Review of Xiamen Airlines flight from Tianjin to Shanghai in Business

Routing

Airport Experience

I had spent the night at the Banyan Tree downtown (I'll put that in the bonus) and had a ride arranged for 05:40, 2 hours before departure. It is about a 25 minute ride from the riverfront and we arrived at 06:05 in front of TSN T2.

Heading inside on a cold morning (-6C), there were the mandatory explosives checks. A stop at the FIDS with the vast domestic operations from TSN. Our flight is shown as checking in from the H counters.

Heading off to the check-in counter.

Like most domestic terminals in China, the check-in is handled by the airport and not by individual airlines and I joined the H01 line marked for business class passengers. There are ~20 airlines sharing this check-in area so the lines were long, but do move quickly. Reaching the front, the agent worked quickly, confirmed my destination as PVG, tagged my bag, provided the lounge location, and pointed me off in the direction of security.

Reaching the fairly quiet security checkpoint.

Business class passengers can follow the red walkway to a priority lane.

From time stamps, it took 20 minutes from airport drop off to reaching air side. There are only 3 airline operated lounges at TSN: GS, CA, and MF. There are also several small airport operated lounges that can be accessed through lounge programs. I was very impressed by the CA Lounge during my last visit to TSN (here), so we will turn left to see how the MF Lounge compares.

Xiamen Air First Class Lounge

The MF Lounge is at the far end of the terminal near Gate 201. Entering, I was greeted by several agents, had my boarding pass scanned, and was shown in.

First impressions are that it is much smaller than the CA Lounge (less than half the size). This morning, MF was operating 4 flights before 8am, but never saw more than 6-8 people in the lounge.

The main seating area with high back chairs and a library along the wall.

There was a dining area with some chairs near the buffet as well.

I like the MF logo stitching on the pillows.

MF A321neo model signaling MF's move away from an all-Boeing fleet.

The buffet area was not large, but had an okay selection of hot and cold dishes along with drinks selections.

Hot dishes.

Snacks and drinks.

The noodle bar had just opened.

My light breakfast selection.

Boarding

Boarding was due to start at 07:10 per my boarding pass, but at 06:55 the lounge agent approached me and told me boarding was starting for my flight and I needed to leave for the gate.

Continuing the walk back to the main area.

We were leaving from Gate 267, which is one of the bus gates down stairs.

Reaching the gate, I joined the back of the neatly formed queue. There was a business class lane on the right, but there is little rush with a bus awaiting outside.

After scanning my boarding pass, the agent flagged his coworker, who then escorted me towards the VIP bus.

The quite comfortable VIP bus, each seat even had its own USB charging ports on the seat back.

I would be the last on the VIP bus, but we would wait for the buses ahead to fill up before we made a caravan out to the plane.

Nice view of a 3U A320 at the adjacent gate while we wait.

The caravan left at 07:15 to head to the plane. Passing a GS A320 enroute.

We then reach a row of MF 737s preparing for their morning departures to CAN, XMN, PVG, and YCU.

We park next to our ride today, B-227C, a two week old 737 MAX 8. There is not a lot of information available on MF's 737 MAX 8 fleet online. The information on Aerolopa is not accurate since it shows them as a Y184 configuration (here). They actually have an 8-seat J cabin that has Collins Aerospace MiQ seats that resemble what they are installing on their A321neos.

I like their livery.

Heading up the stairs and into this brand new plane.

When I booked this flight, I had picked12L and it was shown as operated by a 737-800. MF's website is about as difficult to use as all other Chinese carriers, but seat selection is at least achievable. The 8-seat cabin is small and it would be 100% full on day of departure on this important route between economic centers.

Seat Tour

Since it was bus boarding, I was the last business class passenger to make it up the stairs, so here is the seat on arrival at PVG. MF is installing the aforementioned Collins MiQ seats with what must be a ~50" seat pitch.

The pillow and blanket were nicely folded in the seat belt at boarding.

The royal seat pitch at ~50", there was no issue getting out to use the bathroom when my seat mate was asleep.

There is no in-seat IFE in these cabins and the seat back only contains a literature compartment.

Two in-flight magazines.

Safety card for the 737s.

I don't think I have ever seen this before, but they list the height of emergency exit door to the ground.

The seat back pocket contained a newspaper (no China Daily was offered), VOSS water bottle, and slippers.

As soon as I sit down, the FA comes up and welcomes me on-board and offers a hot towel. She was then followed by the purser who welcomed me on board and thanked me for my loyalty as a ST Elite Plus.

