Living in Chengdu, I was more than pleased to see this flight popping up in the news, a few months ago. It considerably shortens the travel time to and back to China. I am a French national and I usually fly to and back from Roissy-CDG. The flight time is about 11-12 hours, as the flight goes around Tibet (for safety reasons) and then, above Russia.
The flight from Vienna to Chengdu considerably shortens the trip back to Asia, despite the detour around the Black Sea, this for obvious reasons).
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The arrival and check-in at Vienna International Airport is usually very easy. The staff was friendly, very efficient at dealing with my (numerous previous and) current China visa(s). No weird question were asked and my luggage went on-board immediately. Hand-luggage wasn't weight-checked, as it is usually is the case with Chinese airlines. For that, I love them!
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The boarding was easy too, we went with a bus to our Boeing 787-8, parked away. Boarding went smoothly too, despite the usual chaos, when travelling with Chinese nationals. Fun to watch and to experience. The crew immediately gave a friendly impression, and quite a genuine one. A little amenity bag and a menu had been given on each seat: earplugs, sleeping mask, socks and … a tooth brush. Really nice of Hainan Airlines, as I usually "sleep" better after having brushed my teeth.
We set up and had to wait for about 45 minutes for the plane to depart, as the tower control had to deal with many flights on that day. No one felt impatient, and no issue was to be recorded.
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Meal was served about 1h after departure. We had the choice between meat and fish. I also saw to European ladies being served a special meal. I didn't see this option, while checking-in online. Red and white wine, as well as beers were available. And the Chinese teas, which I usually take: jasmine and black tea (red tea in Chinese). The meal was truly good: the chicken salad with pasta was fresh and tasty, the main dish, typical from South China and the Austrian yoghurt more than welcome!
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We then set up for the night and some passengers chose to watch movies. That is where Hainan Airlines is unfortunately behind its competitors, despite a working IFE and an interesting choice of movies: the earphones weren't good enough for me to watch and listen to the movie's dialogues clearly. And no English subtitles were available either, on non-Chinese movies: which means, you only have the choice between Chinese movies with EN subs or … non-Chinese movies with CN subs…hmm…not the best combo!
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Flight went smooth and about 2h before landing, breakfast was served. A good blend of South Chinese food & Western breakfast: butter, croissant and marmelade. Landing itself and disembarking went smoothly at Tianfu Airport. Luggage were handled and delivered extremely fast: I wasn't done with immigration (many foreign visitors on that day), that my luggage already had arrived.
