Hi, dear flight-report members and readers!
This year I've spent quite a lot of time in Central Asia and part of this trip was devoted to visiting China. As a result a have a lot of avgeek content and will share it with you in the coming weeks.
In this special FR I'd like to present a detailed review of Air China Boeing 747-8i on a short domestic flight from Beijing Capital (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA).
Intro
Having flown 2 operators of B748 - Lufthansa (between FRA and MEX in 2016 and 2017) and Korean Air (between CDG and ICN in 2023) - I've finally made it to fly the 3rd operator: Air China.
Whereas LH and KE flights were international long-hauls, my flights on Chinese B748s were domestic short-hauls (actually - the world's shortest B748 flights). CA flies B748s internationally from its PEK hub only to US - to JFK (5 times/week) and IAD (2 times/week) and in between these flights the Jumbos make domestic rotations from PEK on trunk routes to Guangzhou (CAN) and Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA).
Whereas PEK-CAN flights see B748s quite systematically, PEK-SHA flights are often prone to change of aircraft type (one of the reasons why CA is called "Air Change") or cancellations. Below I'll try to explain the principles of how B748s are assigned on these domestic flights and how I managed to choose the dates that provided B748s on both legs PEK-SHA-PEK.
But firstly let's overview the current state of B748 fleets of all the 3 operators of the type.
B747-8 Passengers Operators And Their Routes
As of the late 2025 there are still three operators of passenger B748s: Lufthansa, Air China and Korean Air. In my FR of Korean Air ICN-CDG flight I already made an overview of their fleets, but it needs an update due to some noticeable changes that have taken place since.
Lufthansa (Star Alliance member).
LH has by far the world's largest (19 units) and oldest (2012-2015 built) B748 fleet with tail numbers from D-ABYA to D-ABYU. All these units have very premium-heavy 4-class layout. In 2026 the fleet size will be reduced to 17: two older units (D-ABYD and D-ABYG) will go to the US Government and probably share the fate of 5 older Korean Air B748s, which went to E-4C conversion.
The oldest B748 - D-ABYA - is currently being retrofitted into the new hybrid semi-Allegris layout F8_C80_W40_Y220, featuring new Allegris business cabin on the main deck (with different - more spacious - product compared to more narrow A359s and B789s), new premium economy seats with fixed shell and new economy seats (probably Recaro R3). At the same time the first class cabin in the nose and the upper deck business cabin remain the old ones, because Allegris first class suites and business class seats, designed for installing into the widest part of widebody fuselages, don't fit in the nose and on the upper deck and thus need special tailoring, which is supposed to be developed probably by 2027, when the 2nd phase of retrofit will take place. The number of the first class suites is announced to decrease from 8 to 6 (on par with KE B748 F size). Don't you agree that the new semi-Allegris LOPA is a true Frankenstein, clearly indicating what a mess is LH Group and its solutions?
If you ask me how I'd smartly reconfigure this LOPA, I'll tell you that I'd remove the entire premium economy and economy rows 18-20 and 26-27 and put there 32 Allegris business seats, remove the upper deck business seats and put there premium economy (with possible increase from 40 to 44 seats).
All the rest LH B748s are currently featuring the old F8_C80_W32_Y244 layout with first class lacking privacy, with dull and obsolete Collins Diamond Parallel business class seats, lacking privacy and direct aisle access, in 2-2-2 layout on the main deck and in 2-2 layout on the upper deck, with massive and plushy ZIMmagic premium economy seats, and with abysmal and extremely uncomfortable Recaro CL3520 economy seats.
Knowing how LHG is "fast" in rolling out new cabins, one can expect that its B748 fleet will be fully "allegrized" no earlier than 2030s.
LH B748 fly a lot of routes from FRA - some are year-round (like MEX, GRU, EZE, HND), some have season-wise capacity (like most US and some East Asian routes) and can be downgauged to smaller widebodies based in FRA.
HND-FRA flight (in this namely direction), which flies via North Pacific, Arctics and North Atlantics (due to closure of Russian airspace since March 2022) is the world's longest B747 flight by flight distance (and also the world's northernmost), with the second-longest also being LH's FRA-EZE.
