Information on Hainan Airlines Flights

Hainan Airlines is a full-service carrier with a massive domestic network, a regional presence in Japan and Southeast Asia and many long-haul routes to the US, Europe, Australasia and the Middle East. The fourth largest airline in China, I consider it the best of the “big four” in terms of service and overall experience ahead of Air China, China Eastern and China Southern.

Short-haul flights tend to be fairly basic without amenities like in-flight entertainment, but long-haul flights come with lots more bells and whistles. It’s a great option for anyone heading to or from China and this complete guide to Hainan Airlines will help make your experience even better.

The Hainan Airlines model

Don’t be fooled by the name: while the airline was started on the tropical island of Hainan, it’s now a multi-hub mainland Chinese powerhouse. It maintains major hubs in Beijing, Chongqing, Haikou, Shenzhen and Xi’an, plus mini-hubs in many other cities to serve dozens of destinations across China. Its English-language website can look a little janky but that’s not unusual.

As a result of Chinese national policy discouraging competition between Chinese airlines on international routes, the Hainan Airlines route network can look a little strange. Seattle to Chongqing? Vancouver to Shenzhen? Don’t be dissuaded from booking a domestic or regional connection within China aboard Hainan if the price is right compared with international airlines – and consider making the most of it to stop off on the way and explore a new city.

While it’s not a member of any of the global airline alliances, you can earn miles for Hainan flights on a few airline partners, including Alaska Airlines. Overall, Hainan is the Chinese airline I’d pick if I had a choice of carriers – it’s just that little bit nicer than the competition.

Classes of travel and fare types for Hainan

Hainan Airlines flies modern planes with a fleet made up of Airbus A330 and A320neo jets, plus the Boeing 787 and 737 models, including the 737 MAX. Every plane has business and economy class, and some of its newer long-haul Boeing 787 planes have a premium economy cabin in the usual 2 by 3 by 2 layout with wider reclining seats in the middle.

In economy, Hainan Airlines offers 2 options: Economy Choice and Economy Choice Plus. Both offer a reasonable 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of hand luggage plus a very generous 2 pieces of checked baggage – double what you’d normally get with most other airlines. Each checked bag must be less than 23 kilograms (50.7 pounds), and the measurements of the 3 dimensions of the bag must not total more than 158 centimeters (62.2 inches).

Both can be changed or refunded for a fee, and both include standard seat selection, although the Economy Choice Plus fees are slightly lower while the cheaper Economy Choice fares don’t earn frequent flyer mileage points. For the price, I’d definitely go for the less expensive Economy Choice tickets, myself.

If you’re booking business, there’s usually only one type of fare: Busienss Choice Plus. This includes 2 carry-on bags with 10-kilogram (22-pound) limits and 2 pieces of checked luggage of 32 kilograms (70.5 pounds) each, but are still restricted to the same dimension limits.

Hainan Airlines economy class

As a rule, Hainan Airlines economy class seats are at or above the competition in terms of space, features and legroom. I tend to think of them separately for long-haul and short-haul, mainly because of the different bells and whistles you get like in-flight entertainment screens, at-seat power and more on the long-haul flights.

The long-haul perks are generally at least as good as you’ll find on other international airlines, although there’s a fair bit of difference in terms of screen size and resolution between its older planes and newer planes. You don’t really have any way to ensure you get a newer plane, so it’s really up to luck.

On short-haul flights, you’ll get a standard economy seat with perhaps a little bit more legroom than you might be used to elsewhere, but that’s pretty much it. It’s a slightly nicer than average short flight, but I’ll usually bring a snack and make sure my phone and tablet are stocked up and fully charged.

Hainan Airlines business seats

As with other parts of the Hainan Airlines experience, the business class seats split out into short-haul, where you’ll find wide reclining seats in a 2 by 2 layout at the front of the plane, and long-haul, where you will have the fancier seats that recline into lie-flat beds.

Hainan Airlines has several different kinds of business class on board its long-haul planes. Some are the older style of seat that recline to a bed in a 2 by 2 by 2 layout, which doesn’t offer direct aisle access to every passenger. Here, I’ll always pick a seat in the middle to avoid needing to either clamber over my neighbor from the window or be clambered over if I’m on the aisle.

Some planes, meanwhile, have staggered seats that also recline to flat beds. The stagger gives a 1 by 2 by 1 layout which means every passenger has direct aisle access. The newest are herringbone seats, where you’re angled away from the aisle in your own pod, again the same configuration that allows everyone direct access to the aisle.

One quirk of Hainan is that you risk experiencing an equipment swap, where the plane you booked is replaced by another with a different kind of business class seat. In effect, the great Hainan long-haul fares come with the catch that your carefully selected herringbone pod might turn out to be an entirely different kind of seat, and you have to be okay with that. It’s kind of the price you pay for the, well, lower price.

Check-in and lounges

Hainan Airlines is a full-service airline and its airport experience reflects that – you can choose to check in online (this may not be available on all routes, so don’t stress if it doesn’t work for your flight), but there’s no extra charge to check in at the airport desks.

If you’re in business class, you’ll have access to the airline lounges. Inside China, these can be really great with excellent food and a variety of beverages. Internationally, they use partner lounges that vary in quality depending on the airport.

Hainan Airlines in-flight food and drinks

Since it’s a full-service airline, your food and drinks are included on Hainan Airlines flights, though options are better on long-hauls. While it’s largely aimed at the Chinese traveler, the service can exceed international standards and is truly excellent on long-haul flights.

In long-haul business, you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised with the in-flight dining, which rivals many airlines with much larger international presences. I think the Chinese food is the best, and I really like the range of snacks – a comforting and nourishing noodle soup on a long flight is one of my favorites.

Don’t be put off by the slightly dodgy spellings and formatting of the wine list, which is actually decent. The rest of the beverages in business are very good too, with standout tea, coffee and fruit juice menus. My go-to is the pu-erh tea, a black tea usually enjoyed at dim sum/yum cha restaurants that’s good for digestion. The osmanthus tea is delicious and caffeine-free for those night flights.

In long-haul economy, it’s a pretty generous airline-style experience on a tray that includes a starter, main course, bread roll and dessert along with a selection of drinks. I usually go for Chinese food, playing to the airline’s strengths (especially since it tends to reheat well in airline ovens).

Short-haul economy is often something like a noodle dish with a bread roll and dessert, which tends to be filling and quite tasty. Don’t miss the mid-flight setup in the galley – you’ll find a selection of snacks if you have the munchies, as well as water and teas.

Hainan Airlines in-flight entertainment and Wi-Fi

Hainan Airlines offers seatback in-flight entertainment on its long-haul flights, and some short-haul flights also have onboard streaming servers that you can connect to over Wi-Fi to watch a selection of movies or shows.

The catalog is pretty good if you like Chinese entertainment with a fairly random selection of inoffensive mass-market Western programming. The movies and TV shows tend to be aimed mostly at the Chinese market, especially on short-haul flights, so I usually plan to either become obsessed with a new C-drama or to preload something on my tablet or phone.

On some flights you’ll find in-flight Wi-Fi connectivity, although the internet access is technically from within China so don’t expect many international socials, messaging platforms or even email providers to work onboard. There’s also not really any way to be sure your plane will have Wi-Fi, so plan to be offline.