Dear Alex,
Last October I flew from Shanghai Hongqiao to Beijing with Air China. The plane was a B777-300ER, which, according to the display on seatplans.com [Business Traveller’s sister website], is configured for three classes – first, business and economy.
Even though I had purchased a first class ticket I occupied seat 15A, which I believe to be business class because the seating was six across, 2-2-2. When I asked the cabin crew if it really was first class, they informed me that this particular aircraft was not equipped with regular first class. I was told the plane’s first class was “super first class”. Can you explain what’s going on?
Ulrich Schade, Singapore
Alex replies:
According to seatplans.com, you were definitely seated in business class. First class on Air China’s B777-300ER is configured four across, 1-2-1. What has happened here is that you were taking an Air China domestic service operated by one of its new long-haul aircraft. These B777-300ERs are sophisticated planes designed to tackle 13- to 15-hour nonstop flights on routes such as Singapore-London or Los Angeles-Sydney.
It might seem illogical to roster such long-range planes on simple two- or three-hour domestic legs but Air China, like fellow state-owned carrier China Southern, has a policy of “running in” new long-range aircraft before rostering them for international routes. Besides ironing out any technical glitches, the other motive is to speed up crew training because the more sectors crew work, the sooner they can be certified to operate the aircraft internationally. It was a similar scenario in Europe in 2010, when Air France operated one of its A380s on the 345km London-Paris hop for a number of weeks during the summer months.
So Air China has been using a B777-300ER (the carrier will eventually have 19 in total) and China Southern’s two A380s (the first of five it has bought) to operate selected flights linking Beijing with Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The confusion has arisen because these planes adopt a long-haul seating configuration that offers a great deal more comfort in the premium cabins compared with the short-haul Boeings and Airbuses that the carriers also operate on these two routes. For that reason, Air China and China Southern have given their first and business classes new product descriptions on the long-range planes used on domestic routes. “Luxury first class” is how first class is now branded, while “first class” is the new name for the business class. The third cabin remains economy class.
Because these are domestic flights, the airlines are free to brand their in-flight products how they see fit. No international rules or regulations apply to domestic services. Readers wishing to avoid any confusion in future should check the plane type at the time of booking. Console yourself that by choosing the B777-300ER you sampled a more comfortable cabin than had you booked a narrow-bodied A321 or B737.