Thus, LH is the easiest way to fly a B748, but I don't recommend flying it in economy (given that all their routes are long-hauls). Having flown twice in their old Recaro CL3520 economy between FRA and MEX, I was extremely exhausted and disappointed. The new Recaro R3 economy will be just marginally better. A long ago LH did sometimes put its B748s to intra-EU shorthauls from FRA to PMI, but it's no longer the case (though, it's a way to try other LHG widebodies, like WK A359s or A343s).
Korean Air (SkyTeam member).
KE, having finished the transfer of its older five 2015-2016 built B748s to Sierra Nevada for E-4C conversion, now is down to the world's smallest (4 units) and youngest (2016-2017 built) B748 fleet with tail numbers HL7638, HL7637, HL7642 and HL7644 (the latter is the last passenger B748 built), featuring 3-class F6_C48_Y314 layout (the least premium-heavy compared to the LH and CA ones) with first class Kosmo Suites in the nose, with business class Prestige Suites (B/C Aerospace Apex) on the main deck in 2-2-2 layout and on the upper deck in 2-2 layout, and with comfortable Safran Z300 economy seats (one of the best modern seat models for long-haul flying). The economy upholstery has recently been changed to a motley one like in KE B78Xs and A21Ns. HL7638 features the new KE livery which promotes the identity of the united KE-OZ brand, and, probably, the rest 3 units will also be repainted into the new livery. These last B748s are expected to stay in the fleet until early 2030s (depending on if/when B779 is eventually certified and if/when the deliveries begin).
With the size of the fleet down to just 4 it is expected that KE B748s will primarily serve US routes like ATL, JFK and LAX with occasional (and rather unpredictable) rotations to HKG, TPE, SIN or TYO. Currently (December 2025) KE B748s serve just two US destinations - LAX and HNL. If some US routes will be upgauged to A380 in the summer schedule, one can expect that KE can put B748 to one of its European destination for a while (last year it was LHR).
ATL-ICN (when served by B748) shares the title of the world's longest B747 route with LH's HND-FRA.
Thankfully, I flew KE B748s on long-haul flights between CDG and ICN in 2023 (when it was the easiest option to try them) and I deeply recommend them for long-haul flying in economy. Comfort- and service-wise Korean Air is 10 heads above Lufthansa.
Air China (Star Alliance member).
CA is the operator of the second-youngest B748 passenger fleet, which is just marginally larger than KE's one. CA has 7 pax B748s, but 2 of them are in VIP config for governmental use, and 5 are in scheduled passenger operation: namely 2014-built B-2485, B-2487 and B-2486, and 2015-built B-2482 and B-2480. The two latter were grounded for a long time and returned to service just now, in December 2025. Before that - including the time of my trip to China in November 2025 - CA had the world's smallest number (just three) of active B748s in scheduled passenger flights.
CA B748s have 3.5-class layout F12_C54_Y+66_Y233 with the most unusual location of the first class among the 3 B748 operators: it is located between 1L/R and 2L/R doors. The reason is that the first class suites (Zodias Aerospace Venus) are designed for the widest part of the large widebody fuselages (they are also used in CA's 3-class B77Ws) and simply don't fit in the tapered Jumbo's nose due to their vast size. Also, considering the number of F suites (1.5 times larger than the current LH's one and 2 times larger than KE's one), this location of F provides better weight balance of the aircraft. First class doesn't occupy the entire space between 1L/R and 2L/R doors: 2 rows of business class in 2-2-2 layout are located between 1L/R and F cabin - right where the fuselage starts tapering toward the nose. Business class also occupies the nose (2-2 layout) and the upper deck (2-2 layout). The business class seat model is quite obsolete Collins Parallel Diamond, lacking privacy and direct aisle access. The model name sounds similar to LH's Collins Diamond Parallel business seats, but in reality these models differ so significantly that it creates one of the non-obvious peculiarities of CA B748s, as I'll show in this FR. The economy+ and economy seat model is Collins Pinnacle.
