FM9207 - PVG to XIY. 19 Oct 11.
Seat 23D. B737-800.
Domestic Economy Class
12:00 scheduled departure.
Domestic, economy, China, discount airline : All the signs of a winner right!
Shanghai airport is a massive beast with gates up to C223.
Signs were dual language pointing to exotic destinations.
One of the shops in the airport was selling live crabs. Their nippers were tied in place, but the smell was obvious and I was hoping nobody on our flight had a taste for these delicacies.
Aircraft B-5320 was in fair condition.
I didn't get to sample the lounge as I was flying on a pre-organised economy fare and I also can't report upon the 8 first class seats (although they did look very comfortable and they were very ornately decorated).
Economy was the usual 3-3 configuration. Leg room was normal for economy domestic. (Remember I'm 192cms tall.)
A normal person fits like this:
We were subject to several safety briefings, some pre-recorded, some live and unlike the previous Air China briefing there were largely legible to my western ears.
Push back was a few minutes late due to air traffic control prior to a tour of all the taxiways. Well it seemed that way.
Lunch was a choice of fish and rice or beef and noodles. I was one of the last server and they had just ran out of beef. Beer or soft drink was available. It was all tasty enough, served on a plastic tray and with a plastic cup for the drink.
There was generally poor cabin discipline with people wandering through the cabin while the seat belt sign was on and even during push back and using mobile phones while taxiing.
Before landing we entered the toxic air of a Chinese city made worse by the manufacturing base of Xi-An burning brown coal by the metric truck load.
The airport signs were in Chinglish.
And there was the usual scrum for bags. For once, mine as one of the first off and that was without the aid of a priority tag!
