Hi again everyone, welcome back to another flight review. Today I'll be sharing an airline that's less known from mainland, that being Xiamen Airlines aboard their Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner from Beijing Daxing (PKX) to Doha. I took this over a year ago so the details might be slightly woozy but I recal most of em.
Daxing is much farther from the city than PEK (capital international airport), but it's a glorious piece of architecture with enough shops/restaurants to match any major shopping mall in a big city. At the time, both Xiamen Air and Qatar flew this route, not on Qsuites. Nowadays, Qsuites seem to have returned, and as you'll see from the review it is preferable compared to Xiamen and its services.
I just arrived from the city, it took around an hour without any traffic.
Here's the first look at the terminal which opened right before COVID. How stunning is this?
Check-in was very quick, proving me with both my boarding passes for this flight and my connecting Qatar one over to LA.
Unlike at PEK. international departures at PKX doesn't require passengers to take a small train. Immediately after customs, before heading down the escalator to the shops, you get this awesome view of the archetectural symmetry, with a red love heart in the distance.
There really is something here for everyone. From here you can see the luxury brands, but there's also lots of souvenir stores and restaurants, far more than PEK offers. The interesting thing is unlike most airports which cater to the international taste, PKX offers many local specialties that match the flavors offered in the most local restaurants around China.
The terminal also feels very spacious despite having quite a lot of people around. I was offered a token to the China Southern lounge, but didn't have enough time on this trip. The lounge is located on the second floor overlooking the terminal.
Here's the first look at our bird for today, in the special UN livery. What a beautiful sight. As of now, most China Eastern and Southerrn operates out of PKX, with only a few widebodies heading to Shanghai from PEK.
Here's the first look at our seat. The business cabin is aligned in a 1-2-1 configuration. Waiting at my seat were headphones, a bottle of voss water, a small pillow, slippers, and a blanket (i forgot what the small blue bag was, might have been a heated eyemask or a cleaning towel).
The seat is decently sized but the legroom can be limited when fully reclined. The platform where my coffee cup is placed also opens up to become a nice storage area.
You can get a gist of the legroon when reclined here, you can probably tell it could feel a little cramped especially if you're a bit taller. There's also a sticker on the back offering wifi, which was a highlight of this trip. I was able to stream a live game of soccer when in the air with no delay, something I don't think any other airline has managed.
Here was a glass of welcome champagne.
The first strange point of the flight occurred with the meal/beverage offering. First, there was no menu for either, the purser came over to take orders of which there were only two options. She also asked if I was interested in any alcohol (remember, no physical menu), which could only be offered during dinner service.
The meal later on was definitely more than what would be offered in economy, but they way she explained the options reminded me of when the trolley passes by in economy and you're given the two classic options.
We began taxxing off on time, and soon took off out of PKX at 18:40.
Dinner service began quite a while after takeoff, I forgot exactly how long but enough time had passed that it became pitchblack outside. Chinese domestic carriers don't often provide a vast selection on their IFE's, often only providing one or a few episodes of TV shows. Xiamen's IFE was slightly better than that of Air China, I went with some Chinese romantic comedies to accompany my meal.
Nuts and a warm towel were provided, I did wish they gave more than one piece of the dried mango which was the highlight.
Then came my one and only cup of whisky the entire flight.
A salad, bread and butter, and three side dishes came next. The side dishes were a pesto scallop, hummus, and Chinese spiced beef. All three were cold starters and were all quite tasty. The salad wasn't anything special, and the bread was on the harder side. I do like the Xiamen's dark blue palette.
My main course then arrived with a guava juice. This was braised beef and vegetables with saffron rice and chicken soup. Xiamen seems to offer some sort of healthy soup/broth on all their business menus, which was a nice final taste of home before heading out. The beef tasted quite good, better than the salad/bread from earlier. It was also served all on one tray.
Dessert featured a fruit plate, Haagen Dazs ice cream, and a traditional Chinese dessert called "xing ren dou fu" aka almond tofu. It's not actually tofu, I don't think, it resembles the texture of herbal jelly with a sugary almond flavor. Luckily for Xiamen, this has always been one of my favorite desserts, and the only time I've been offered it on a flight.
After dinner, I went off for a quick sleep. Xiamen doesn't provide a mattress or thick bedding, so sleeping could prove difficult especially on the hard leather seats.
Then, what I feared would happen became a reality, I got hungry! Dinner tasted on the better end for Chinese carriers, but it didn't leave me completely full. Unfortunately, here was another issue with Xiamen. If I recall correctly, all long haul flights provide some sort of midnight snack. They only had a few small cookies and drinks in the galley, not even some small sandwiches or bread. After inquring with my purser, she informed me they didn't have any food options. I was planning to sleep off the hunger when she returned with a small cheese plate. I wasn't offered any cheese for dessert (which is completely fine) so I was curious where they found this:)
It wasn't much, especially considering how hungry I was, but I did appreciate it. Future suggestion for any Xiamen long-haul flyers, bring some snacks with you, you WILL get hungry.
Breakfast was offered an hour or two before landing. There was a Chinese and Western option, agian with no menu. I recall my neighbour having the classic omelette with potatoes and sausages, whereas I went with the Chinese option. It was a plain congee, some dimsum, a small fruit plate, a small cake (like the ones offered in the lounges), and a cold starter features pickled nuts/celery/black fungus. It also came with some chili sauce and soy sauce on the side.
The food tasted fine, but was honestly still on the small side in terms of quantity. The bowl of congee was very small and also quite shallow. The dim sum was also quite small and only a small portion was offered. I think these two meals would have been perfect for someone flying on a diet. Luckily I was able to indulge in Doha's Business lounge upon arrival.
Before long, we touched down at Doha Hamad International Airport at 22:19 local time. We were parked at a remote gate which I never complain about, since it means getting a shot of our bird from up close. Doesn't flying a special livery always feel so much cooler?