CA B748s operate just 2 international routes from PEK - to JFK (5 times/week) and IAD (2 times/week) and just 2 domestic routes - to CAN and SHA in between US flights. Until June 2024 one of the FRA frequencies (CA931/932) was operated by B748s, but that's long gone.
IAD-PEK is the world's third-longest B747 route. PEK-CAN and PEK-SHA are the only 2 domestic B748 flights in the world with the latter (covered in this FR) being the world's shortest B748 flight.
Also worth noting that among the three B748 pax operators Air China is the only one who never operated A380s (LH operates 8 whalejets, and KE operates 6 whalejets). But another major Chinese airline - China Southern (the largest airline in Asia) - had a small fleet of 5 A380s until 2022.
China's Avgeek Potential
Avgeek-wise, China with its large number of airlines and various and vast fleets has a lot to offer on domestic flights. Starting with B748 domestic flights PEK-CAN-PEK and PEK-SHA-PEK, continuing with B77Ws with one of the world's coolest economy cabins with 3-3-3 layout (CA's ones with B-20XX regs, operating from PEK, and CZ's ones, operating from CAN), A339 (HU's one, which has just recently joined the fleet), B788s (MF's ones with first class, which is unique), and I don't speak about numerous, but boring A359s, B789s, A333s and A332s. Narrowbody fleets stands out by having Chinese-produced C919s (CA, MU, CZ), ARJ21s (CA, MU, CZ, EU, G5, 9D, RY, UQ), and rare A19Ns (CA, CZ, TV, PN).
Before pandemic it was even possible to fly CZ A380 with their cool layout, having an upper-deck economy cabin, domestically between CAN and PEK. But, sadly, CZ retired their last whalejets in November 2022, when China was still closed due to pandemic. Anyway, in late 2024 I was lucky to fly an OZ whalejet in the upper-deck economy from NRT to ICN.
If I had more time and energy, I could've also tried to fly CZ B77W and someone's C919, ARJ21 and A19N. But China, being a huge country with deep culture, deserves at least several visits, so, hopefully, I'll be able to realize these plans in the future.
Flying CA B748 Domestically: Stable CAN and Unpredictable SHA
The main purpose of CA's B748 fleet is to serve the 2 most important US routes:
PEK-JFK (CA981) departs 5 times per week: Monday (19:35), Wednesday (20:25), Thursday (20:25), Saturday (20.00) and Sunday (19:35). It returns to PEK (as CA982) 2 days later, respectively at Wednesday (06:50), Friday (07:45), Saturday (07:45), Monday (06:50) and Tuesday (06:50).
PEK-IAD (CA817) departs 2 times per week: Tuesday (16:50) and Friday (16:50). It returns to PEK (as CA818) 2 days later, respectively at Thursday (03:55) and Sunday (03:55).
As one can quite easily figure out, this schedule can be fulfilled with just 2 frames in an ideal world with no disruptions and malfunctions. In the real world 1 spare frame is needed to guarantee the stability of the schedule. And that's was the case until recently, when CA operated just 3 B748s: B-2485, B-2486 and B-2487.
With three B748s it's possible to maintain domestic PEK-CAN-PEK and PEK-SHA-PEK rotations almost daily: certain SHA rotations (like CA1557/1558 and CA1523/1524, which were most frequent in getting B748 during November 2025) can be "sandwiched" between departure and arrival of US flights on the same day. Other (earlier or later) SHA rotations (like CA1507/1508, CA1501/1502, CA1565/1566 and so on) require a frame that stays overnight in PEK before or after; the same is applicable for CAN rotations (the most frequent CAN rotation in getting B748 was CA1315/1316), given that CAN is twice further from PEK than SHA and requires much more block time. Also worth noting that after an US flight a B748 typically spends up to 3 hours on the ground in PEK (let's call it "deep turnaround"), an this factor affects the schedule of its possible domestic rotations (for example, making impossible "sandwiching" early CAN rotations like CA1351/1352, CA1321/1322 and so on between US flight on the same day). At the same time, turnaround time from domestic arrival to US departure can be quite short (down to 1.5 hours). Sometimes a B748 can even make 2 domestic rotations per day - for example, PEK-SHA-PEK-SHA-PEK, or PEK-SHA-PEK-CAN-PEK, or PEK-CAN-PEK-SHA-PEK. Surely, it requires the frame to stay overnight in PEK before or after. With just 3 B748 in service, the domestic B748 schedule is prone to cancellations: if a B748, scheduled to US, goes tech, CA easily withdraws another one from domestic service, cancelling CAN or SHA flights (one have to keep in mind that there are a lot of daily frequencies on PEK-CAN and PEK-SHA routes, so CA can easily accomodate passengers on another flights on the same date, if needed).
