China Eastern 544
Singapore (SIN) – Shanghai (PVG)
Monday, February 5
Depart: 12:25AM
Arrive: 5:40AM
Duration: 5hr15min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 1L (First Class)
I boarded through the forward door, where I was greeted by two flight attendants and walked to my seat, 1L. China Eastern’s 777 first class cabin is intimate, and consists of just six seats. I can’t help but feel like it’s perhaps not the most efficient use of space given the massive aisle, but in a way I really like it.
China Eastern 777 first class cabin
China Eastern 777 first class cabin
China Eastern first class cabin 777
The big table at the front of the cabin served a couple of different purposes. In addition to the crew putting magazines and drinks there during the flight, underneath the table were individual bins for each passenger’s luggage. The first class cabin doesn’t have any overhead bins, so there are six storage compartments here.
China Eastern first class magazine selection
China Eastern first class cabin 777
Each of the first class suites features a door, which is a nice feature.
China Eastern first class suite
However, I found the cabin finishes to be really bland, and for that matter also found the cabin to already look pretty worn, despite how new most of China Eastern’s 777s are.
China Eastern first class seat
China Eastern first class seat
Along the interior aisle-side wall of my suite was a reading light, an air nozzle, a power outlet, a headphone jack, and an entertainment controller. Beneath that was a small storage pocket.
China Eastern first class entertainment controller, power outlet, and reading light
Next to the entertainment controller were the seat controls, which were intuitive.
China Eastern entertainment and seat controls
To the right of the seat were the windows. China Eastern has automated blinds in first class. On one hand I really love this, since it adds a classy feel, in my opinion. The downside is that it makes it much tougher to take pictures out of the window, both due to the glare, and also due to the distance that you’re from the actual window.
China Eastern first class window shades
China Eastern first class window shades
The seat had an ottoman, which was rather quirky. As you can see, during boarding my tray table was out. What I love about the tray table China Eastern has in first class is that it can slide along the entire length of the seat, so you can have it right in front of you, or a few feet from you.
China Eastern first class tray table
What’s interesting is where the tray table goes. Rather than going into a compartment to the side of the seat, it goes into the ottoman. The flight attendant slides it all the way over the ottoman, and then pushes it down. After the tray table is placed inside the ottoman, the top of it is closed, and you won’t even know the tray table is in there.
China Eastern first class seat ottoman
See?
China Eastern first class seat ottoman
While we’re talking about seats, I should mention that the four window seats are all identical. The only different seats are the two in the middle, and what makes them special is that they can be converted into a double bed.
China Eastern first class double seats
China Eastern first class double seats
The friendly flight attendant introduced herself the moment I settled in, and informed me of the flight time, told me I would be the only first class passenger, and asked how she could address me. She was perhaps a bit over-the-top attentive. I wanted to take a few pictures of the cabin during boarding, and she was totally fine with that, but rather than giving me space for a minute she hovered over me. I said “please give me just a few minutes,” she said “okay,” and then kept standing there. She was super nice, though.
Already waiting at my seat upon boarding was a glass of (nearly flat) champagne. Then I was offered either a glass of water or orange juice. I was then also offered a warm towel, as well as the menu and wine list for the flight.
China Eastern first class champagne, warm towel, and menu
Then I was offered a pair of slippers, eyeshades, and a toothbrush.
China Eastern slippers, eyeshades, and toothbrush
The shoe bag has an interesting-looking thing holding it together.
Hmmmm…
I was also given headphones and a bottle of water.
China Eastern headphones & bottled water
The bedding at my seat consisted of a simple pillow and blanket. At this point if became apparent to me that they had really only provisioned business class service for this flight. If you look at the schedule for Singapore to Shanghai, you’ll see that China Eastern almost never flies a three cabin plane on the route, so this was an exception. However, usually when airlines do that they just don’t sell first class, though China Eastern was selling first class, but only provided the business class soft product. That was fine, since I’d get the full first class experience on the next flight.
China Eastern first class pillow & blanket
My meal order was taken within a few minutes of settling in. Interestingly they serve breakfast on this flight. I guess that’s not totally illogical, though it is odd to eat breakfast at midnight. After perusing the menu I decided to order the seafood and noodle dish. The flight attendant was extremely apologetic, but informed me that it wasn’t available. I’m not sure if they just forgot to cater it, or what.
I ordered an omelet instead. A few minutes later the flight attendant returned to my seat and said that they had loaded a seafood noodle dish as a crew meal, and that I was more than welcome to have that. I didn’t want to take away their food so I said that really wasn’t necessary, but she insisted. What a kind gesture.
At 12:10AM the main cabin door was closed, at which point the cabin manager announced our flight time of 4hr30min. At 12:25AM we began our taxi. We were near the runway within 10 minutes, but then there was a really long queue for takeoff. We were only airborne from runway 2L at 1:10AM, so we had about a 35 minute wait until it was our turn.
