From my US-centric perspective, flying in and around China is a little different than flying domestically here at home. One of the best ways to explain these differences is to show you what it’s like to fly China Southern A330-300 economy class from Hong Kong to Beijing (Daxing).
Whether or not it’s technically (politically) correct to call HKG-PKX a “domestic” flight is irrelevant. Call it a regional flight if you must. What is relevant are the free (and rather substantial) meals. The colorful seats. The friendly – yet structured – cabin service.
It’s pretty good. A little quirky. Probably even a better than economy class in the US. At least a little.
CZ310
Hong Kong (HKG) – Beijing (PKX)
Sunday, December 17, 2023
Aircraft: A330-343
Registration: B-300V
Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes
Seat: 51A (Economy)
The China Southern A330-300 economy experience from Hong Kong to Beijing (PKX)
Quick note: what you’re about to read is a really quick overview (as opposed to one of my typical full length airline reviews). My friend Yuxuan was the one who took this flight. She also took all the pics. All the commentary is mine (based on what she told me about the experience).
Think of it as a tag team approach to reviewing one of China’s most common domestic / regional economy products.
Arrival at the Hong Kong International Airport
There’s no other airport in the world quite like HKG. If the wide variety of airlines flowing in and out of it every day doesn’t impress you, the architecture surely will. Unless you’re the kind of person who complains about everything. If that’s you, there’s nothing from this point forward worth looking at.
China Southern Airlines uses Terminal 1 at HKG. The location of the check-in counters changes on a regular basis, so do be sure to check the overhead monitors to find out which pier to walk towards.
The boarding process for CZ310 to Beijing (Daxing)
Gate 68 was the departure point for this 2 hour and 40 minute flight up to China’s capital city. Boarding started 36 minutes late, which, according to the Flighty app, only happens 7% of the time. This flight goes out early nearly 85% of the time.
The seats
If there’s one thing to love about China Southern economy class, it’s the courage of their brand team. Turquoise blue seats? Why the f**k not.
There are 197 economy seats on the China Southern A330-300. Yes, it’s a fairly dense configuration, but typical of what you’ll find in regional economy class across Asia.
Thing that strikes me the most when looking at these pics is how similar it seems to my China Southern A321 economy experience a few years ago. Other than the video screens in the seatback headrests, pretty much everything is the same. It’s always nice to see consistency from one aircraft to the next across an entire fleet.
The departure out of Hong Kong
Overcast skies seem to be a permanent thing in Hong Kong, but no matter. There’s always interesting things to look at on the way out, and this particular day was no different. If you’re just dying to know, the departure happened exactly 46 minutes behind schedule. Ouch.
In-flight entertainment
Video entertainment on China Southern Airlines will probably be one of the most interesting things about the entire experience for foreigners. A large chunk of the content is Chinese (or Asia specific), so it’ll be a pretty good way to get immersed into the culture whether you like it or not.
Yes! Wi-Fi is available as well – for a fee. Tread carefully though. “They” will be watching your every move, so it’ll probably be a good idea to avoid controversial websites or kinky message boards. Save that sh*t until you get home.
The food
I love the fact that they provided a full meal service in economy class on a relatively short 2 1/2 hour flight. Was it the best looking economy class food I’ve ever seen? Nope, but it it certainly looks edible. As a matter of fact, I would say that this looked just as good (if not better) than the food I was served in Sichuan Airlines 330-200 economy class once.
The fact that Yuxuan is still alive (and I assume reasonably healthy) should tell you everything you need to know about the quality of that meal. I especially like the fact that it consisted of more than one tray. I don’t think we’ve seen that here in the US since the 1960s.
Cabin comfort (and ambience)
As typical with most Asian airlines, the cabin was noticeably warm for the duration of the flight. It’s probably a good idea to dress in layers.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the cabin crew was very attentive nearly the entire way to Beijing. Waiting on a drink refill never was never long – which is pretty much opposite of what my China Southern economy experience was like.
The descent and arrival into Beijing
The cabin crew began preparing for landing about 40 minutes out, which is typically sooner than it is on most western airlines. It’s just the way they do it in China I guess.
Good news: despite the late departure, this flight arrived into PKX 19 minutes early. Bad news: the temperature was beyond deadly. It gets cold in Beijing! Especially in late December. Yuxuan was also kind enough to record a video of the final approach and landing:
Pros and cons of the China Southern A330-300 economy class experience
Other than the sketchy a** Wi-Fi thing, China Southern offers a really nice domestic / regional economy class product. If there’s anything to be learned from this quick overview, it’s that you probably shouldn’t go out of your way to avoid it. Unless you want to fly business class. In that case, Air China A330-200 regional business class is where it’s at.
Pros
- Although legroom is similar to smaller aircraft types, flying on the A330-300 will feel more spacious in economy class. The higher ceilings and wider cabin makes a huge difference.
- Free meals! As long as you’re not a total food snob, it’s a nice perk indeed.
- The in-flight entertainment looks excellent. Westerners probably won’t recognize half of what’s in the catalog, but that’s what makes it fun.
Cons
- Ain’t no way I’d connect to that Wi-Fi service. I mean, just think what they’d do to me if they found out what I’m about to say about the seating configuration…
- It’s a very dense seating configuration. Neanderthal-esque foreigners (such as myself) will probably feel a bit pinched.