Now (December 2025), when two more B748s (B-2482 and B-2480) are back in passenger service (totalling the number of active frames to five), in terms of getting B748 CAN flights have become much more stable: CA1315/1316 is served daily with B748 (with rare exceptions), whereas (and it's look like paradox!) SHA flights have become much more unstable: SHA gets B748 far from daily and on rotation with random number with no seeming regularity.
Price-wise, worth noting that PEK-SHA flights are much cheaper than PEK-CAN flights if booking quite in advance (sometimes prices hold on the same level up to few days before departure) which is logical, taking into account that CAN is twice further from PEK than SHA. Usually PEK-SHA tickets cost around 600 Yuan (plus some little taxes) one-way, and PEK-CAN tickets cost 1200+ Yuan (sometimes the price can be 900 Yuan and it's definitely a deal to jump in).
If you include PEK-CAN-PEK or PEK-SHA-PEK legs into a single ticket with international flights, for example, originating and ending in EU, you'll find that RT tickets EU-CAN-EU and EU-SHA-EU cost the same - around 510 EUR if buying in advance (domestic legs go almost as a bonus to the international legs), which makes CAN much more attractive than SHA (especially taking into account the current stability of CAN and instability of SHA!).
But you have to keep in mind that (speaking about CAN flights) connection time from a redeye EU-PEK flight to CA1315 flight may be barely enough for clearing immigration and security (PEK is notorious by its long queues), and CA1316 may not have convenient connections to the evening departure bank of PEK-EU flights, thus requring inconvenient overnight layovers. If your departure and arrival EU point has multiple CA frequencies per day (like, say, FRA, which is served by 3 daily B77Ws), you have more flexibility compared to the point with just single daily frequency (like, say, MXP). So, you have to weight pro and contra before pulling the trigger on buying single CA ticket EU-China-EU.
How I Gambled On B748 SHA Flights
I initially booked PEK-SHA-PEK flights (CA1557+CA1558) in a single ticket on 22-26 November via Air China app (though, I failed to create an account there, because it requires receiving an SMS which never came - I guess, it's only doable with Chinese number inside China). I was able to select seats on both flights via "manage booking" section of CA website without creating an account. The ticket price was 1280 Yuan (156 EUR) with checked luggage included. I guess, currently this is the cheapest bet in the world to fly a B748 twice.
I made my way to Beijing by train from Huoerguosi (Khorgas), which is a small town on Chinese - Kazakhstan border and similarly did the way back. I had enough days to spare in Beijing (thankfully, Beijing is rich for sightseeing to fill the days). Every day I was checking CA app to be sure that B748s remain to be announced on my flights, but in the evening of November 20 I discovered that the my CA1557 flight disappeared from the schedule for 22 November. Having checked e-mail, I discovered that my flight was cancelled. CA "by default" offered CA1533 (operated by a dull A333) with departure time 12:30 instead. This was definitely not a way to go, and next morning I went to the CA Beijing office (located near Lianmaqiao subway station in the Air China Century building) to find a better solution.
In the office I was told that a flight cancellation gives the passenger a lot of flexibility with the right to change once for free both flights in the ticket (not only the cancelled one!) for any date and any flight number on the ticketed route. It was definitely much better scenario than being stuck with a boring aircraft type in case of aircraft change instead of cancellation!
