過我相信用良好的態度才可以留住客人, 不要朝夕微洋吧
小弟同一個價格都會選搭國內的航空公司 (對上一次乘搭港龍是01年的事)
上一年用里程在香港華潤大廈 (國航) 兌換了京滬機票 (只要168蚊機場稅)

[ 本帖最後由 lokwah2a 於 2012-3-5 12:38 編輯 ]

原帖由 sutrak 於 2012-3-5 05:11 發表
Some events were happening in the front, a VIP was reading a poem, another giving a speech and followed by a song from a FA

Hi Sutrak,

I suppose this is the event you talk about

香港两会代表委员乘坐南航A380首航航班进京- 中国第三架A380成功首航京港航线

http://www.csair.com/cn/aboutcsn/04/newsCompany/2012/20120302.html

原帖由 lokwah2a 於 2012-3-5 12:34 發表
要改變客人崇洋的心理不是一朝一夕的事, 不過我相信用良好的態度才可以留住客人, 不要朝夕微洋吧
小弟同一個價格都會選搭國內的航空公司 (對上一次乘搭港龍是01年的事)
上一年用里程在香港華潤大廈 (國航) 兌換了京 ...

講真而家出外旅遊 o既人好多都係以價錢行先, 之後睇服務質數 (即信譽)
實情呢幾年大陸 o既航空公司真係多人坐左 ~

我自己識唔小人而家返香港都唔再介意話坐大陸機,
因為好簡單, 四個字 - 價廉物美 (對比返 CX, 甚至亞洲其他地區大型航空公司; 大部份時間大陸航空公司真係有價目上 o既優勢) ~

記得在16年前搭佢地d飛機，就送飛機模型一部。
但今次首航是無呢回野。

What do you mean by "First Class on the outbound flight was zeroed out so the system changed my request to Business + First. "? Business & First Classes are merged??

About how much for the round-journey tickets?