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OFFICIAL: Hainan Airlines becomes SKYTRAX's 7th 5 Star Airline

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OFFICIAL: Hainan Airlines becomes SKYTRAX's 7th 5 Star Airline

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Old Jan 10, 2011, 10:57 am
  #1  
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OFFICIAL: Hainan Airlines becomes SKYTRAX's 7th 5 Star Airline

Just out today; Skytrax has officially certified Hainan Airlines as a 5 Star Airline. We all know Skytrax is biase. What does Hainan Airline have that other airlines don't ?

Links:
5 star logo appears on the right.
http://www.hainanair.us/
Skytrax
http://www.airlinequality.com/StarRanking/5star.htm
http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/hainan.htm

Also Hong Kong Airline has be certified as a 4 Star Airline, looks like it's a bright future for the Hainan company
http://www.hkairlines.com/eng/index.aspx

Last edited by g.yau; Jan 10, 2011 at 11:24 am
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Old Jan 10, 2011, 11:28 am
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Hate to say this...

If they are valuing Hainan as 5 star, then Asiana and Singapore should be 6 star.

Funny thing is...

Hainan Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines are owned by the same group. Tells you much about how accurate this rating is!
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Old Jan 10, 2011, 11:38 am
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I agree, it's weird how they were certified as a four star Airline 2 years ago and now their in the same league as Singapore and Cathay. You can tell that this Skytrax evaluation is messed up
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Old Jan 10, 2011, 3:14 pm
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Originally Posted by g.yau
I agree, it's weird how they were certified as a four star Airline 2 years ago and now their in the same league as Singapore and Cathay. You can tell that this Skytrax evaluation is messed up
Further Skytrax is stating "QUALITY APPROVED AIRLINE STATUS : Tuesday January 11, 2011 Cathay Pacific Airways is NOT a Quality Approved Airline" http://www.airlinequality.com/Airlines/CX.htm

SQ - Expired "QUALITY APPROVED AIRLINE STATUS : Tuesday January 11, 2011 Singapore Airlines Quality Approved Airline status - Expired

MH - QUALITY APPROVED AIRLINE STATUS : Tuesday January 11, 2011
MALAYSIA AIRLINES is a Quality Approved Airline - valid to December 2010

Skytrax needs to update the status.
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Old Jan 10, 2011, 6:39 pm
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Has anyone here flown on Hainan Airlines and, if so, do you think they deserve the 5-star status from SkyTrax?
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Old Jan 10, 2011, 9:47 pm
  #6  
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Originally Posted by doctorjosh
Has anyone here flown on Hainan Airlines and, if so, do you think they deserve the 5-star status from SkyTrax?
Yeah, I've flown with them and in the old days they are absolutely dreadful (every aspect of the experience). I've heard that they've improved quite a bit, but I can't imagine ranking them in the same league as the 1st-tier airlines.

Skytrax is a joke IMO.
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Old Jan 10, 2011, 9:49 pm
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Well, based on Chinese domestic service, I don't see 5 stars merit. I haven't had a really bad experience on them, but they aren't better than the other domestics (none of which deserves more than a 3 star average rating, IMO). As for basing it on international service, HU seems to get good reviews of the PEK-SEA route, especially in business, but I'm not sure I've heard people rave that it's up in the 5* range.

Personally, I have found the Skytrax ratings suspect for a long time. I don't even bother with the site anymore since I think a lot of it is based on airline pay-to-play. I mean, Hong Kong Airlines, seriously? That outfit has more problems behind the scenes than anybody wants to know--I wouldn't by a ticket on them if Skytrax ranked them 10 stars.
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Old Jan 10, 2011, 9:52 pm
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Hainan Airlines is an above-average carrier and on some sectors - they certainly are quite impressive (i.e. SZX-SYX in 2007, they served full meals with two choices - rice or noodles - while KA flies HKG-SYX but serves beverages only), but certainly not as good as SQ, OZ or CX. I wonder how much Hainan paid Skytrax for this award.

Originally Posted by coolfish1103
Hainan Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines are owned by the same group. Tells you much about how accurate this rating is!
Actually, to correct you there, Hong Kong Airlines is owned by Hainan Airlines. Plus, it's even more hilarious how Hong Kong Airlines is boasting their 4-star status (which they got in December) with the tagline 'The World's 4-Star Airline' (hint: think QR ) on Hong Kong ads.

Last edited by toyotaboy95; Jan 10, 2011 at 9:58 pm Reason: tagline edit
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Old Jan 10, 2011, 11:07 pm
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Originally Posted by toyotaboy95
Actually, to correct you there, Hong Kong Airlines is owned by Hainan Airlines. Plus, it's even more hilarious how Hong Kong Airlines is boasting their 4-star status (which they got in December) with the tagline 'The World's 4-Star Airline' (hint: think QR ) on Hong Kong ads.
The HNA Group owns various amounts of equity in half a dozen airlines, including HU and UO. They are also involved in non aviation related businesses.
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Old Jan 11, 2011, 2:56 am
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This, combined with the "expiration" of approved airline status and the fact that they seem to rate new and emerging airlines much more highly than established ones in most cases, leads me to strongly suspect that Skytrax may well be a "pay to play" site. No proof of this of course, and it is purely my opinion, but the ratings bear little correlation to the real life experiences of myself or the people I know.
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Old Jan 11, 2011, 3:35 am
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I flew Hainan Airlines a few times in my trip around China, May/June 2010. I thought they were better than some other local airlines but nothing better than 2/3 stars at best. Food was surprisingly good though

Check in was where I struggled. At one airport they had electronic kiosks and 1 lady assisting people, of course she never bothered helping me even though she looked at me numerous times standing there patiently, instead serving anybody who elbowed their way to the front of the line

To compare it to Singapore is hilarious
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Old Jan 11, 2011, 8:45 am
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Originally Posted by moondog
The HNA Group owns various amounts of equity in half a dozen airlines, including HU and UO. They are also involved in non aviation related businesses.
Thank you.
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