After quite some consultations with my intuition, I put the trigger on CA1557 flight on November 23 and CA1558 flight on November 26 (the original date of the return). The CA staff in the office were extremely nice and welcoming, and after issuing the updated ticket they helped me to check-in (I was unable to do it, as I failed to create an accout in CA app) and choose the seat for CA1557 (online check-in for CA Express Line opens 48 hours before departure).
As an illustration how wild the assignment of B748s to SHA flights can go, here's what happened on the dates close to the my ones:
November 20: CA1557/1558 rotation was cancelled. Instead, a B748 operated CA1507/1508 in the morning and then a rotation to CAN in the afternoon.
November 24: B748 was announced on CA1523/1524 rotation and actually made it.
November 25: B748 was announced on CA1501/1502 rotation, but was changed to B77W.
November 28: two B747s were announced on adjacent rotations: B744(!) on CA1523/1524 and B748 on CA1557/1558. It looked very temptating to try an old Jumbo (which also have nonstandard first class location between 1L/R and 2L/R doors) on the way back, but it was more than obvious that one of these rotations will definitely suffer aircraft change; I was afraid to make a wrong bet and decided to stay safer with CA1558 on November 26. In reality, CA1523/1524 got B748 (which then made one more rotation to SHA the same day) and CA1557/1558 got A333.
If I heard to the "avanturistic" part of my intuition and made my bet on the fake "B744", I would've been better rewarded with also getting a B748, but on a better timed CA1524 flight (which lands in PEK before darkness in late November), not speaking about 2 more days in magnificent Shanghai. So, sometimes risky bets are rewarded better than safer ones…
Speaking about CA B744s, it seems like this fake announcement was the last ever CA announcement concerning old Jumbos. Considering that 2 more B748 - B-2482 and B-2480 - have just returned into service, I guess that it sadly spells the end for the B744 passenger operations in China.
Beijing Capital Airport (PEK)
Beijing has 2 major airports - the older Capital (PEK) and the newer Daxing (PKX), whose terminal was designed by Zaha Hadid. Both are easily accessible by airport express lines, integrated into the city's subway system. Though, the fare - 25 Yuan - is significantly higher than city subway fares (4-8 Yuan).
PEK has 2 terminals - T2 and T3, the latter being home for Air China. T3, designed by Foster + Partners architect bureau and finished in 2008, consists of 3 separate concources: gates C and gates D for domestic flights and gates E for international flights.
Concourse C houses the airport express station, check-in hall for all the T3 flights and domestic gates.
Concourse D houses Air China domestic flights.
Concourse E houses international flights and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan flights (which China considers as kind of "domestic").
Due to the limitation of 150 photos per FR, I wouldn't be able to add photos of T3 PEK, because I need to reserve this limit for the aircraft, which definitely deserves it.
I decided to use the advantage of included checked baggage and to check my backpack (to get rid of extra weight to ease the load on my aging back), taking into aircraft only little light backpack with devices. There are a lot of automated drop-off counters for CA Express Line (this is how CA calls its PEK-CAN and PEK-SHA routes) passengers, but I decided to drop off the luggage on the conventional counter and was handed a paper statement to sign that my luggage complies safety requirements.
Having done with the luggage, I made my way to the airside - firstly to C-gates. I like spaciousness and quietness of this concourse, which contrasts with bustling check-in hall. My flight was departing from D-gates, which are connected with C-gates by the shuttle train (which continues to the international E-gates).
D-gates turned to be even more spacious and quiet. At this time there were only 2 aircrafts at the gates of this concourse, and both were B748s.
B-2487 in the morning light, being prepared to CA1315 flight to CAN (she also operated my CA1558 flight 3 days later).
The Aircraft
And here, near the D03 gate in the counter-light, is the aircraft of today - 2014-built B-2485, the very first B748 in CA fleet, which arrived from IAD earlier this morning.
Boarding
Boarding on CA domestic flight doesn't use groups. There are 2 boarding lines - one for first class, business class, premium economy and holders of high tiers of Phoenix Miles loyalty program (boarding via 1L door), and one for economy (boarding via 2L door).
Views of the wing and the portside GEnX engines on the way to 2L door.
The 2L door.
Instead of turning right, I turned left and spent some time exploring premium cabins in the front part of the aircraft.
