China Southern
Business Class
CZ Business Class Ticket
CZ6028
26 April 2019
Airbus A330-200 (Three Class Configuration)
B-6058
Seat 2K
Departure: 9:10PM
Arrival: 5:05AM 6:00AM

I arrived at the airport fairly early, but unfortunately the CZ desk didn't open until around 3 hours prior to departure. So I had to wait in the terminal for a bit. The exchange counter wouldn't take my unused Uzbek sum because I didn't keep the receipts from my previous exchanges. Really annoying.

Anyway, check-in opened eventually and I was quickly airside. Customs and immigration were completely painless, though they did ask to see me e-visa again on departure. No idea why, but I'm glad I didn't toss it.

The lounge was pretty dismal. Food selection was poor, there was no wifi, chairs were uncomfortable and I found a large insect skittering across the floor near me. There were power outlets, so I charged my phone. That's about all I can say about it. Eventually, we were allowed to board.

Mosaic opposite Lounge


The J cabin on this plane was quite small, with only two rows. It was completely full. I knew in advance that the hard product was not competitive. Very similar to what TG uses. However, the price was quite reasonable, so it was fine. The crew informed us the flight time would be roughly 4 hours, so I didn't expect to get much sleep on the flight.

Cabin


My main issue with this seat, aside from how hard it is to sleep when it feels like you're sliding out of the seat, is the utter lack of storage space. This seat design is probably one of the worst designs out there, despite its ubiquity. It doesn't help that CZ completely jams the pockets with unnecessary junk. I'd much rather they leave the pockets empty for my use. The cabin was also quite warm during the flight, which is always a bit annoying.

Leg Room


As I boarded, the cabin crew swarmed me. They pestered me to choose a meal before I'd even settled in to the seat. There was only a single copy of the menu, apparently. They didn't provide a menu for my own use. If memory serves, the choice was between chicken, beef and fish. I chose the chicken.

FINALLY an airline that serves peanuts!!!


The meal was pretty good. The red bean dessert was vile, but everything else was tasty.

Chicken Dinner


After the meal, I slept for about two hours before the cabin crew awoke me just prior to landing. We landed at PEK an entire hour early and parked at a remote stand at T2. We deplaned from L2, so business class deplaned after premium economy. Thankfully, the cabin crew prevented economy class from getting off before us.

On the ground, there was a dedicated bus for J pax, which was appreciated. We got to the terminal pretty quickly and breezed through immigration. Customs was very backed up with folks wheeling around huge piles of luggage. With just a backpack, I wove my way to the front and snuck through quickly.

I then took the free shuttle to T3, which was a lot farther away (by surface roads) than I'd thought. I arrived at T3 by 6:00AM, well in advance of my onward flight.