The FA then offered a glass of orange juice as a pre-departure drink.

As with all MiQ seats, there is a storage compartment under the armrest that contains the audio controls, 110v universal outlet, USB-A port, and AV jack.

These seats were installed with leg rests and foot rests so have three different control buttons.

The right arm rest houses the tray table.

Taxi and Take-Off

Our neighbor leaving for XMN.

The overhead monitors came down and played the safety video, which featured Quanzhou (a city I visited earlier this year: here) and other sites in Fujian.

We started our taxi out past a sea of GS planes.

We pull into the queue at the runway behind our sister heading to YCU.

A CA B738 heading to DLC pulls in behind us.

It was then our turn to align on runway 16L for departure.

We took off at 07:51 lifting up over Binhai.

Starting our trek south.

In-Flight Amenities

As soon as the FAs were released, I went up and used the forward lavatory. It was your standard MAX affair with some MF branded products and combs.

Leaving the lavatory, I was surprised by the purser who was waiting outside to offer me a hot towel, which I took back to my seat with me. I do not know if this was because I had used the bathroom or because they were starting up the meal service, but she offered me a second one when the linens were laid, so not sure.

Meal Service

The tray table was sturdy, but lacked any device holder you would expect on a newer aircraft. Before departure, the FA had come through the cabin with a paper menu taking meal orders, but there seemed to be only one option for breakfast. When she got to me, she told me that it was a several Chinese-style small dishes. She then told me she would translate the contents to confirm it was okay, which she did in the galley and returned with a piece of paper for me to confirm it was okay.

The FA came out and laid the linens and asked for drink orders. I had asked for a pu'er tea, but she said they didn't have any and offered a red tea instead.

She then returned with the meal tray. Pretty comperable to the breakfast I had on CA a couple of months earlier TSN-SHA (here), but a little more visually interesting. In the front is a small plate of dim sum, on the left is spinach and half a tea egg, in the back is a fruit cup, and on the right is porridge.

In the back right was a small MF branded ziplock bag with some condiments for the porridge.

MF's cutlery.

The small plate of dim sum was fine, good mixture of flavors and textures.

The porridge was very good containing multiple grains and enhanced with the condiments.

After the meal concluded, another hot towel was offered along with more drinks.

Mid-Flight

The overhead screens came down and played some variety shows before switching to the moving map. There is no stream-to-device entertainment like CA and there is obviously no Wi-Fi offered. You should plan to bring your own entertainment if on a longer domestic flight.

There was little to see on a cloudy day except for some mountain ranges as we continue our trek south.

The cabin mid-flight. With the early morning departure, most slept the whole flight.

The crew was very active and re-filled my tea at least 4 times during the flight. My seat mate slept for the whole flight until descent started. The crew brought her a small tray with the fruit cup and a tea, which I thought was a good gesture despite already preparing the cabin for landing.

Arrival into Pudong

The descent started as we approached Shanghai over Taihu.

A hazy day in Shanghai as we cross Taihu.

Xupu Bridge as we cross the Huangpu.

Heading over Hangzhou Bay to make our u-turn and approach PVG from the south.

Starting our short final as we make land fall again after making our u-turn.

The rural southeast corner of Pudong is a stark contrast to what lies several kilometers north..

Crossing the S32 signals our arrival into PVG.

New terminal construction is progressing well in the distance as we land on runway 35L.

We touch down at 09:31, ~20 minutes ahead of schedule. We will use that time to complete the taxi to our gate.

SU B77W taxing to its gate.

BR A321 arriving from TSA behind us.

KE B78X arriving from ICN.

FM B738.

HO A320 as we turn into the satellite area.

We finally pull into a gate a very empty T2S at 09:48.

Arrival Experience at Pudong

It will be a long walk across the satellite having arrived at the far end.

Down the escalators to catch the train back from T2S to T2.

Exiting the train, it was still a good hike down the length of T2 to the baggage claim.

Finally reaching the baggage claim at 10:10, 40 minutes after landing. The arrival experience at PVG is definitely not as nice as SHA, but the choice of airport should ultimately depend on where in the city you need to be.

After a stop in the bathroom, the bags were already circulating so I grabbed mine and headed out to get a ride into the city.

I'll leave off this series here as I start my stay in Shanghai, thanks for stopping by!

Flight Information

Xiamen Air, MF8551
Equipment: Boeing 737 MAX 8 [B-227C, delivered November 2025]
Departure: 07:40 (ATD: 07:51)
Arrival: 09:50 (ATA: 09:31)
Flight time: 1:41