The First Class Cabin
The large first class cabin, consisting of 12 Zodiac Aerospace Venus suites, arranged in 1-2-1 layout in 3 rows (rows 1 to 3), is located in front of 2L/R doors. As was said before, these suites are designed for installing into the widest part of B747 or B777 fuselages and thus don't fit into the tapered nose of B747. Comparing to China Eastern B77W first class suites, I'd say that MU's product is definitely superior, but CA's product also looks very solid.
Overhead bins were closed, making a "like inflight" vibe in the cabin.
A magnificent view of the starboard GEnX engines from 3L first class suite.
The Nose Business Class Cabin
The front business class cabin is located in the Jumbo's nose and consists of 12 Collins Parallel Diamond seats, arranged in 3 rows (rows 11 to 13) with 2-2 layout. Overhead bins were closed and moodlighting turned on, making "like inflight" vibe in the cabin. The detailed views of this cabin will be shown further.
The Second Business Class Main Deck Cabin
The 2nd business class cabin, consisting also of 12 Collins Parallel Diamond seats, arranged in 2 rows (rows 14-15) with 2-2-2 layout, is located between 1L/R doors and the first class cabin. This is where the fuselage tapering (towards nose) begins, so it's rather unsuitable for Zodiac Aerospace Venus first class suites, and CA's decision to install here 2 rows of business seats seems reasonable.
The Stair
A brief look (with high hopes) at the stair to the upper deck…
… and it's time to go to the central and rear sections of the aircraft behind 2L/R doors.
The Economy Plus Cabin
The economy plus cabin, consisting of 66 seats (the same as in regular economy, but with fixed armrests and increased row pitch), arranged in 6 rows (rows 31 to 37) with 3-4-3 layout, is located between 2L/R and 3L/R doors. It will be shown in details further. CA markets this cabin as "premium economy", but it's kind of cheating, because true premium economy cabin must have at least one seat less per row than economy cabin (resulting in significantly wider seats compared to Y).
The Front Economy Cabin
The front economy cabin, consisting of 92 seats, arranged in 10 rows (rows 38 to 47) with 3-4-3 layout, is located between 3L/R and 4L/R doors. Rows 38 and 47 don't have central 4-seaters blocks.
The Rear Economy Cabin
The large rear economy cabin, consisting of 141 seats, arranged in 15 rows (rows 48 to 64) with 3-4-3 layout, is located between 4L/R and 5L/R doors. Row 48 has only left 3-seater block, row 49 doesn't have central 4-seater block, rows 60 to 62 have lateral 2-seater blocks instead of 3-seaters (due to fuselage tapering), rows 63 and 64 only have central 4-seater blocks.
The Economy Seat
My seat is 50A, located in front of the rear economy cabin. The seat model Collins Pinnacle with customized seatback. My seat looked quite tired, and armrests were literally dangling in the lateral direction, making one unable to make proper measurements of the seatwidth. But on my return flight, operated by B-2487, I had a seat in much better condition with sturdy armrests, and, based on that seat, the seatwidth between armrest is (expectedly!) 17.3" (for the photoproof I refer to the corresponding FR), which is on par with KE B748 seatwidth.
Hey, Aerolopa, for how long will you continue lying about seatwidth in Korean and Chinese B748s and ignoring passenger experience-based feedback?! This is another example that common sense is needed even when dealing with reputable LOPA databases. Now it's a proven theorem that the seatwidth in 3-4-3 B748 economy is always the same as in 3-3-3 Dreamliner, and the only passenger aircraft that allows 18" seatwidth (and more - up to 19"!) in 3-4-3 economy layout is A380.
The seat looks well-padded… until you're seated. In fact the padding is quite hard and while it's definitely way better than any Recaro product, I'm not sure whether I want to fly long-haul in these seats. This is the first time I find a Pinnacle seat underwhelming in terms of comfort. On my previous flights in Pinnacle seats - ex-LATAM B763 on GRU-MXP, AeroMexico B789 on MEX-AMS, EVA Air B77W on TPE-ICN, LATAM B789 on AKL-SCL - everything was fine in terms of seatback comfort. I don't get why CA chose such strange padding for these seats.
