The bus was waiting to bring our group to the airport. The flight would leave from the “old” Shanghai airport (Hongqiao), but when we entered the terminal everything looked nice and new. Our bags where taken to the airport by a separate van, everyone had to check if your bags where their and then all the bags where checked in by our tour guide. He also checked all of our group in, so all we needed to do was waiting until he checked our bags in and handed out the tickets and boarding passes to everyone. In China, it is a practice that people put their last names FIRST, and their given names second. Because in Europe it is the other way around, they mixed up those so that everyone would be called like “Doe John”. And if that was not enough, they also had problems with our European names, so my name “Fabian” got to be “Falsian”. In China, all the tour guides have English/American names, so we joked around that we as tourists have gotten our Chinese name.
Then we went to security, where we said goodbye to our Shanghai-tour guide. At security the treatment was very friendly, although everyone had to stand onto some podium where they used a handheld metal detector to search the person. No problems further, and together with the tour group we headed to the gate (B3/10). When we sat down at the gate I ate something out of the snack box that China Eastern Airlines already had provided to our tour group. From the gate where I sat the runway could be viewed very nice, and I saw some aircraft taking off. One of the most notable things where that I saw an Air China Boeing 747-400 taking off using half of the runway and climbing very steep, I guess the aircraft must have had a light load.
Again, I have a sheet with basic facts about the flight for you:
General Information:
Date: 16–07–2005
Route: Shanghai Hong Qiao (SHA/ZJSY) – Yichang Sanxia (YIH/ZHYC)
Flight number: MU-5459
Aircraft:(Planned): A320-214
Company: China Eastern Airlines
Registration/Name: B-6009
Captain: Mr/Ms ?
First Officer: Mr/Ms ?
Height: ?
Distance: 604 miles / 971 km / 525 nm
Delay: -
Flight time:(Planned): 1 hr 41 mins( ? hr ? mins)
Additional Information: - Aircraft was delivered in June 2004
Departure:
Departure Gate/Bay: B3 (10)
Departure: (Planned): 12.42 h(12.50 h)
Take-off: 12.52h
Runway: 18/36
In-Flight:
Cruise Speed (kts): ?
Time Airborne: 1 hr 27 mins
Seat: 13A
Arrival:
Touchdown: 14.19 h
Runway: ?
Arrival:(Planned): 14.21( ? h)
Arrival Gate/Bay: JW-3
F/A’s:
1) Appearence 8
2) Professionalism 7
3) Safety 8
4) Kindness 6
5) Service with a smile 6
6) Goes by regulations 8
7) Service 8
8) Overall experience 7
Date: 16-07-2005
Shanghai HongQiao (SHA / ZJSY) – Yichang Shanxia (YIH / ZHYC)
Flight number: MU-5459
Gate: B3 (10)
Aircraft: Airbus A320-214 B-6009
Actual blocktime: 12:42 - 14:21
Flighttime:1 hour 41 minutes
Load factor: (120 passengers = ± 80%)
Then boarding was announced at around 12.00pm and we stood up to board the aircraft. This was the first time I noticed the aircraft we would be traveling on, a China Eastern A320. I was lucky to be seated in a window seat (13A, directly over the wing), because the travel agent arranged everything and we could not choose our own seats. The seats looked very comfortable and roomy, and for a person of normal length (1.82) and torso (65kg) they also where very comfortable and roomy, as was the seatpitch. I was sitting next to two other members of our tour group, and soon the crew started a video with the safety instructions.
The Shanghai Airlines Boeing 757-26D (B-2808), standing next to us at Shanghai HongQiao airport (16-07-2005).
Taxiing towards the runway.
A McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 from China Eastern Airlines is taking off in front of us.
At the gate next to us stood a Shanghai Airlines Boeing 757-200, and at 12.42 we pushed back and after the engines spooled up we headed for SHA’s sole runway (18L/36R). At 12.52 we where up in the sky and started out ascent to our flight level. We made some nice turns over Shanghai to put us on a western course. The horizon was blurred by so called “Chinese haze”, a mixture of smog, heat and a humid climate. Results can be seen in the pictures. Once on cruising altitude, the aircraft leveled of and the cabin crew commenced service. They had the little TV screens down and played some program called “Air TV”, which was a bit of a boulevard magazine, but that is not of much interest to me.
Rotate!
Gaining altitude over Shanghai. Note the air pollution, called “Chinese haze”.
We got a hot meal, which consisted of beef, rice and some kind of vegetables. Also we got a salad, bread and a cup of water. The cabin crew also handed out some extra drinks, and I chose a coke. In my opinion the meal tasted quite ok, but it has to be said that I’m not the person that complains very fast. After the crew came around to collect the leftovers, I chatted a bit with the people next to me and looked into the in-flight magazine. It was actually looking, because the whole in-flight magazine was in Chinese.
The meal we got served during the flight.
Skies over China, by B744skipper
Nothing eventful happened during the flight, so quickly we started our decent into Yichang airport. Some vortex could be seen on the wings as we descended through some clouds. The captain made some turns to follow the approach pattern, as the airport is located in a mountainous area. We could see some spectacular views as we approached the airport, and around 14.19 the gear touched the ground. The airport at Yichang is not that big, so the aircraft taxied to the gate position very fast, and after 2 minutes the engines where shut down and everyone got up to leave the aircraft. Looking around, there where 5 gate positions at this small regional airport, and our aircraft was actually the only one on the ground. The Terminal itself looked old and worn down, a typical eastern block (although China was not part of it) grey concrete building.
Touchdown at Yichang, spoilers deployed and braking hard.
Yichang airport arrivals building.
Our Airbus A320-214 (B-6009) being refueled for it’s flight back to Shanghai.
I said goodbye to the crew, and after exiting the aircraft, I quickly took a shot of it and did go to the arrivals hall, where I observed the procedure of unloading the bags and bringing them to the belt trough an open door (could have walked straight onto the tarmac). As more people joined me and looked at the things going on, some airport manager came of the tarmac and we already understood the message and backed of. We collected our bags and headed for the bus, for a 1.5 hours ride to the city of Yichang.
The airport building.
Look here for the larger pictures!
Other trip report of my holiday in China will be online soon!
- Amsterdam to Shanghai (click)
- Chongqing – Xi’an on China Xinhua Airlines;
- Xi’an – Beijing on China Eastern;
- Beijing – Amsterdam on KLM;
It seems weird that they would serve hot food on such a short flight. To me it doesn't look very appetising, either. 