Review of Asiana Airlines flight from Shanghai to Seoul in Business

Routing

Pre-Flight

I had planned to arrive at PVG by 14:25, 2h before departure, but that didn't go to plan with lots of construction and a rare car crash slowing down the trip out to the airport from the city. Here we are arriving to T2 at 14:40.

After clearing the explosives checks, it was a long walk down to Aisle K for OZ's check-in counters.

It was a short wait for the passengers at the counters to finish up and then I was helped. My bag was checked through to SFO, I was handed my boarding passes, and informed that I could use tier the MU or CA Lounges. He asked which I wanted to use, I told him I would just do the CA lounge since I didn't have much time and asked him not to spend the time preparing an invitation card for the MU lounge.

Reaching the international immigration/security checkpoint.

Immigration was not too bad despite this being the start of the TPAC block that swell the number of people using the foreigner lanes (AA, UA, AC flights). Security also was not as bad as it has been previously and I was pleasantly surprised when I was waived through versus being subjected to a thorough pat down. I made it airside at 15:15, 35 minutes after arriving at the airport.

With only 20-30 minutes until boarding was due to start, I started walking down to the CA lounge, which was enroute to our assigned gate.

Air China Business Class Lounge

The lounge is near gate 71 and is accessed by a walkway behind some restaurants upstairs.

The lounge is spread across two floors (upstairs being much larger), but I just stayed downstairs since I had no intention of eating anything.

I grabbed some drinks and took a seat in one of the many available seating areas with charging ports.

There is a nice outdoor garden area next to the lounge, it is shame they don't allow passengers to access it.

Plane Spotting

At 14:45, I started walking down to the gate. We would be leaving from the very end of the pier so plenty of plane spotting enroute.

AA B787 to DFW.

AC B787 to YVR.

EK B77W arriving from DXB.

BR B77W pushing back to TPE.

Boarding

And here is our <2 year old A321neo, HL8533, that has OZ's C8 (2-2) and Y180 (3-3) configuration. There are some planes with a more premium heavy C12/Y168 configuration.

The FIDS as I wait for boarding to start.

Plenty of agents standing around our gate and eventually we were called to line up and started boarding at 16:00.

Down we go to our awaiting aircraft.

Entering the plane, 2 FAs were in the galley to greet passengers.

Here is my seat for this flight, 1A.

Seat Tour

The legroom in the bulkhead is decent enough.

Pre-placed on the seat were slippers and noise-cancelling headphones, which really aren't needed since there are no personal IFE screens.

The center console houses the tray table, seat controls, headphone jack, and audio controls.

The very basic seat functions to control either seat recline or the leg rest.

The front of the center console houses a pair of USB-A ports and a pair of 110V universal power outlets.

The standard seat back contents: safety card, airsickness bag, instructions for streaming IFE, and duty free catalog.

The newer PSUs found on the A321neos.

As boarding wrapped up, we were handed packaged oshibori.

OZ does not offer PDBs anymore so I had grabbed a water from the lounge to stay hydrated until we were up in the air.

Menus were then offered. As a short regional flight, there are only 2 options for main. The drinks list is also abbreviated with only two wines offered and no champagne. The liquor offering is relatively unchanged from long-haul.

The view from my seat with an ET A359 already replacing the BR B77W next door.

Pushback and Taxi

The overhead screens flipped down and played the safety video as we awaited our departure slot.

We were soon pushing back for our departure providing a good view of the tails along T2. PVG has finally recovered post pandemic with plenty of visitors from near and far.

Being at the terminus of the terminal meant there was no taxi and we would just spin around and join the queue behind this Y8 B738 in Ruijin special livery as the UA B789 arrives from LAX.

We would then turn to align on runway 16R for departure as a CZ A321 lands on 16L.

Departure from Pudong

We took off at 16:59, ~30 minutes behind schedule.

Flying over COMAC's factory.

Plenty of C909 and C919 frames awaiting delivery.

Flying over the delta as we start our turn east.

As the largest cargo port in the world, there are hundreds of ships off the coast awaiting their turn to head into Shanghai.

In Flight Entertainment

There are no personal screens on the A321neos and entertainment is only streamed via personal device. There are instructions in the seat back pocket on how to access it.

The web portal looks identical to the seat back interface found on the other newer aircraft.

While the content is arranged the same, there is only about half as much content as you would find on a plane with in-seat screens.

There is a moving map, though not interactive.

Meal Service

As soon as released, the crew started the service. The tray table is fairly sturdy for a bifold design and features the same wood accent found on the center console as we well as a device holder.

Like KE, no linens are laid and the meal is served just on a tray.

The starter was Tuna Tataki with Mixed Greens. A nice break from what is 90% of the time salmon.

Warm breads were offered from a basket multiple times during the meal, I took the rosemary bread.

The main was Stir-fried Shrimp. The shrimp were cooked well and in a good sauce, but not a very imaginative dish.

Coffee and tea were proposed to accompany the fruit bowl. Drinks were topped up throughout the meal without being asked by a very attentive crew.

We got to enjoy the sunset during our meal as we made our way north to Korea.

Crossing over Jeju.

The final glimpses of the sun as we reach mainland Korea and prepare for landing.

Arrival into Incheon

There was little to see on my side of the plane as expected and we were soon dropping into ICN at 19:33, slightly behind schedule.

Arriving on runway 15R meant that we would have a very short taxi to T1. I had never arrived at these gates next to land side before.

Parking on stand just 5 minutes after landing on a rainy night in Seoul.

Transit Experience

Deplaning, there was a hand written sign with connecting gate information. For those not arriving into ICN, it would only be transiting passengers to SFO, JFK, and LAX.

One last look at HL8533, my first and likely last time flying an OZ A321neo.

Arriving at the end of the concourse, it was a decent walk back to the transit security check point.

OZ A380 along the way.

Eventually reaching the transfer security area that was completely empty. With the new machines that do not require the removal of liquids/electronics, I was through quickly and back airside.

I'll leave off this series here as I start my layover in Incheon.

Flight Information

Asiana Airlines, OZ366
Equipment: Airbus A321neo [HL8533, delivered December 2023]
Departure: 16:25 (ATD: 16:59)
Arrival: 19:20 (ATA: 19:33)
Flight time: 1:34