The seat has adjustable headrest, IFE with USB port, upper hard pocket, coat hanger, bifold tray table with cup holder, lower soft pocket, footrest and underseat universal power socket. Window seats have IFE power box, but quite slim and not bothersome. Waiting on the seat was just pillow (blankets were available at request). The IFE screen is rather small and, in addition to the "tired" state of the seat, the IFE didn't want to turn on, so I asked a FA to reset it (later on it had to be reset again).
The row pitch is much better than in LH B748, but expectedly less than in KE B748.
Worth noting that due to the cabin load being far from full, I got an empty seat near me, which added for the comfort (though, on such a short flight one can hardly benefit from this bonus).
Enter text here…
The headset, handed by crew, and the seat pocket content - safety card and duty-free magazine.
The overhead panel (expectedly without personal airvents) and 787-like cabin interior with pre-departure mood lighting.
The Flight
CA safety video is played (I found it to be nice and creative)…
… and pushback begins.
Flaps moving into takeoff position.
Taxiing past C-concourse of T3. When B748 wing is in takeoff or landing configuration, one can clearly see, how some B777 and B787 wings' features were implemented into the classic B747 wing.
Lining up to the runway.
Takeoff with T2 and HU aircrafts in sight.
Climbing out above the thick smog covering Beijing and its suburbs (during my previous days in Beijing the air felt clear, so it was the right moment to escape the Chinese capital).
Flaps off, turning left above the sea of smog. One can clearly see how the famous B747 flaperons work.
A river of gold with numerous bridges.
As we're reaching the cruising altitude, let's stretch the legs.
A couple of inflight views of the rear economy cabin. Notice the duo seat blocks in rows 60-62, aligned to the aisle. They have a huge gap between the B/K seats and the wall, which is good for lateral spaciousness and storage of the stuff, but very inconvenient for looking into the window.
An inflight view of the front economy cabin.
Let's explore the IFE. It turned to be rather weak content-wise, compared to the ones in KE B748 and LH B748. At least the seatmap is partially adjustable. One can see that having just reached the cruising FL, we've already covered 1/3 way to SHA.
The most interesting part of IFE is the video about the star of the show - B748. Have you noticed something unusual about the upper deck on the 2nd photo in this gallery? If not, you'll see further.
As we're halfway to SHA, the meal service is started. Just look at this - a beautifully presented hot meal on a short 1.5-hours flight! Wow! It's the same level of service as I experienced on OZ NRT-ICN flights! At the same time no drink service was provided, so a small battle of water was all you can drink. So, I recommend to take your own bottle and fill it in the airport, given that Chinese airports always have water dispensers.
And I have to admit how nice and welcoming were the crew.
After the meal the crew allowed me to go to 2L/R doors for the nice engine views. The advantage of CA1557 flight in late November is that its timing aligns perfectly with the highest position of sun and the best possible light.
The stair to the upper deck from a nice angle (and yes, I asked the crew about visiting the upper deck after the flight; you'll see the result further).
Given that the economy+ cabin was almost empty, I made detailed photos of its seats. Could you guess why the seats have fixed armrest with armrest-mounted tray tables? Because of the large seat pitch, which makes inconvenient the use of the seatback tray tables! So, economy+ passengers de-facto have 2 tray tables (but due to the fixed armrests you cannot arrange "poor man's business class" if you have the 3- or 4-seater block at your disposal, whereas in regular economy you easily can). In this video by Jayden Wong you can see how it works, and what is the level of the service in Y+ on PEK-CAN flights.
As we're slowly starting to descend, it's time to return to the seat and just enjoy the rest of the flight.
B748 wing and its wingtip with CA's phoenix logo.
Overflying Yangtze river with some of its impressive bridges.
Getting closer and closer to Shanghai…
Impressive Shanghai metro area in sight as we're descending (with impressive flaperon oscillations).
Flaps in pre-landing position…
… and, finally, in landing position.
Touchdown in SHA with international T1 in sight.
Flaps off, taxiing to the domestic T2.