About five minutes after takeoff the flight attendant came to my seat to inform me that the flight had free Wi-Fi, and that I should let her know if I need help logging in. While China Eastern’s Wi-Fi is really slow, it’s still nice that they offer it at all, let alone for free. It’s limited to the first 100 people who log-on, though I’ve never even seen it get close to that limit. Alternatively you can register for Wi-Fi before your flight.
China Eastern Wi-Fi log-in page
Around the same time a pilot came and took seat 1A. The crew on this flight was working a direct turn (which is a really long day/night), so I’m guessing they had a relief pilot.
As we climbed out I browsed the entertainment selection, which wasn’t terrible. They had about 50 Hollywood movies, and a limited number of English sitcoms.
China Eastern entertainment selection
China Eastern entertainment selection
China Eastern entertainment selection
China Eastern entertainment selection
I eventually turned to the airshow, to take a look at our path for the night.
Airshow enroute to Shanghai
Airshow enroute to Shanghai
I also checked out one of the two lavatories at the front of the cabin, which was a decent size, though didn’t have any special amenities.
China Eastern first class bathroom
At this point I saw the crew setting up the forward table in the cabin with cans of soft drinks. Hah, I guess that’s a cute presentation, and I appreciate that they did it even though I was the only passenger.
China Eastern first class magazine & drink display
About 20 minutes after takeoff the meal service began. The menu read as follows:
The drink list read as follows:
My table was set, and I was offered some champagne and water. In retrospect it was probably weird drinking champagne with breakfast, though my body was confused, given that it was midnight.
China Eastern first class table setting
First up was the crew meal, which was exceptional. It had shrimp, scallops, halibut, and more, and was incredibly flavorful.
China Eastern first class breakfast
China Eastern first class breakfast
I was full at that point, but the crew still brought out the rest of breakfast. This included fruit yogurt, fresh fruit, and a choice of either a cinnamon roll or croissant to start.
China Eastern first class breakfast — fresh fruit and yogurt
Fruit included papaya, pineapple, kiwi, and strawberry, and the yogurt was strawberry flavored.
China Eastern first class breakfast — fresh fruit and yogurt
The cinnamon roll was on the dry side, and certainly not worth the calories.
China Eastern first class breakfast — pastry
Then there was the omelet, which was bland. While it doesn’t match the menu, I was told that it had salmon, though I couldn’t taste it. I’m happy I had the crew meal, because I just had a few bites of this.
China Eastern first class breakfast — omelet
My breakfast was done just over an hour after takeoff, with about 3hr20min remaining to Shanghai.
Airshow enroute to Shanghai
Airshow enroute to Shanghai
Airshow enroute to Shanghai
I closed the doors to my suite and reclined my seat to try to get some rest. Of course this is a really short flight, so there’s not really a chance to get proper sleep. I’ll have a picture of the bed in the Shanghai to Los Angeles trip report, since there wasn’t a mattress pad or anything on this flight.
China Eastern first class fully enclosed suite
I woke up as we were passing Hong Kong, with about 70 minutes remaining to Shanghai. I don’t know why I couldn’t sleep longer, but I guess I was just a bit restless.
Airshow enroute to Shanghai
Airshow enroute to Shanghai
The crew was quite observant, and within a few minutes of me waking up they asked if they could get me anything. I ordered a coffee.
China Eastern first class coffee
At 4:40AM in Shanghai, the flight attendant came by my seat and said “we are landing in 40 minutes, the outside temperature is minus three degrees. Thank you for flying with China Eastern.” 30 minutes before landing a PA was made to prepare the cabin for arrival.
Airshow approaching Shanghai
One thing I find annoying about many Chinese airlines is that they never turn off the seatbelt sign. They always have it on, and then when they think it’s actually necessary for people to be seated, they’ll just “chime” twice, and then the crew tells everyone to sit down.
During the descent both the flight attendant taking care of me and the cabin manager came by my seat to thank me again for flying China Eastern. The cabin manager also said “when we get to the gate maybe you have to wait a few minutes for police to come to plane.”
Ummm, what?!
At 5:20AM we touched down in Shanghai, and then we had a long taxi to our arrival gate, where we pulled in at 5:35AM. At that point the crew announced over the PA “the quarantine service will be boarding to assess the condition of the passengers. Please stay seated.”
It looked like the process would take a while, though they were going cabin by cabin, and closed the curtains between cabins. In my case they just looked at me and kept walking, at which point the crew signaled that I could leave.
China Eastern first class bottom line
This flight exceeded my expectations, especially given my previous bad experience on China Eastern.
While not the most polished in the world, the crew was friendly and attentive. The first class suite was a special treat on such a short intra-Asia flight, and I really enjoyed the crew meal they gave me.
I’d say the only real negative is that they sold first class but didn’t have the full first class soft product. Everything really seemed to be the business class service, but then again on a quick redeye I’m not sure there would be much of a difference anyway.
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