A shadow of the B748 wing and the outer portside engine as we've parked at gate 48 of T2. We arrived 40 minutes earlier than scheduled arrival time!
My seat 50A after the flight. Note that it has 2 well-aligned windows
The Rear Economy Cabin After The Flight
A couple of views of the rear economy cabin upon disembarkment. Please note the guy from 49K - you'll see him further.
The Front Economy Cabin After The Flight
Couple of views of the front economy cabin upon disembarkment.
The Economy Plus Cabin After The Flight
And couple of views of the economy+ cabin upon disembarkment.
The Upper Deck Business Class Cabin After The Flight
And - YESSS! Welcome to the Jumbo's upper deck! CA crew were so nice and allowed all the avgeeks on this flight to visit the upper deck business cabin after the flight! Kudos and huge thanks to them!!!
The upper deck business cabin consists of 30 Collins Parallel Diamond seats, arranged in 8 rows (rows 80-88) with 2-2 layout. Row 88 has only right 2-seater block.
General views of the upper deck from the rear. Notice that overhead bins are closed, making the "like inflight" vibe in the cabin, and multi-color moodlighting is turned on. This is the first time I'm visiting the upper deck in daylight time, which is the best for taking photos. The previous time, when I visited B748 upper deck after ICN-CDG flight, it was dark outside and the cabin light was low.
Exit doors of the upper deck.
Rows 80-82 from the rear.
Rows 80-82 in details. Now one can see that CA's B748s not only have nonstandard layout of the main deck, but also nonstandard upper deck - without sidewall storages! And hence is the difference between CA's Collins Parallel Diamond and LH's Collins Diamond Parallel business seats - the former are significantly wider and more massive than the latter - to the extent, where removal of the sidewall storages is needed to allocate them on the upper deck! So, despite the obsolete seat model and layout, CA's business class definitely wins over LH's one in terms of spaciousness.
A general view of the upper deck from the front. Notice the another avgeek - the man from 49K seat!
General views from the front with the nice variable moodlighting.
General view of rows 83-87 from the front. Note that the guy is taking photo of the engine view from 87L. This is the thing I forgot to make.
Rows 83-87 in details.
The last glance on the upper deck…
… and it's time to go downstairs. As one can see, the cleaning staff is already in the aircraft, so I have a little time.
The First Class Cabin After The Flight
Just a couple of photos of the first class cabin as I was rushing towards the nose. Thankfully, I had time to take unobstructed photos of this cabin during boarding…
The Second Business Class Main Deck Cabin After The Flight
And the last shot of the 2nd business main deck cabin before entering the nose.
The Nose Business Class Cabin After The Flight
Thankfully, the nose business cabin was empty and the crew allowed me to visit it despite the time was already clocking out. Thus I managed to take detailed photos of this cabin as well.
General views of the nose cabin from the rear and the closet with CA's phoenix logo.
General views from the front.
Rows 11-13 in details.
The Aircraft After The Flight
And now it's time to say a big "she-she" to the amazing CA crew and say goodbye to B-2485, leaving the aircraft via 1L door.
A couple of fuselage views from the jetbridge. And again, as in PEK, the sunny-side views are obstructed by the jetbridges.
And, finally, a couple of views of the beautiful Jumbo and its wing from the terminal.
A Bit Of Planespotting From T2 SHA
An ANA RR-powered B78X (JA901A) in 3-class C38_W21_Y235 international layout is departing from T1 to HND (BTW, SHA is a direct analog of HND, except that Hongqiao is not located in the bay!). NH has just 3 international B78Xs (all of them are RR-powered), but also 7 (with more to come) domestic GE-powered B78Xs in high-density 2-class C28_Y401 domestic layout with quite bare-bones cabins (though, with modern IFE with large screens), replacing old domestic B773s, B77Es and B772s. NH's international flights are very expensive, but their domestic flights (for example, HND-ITM) is quite an affordable way to try a B78X (though, on my way to Japan a year ago I already flew a quite luxurious EY B78X, so I ignored NH's domestic ones).
Thank you for your attention and see you in the next FRs!
