Shenzhen Airlines Launches Its Inaugural Intercontinental Flight, Taking 13 Hours from Shenzhen to London Directly

At 14:10 on October 30 Beijing time, a passenger plane of Shenzhen Airlines departed from Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport to London Heathrow Airport, demonstrating the successful opening of the “Shenzhen-London” route. The new route will be served by Shenzhen Airlines’ A330 wide-body aircraft 3 times each week. The direct flight from Shenzhen to London has a range of approximately 6,000 km and takes 13.5 hours to arrive at London Heathrow Airport.

Photo: Shenzhen Airlines launches its inaugural intercontinental flight, taking 13 hours from Shenzhen to London directly

 On the day of the inaugural flight, Shenzhen Airlines held a grand celebration ceremony for the flight at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport. Xu Songming, Deputy Secretary-general of Shenzhen Municipal Government, Christina Scott, Minister and Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy Beijing, Eric Chen, Chairman of Airbus China, Zheng Hongbo, Party Secretary and Chairman of Shenzhen Airport Group Co., Ltd., Chen Jinzu, President of Shenzhen Airport Group Co., Ltd., Chen Zhiyong, President of Shenzhen Airlines, Liu Jun, Party Secretary of Shenzhen Airlines and other leaders as well as many important guests and media reporters participated in the celebration and jointly witnessed the opening of the Shenzhen-London route.

Photo: Chen Zhiyong, President of Shenzhen Airlines, is delivering a speech

It is reported that the "Shenzhen-London" route is operated by Shenzhen Airlines’ A330-300 passenger plane with the flight number ZH9067/8, departing from Shenzhen Airport every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The flight is scheduled to depart from Shenzhen at 14:10 Beijing time and arrive at London Heathrow Airport at 19:40 local time; and depart from London at 21:40 local time and arrive in Shenzhen at 17:40 Beijing time on the next day. The flight represents the first regular intercontinental route opened since the establishment of Shenzhen Airlines. As an important partner in the “Belt and Road” initiative, the U.K. plays an important role in the cooperation between China and Europe under the initiative. The opening of the non-stop flight will not only provide more convenient options for business and leisure travels of passengers from Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and further promote the vigorous development of economy, culture and tourism between the two countries, but also help deepen the high-level innovative cooperation between China and the U.K. in the fields such as politics, economy, trade and energy.

Photo: Eric Chen, Chairman of Airbus China, is delivering a speech

The relevant person in charge of Shenzhen Airlines said that the opening of Shenzhen Airlines' first intercontinental route to London as a world city will be a breakthrough for it to enter the global market and create conditions for the opening of more intercontinental routes in the future. Domestic passengers can travel to Shenzhen via Shenzhen Airlines' route network and take the 13-hour direct flight to London. As one of the most important political, economic, cultural and artistic centers in the world, London is a wonderful place to visit and experience cultures from all over the world. London has a diverse culture featuring high classical and modern integration. Meanwhile the city is not lacking in its own unique style, with landmarks including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Charing Cross Road, Hyde Park, and London Tower.

Photo: Zheng Hongbo, Party Secretary and Chairman of Shenzhen Airport Group Co., Ltd., is delivering a speech

Elite aircrew provide high quality air support

The pilots of the inaugural flight to London are senior captains or flight instructors of Shenzhen Airlines, including Xu Bing, General Manager of Shenzhen Airlines’ Standard Management Department, Li Dayu, Captain of Shenzhen Airlines’ A330 detachment, Gao Fei, Deputy Captain of A330 detachment, and many senior international radio instructors and flight instructors. Pilots have already passed a series of qualification examinations including international English communication qualification in the early stage. In addition to paper material learning, the relevant recording materials of the route were also studied in a targeted manner. Based on the real flight cockpit recordings, the eight pilots of the inaugural flight have received the full flight simulator training in an English-speaking environment, which included procedures such as approach, ground operations, departures in the London Heathrow Airport, and the corresponding simulation training for the alternate airport in the route. For the aircrew of initial operation, Shenzhen Airlines changed the original online preparation mode to face-to-face preparation communication meeting. The meeting involved personnel from multiple departments, including many contents such as route manual review, flight notice preparation, meteorological data and weather system analysis, aircraft condition preparation, foreign affairs education, and overseas management. The aircrew completed a full-process sand table deduction, and identified the items to be added and checked through full discussion.

Photo: Christina Scott, Minister and Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy Beijing, is delivering a speech

Chen Suyi and Gu Ying, two chief pursers of the inaugural flight crew, optimally selected from more than 50 chief pursers of Shenzhen Airlines, not only shoulder the mission of supporting the flight, but also train the follow-up force for intercontinental flight support. They have practical experience in flying the London-bound route operated by foreign airlines through dual instruction. And the flight attendants of the inaugural flight have also went through the training assessment from senior intercontinental flight instructors invited, which included the operation, service, safety and other matters related to the London route. For the London route, Shenzhen Airlines has added corresponding service procedures with its own characteristics, such as increasing the welcoming beverages in business class to four kinds, and providing fresh roasted nuts; adding the British dessert served on a multi-tiered tray in the British afternoon tea dining car. For the dinner service, it also raised the standard for Western-style cold meat, salad and bread services. In addition, the cabin department has cooperated with the catering department to carry out a desktop exercise in the early stage, simulating the layout and service process of each item under the real scene of the cabin simulator.

Providing high standard ground support through safety and service

   In terms of maintenance support, for the preparation of the inaugural flight, the technical status of the whole aircraft has been evaluated in advance, and the aircraft in the best condition is the first choice for finishing the flight. For routine inspection of some components vulnerable to wear such as airplane wheels and brakes, the inspection and replacement standards have been improved. In order to meet the requirements concerning the third country aircraft flying within the Europe territory under the Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) program managed by EASA, adequate inspection and maintenance have been conducted in advance in accordance with relevant requirements. Prior to and after the flight, in addition to strictly implementing the current checklist, some efforts were made to implement the SAFA checklist for the European route standard, revise some requirements in the procedures for maintenance work schedule, and increase the advance time and margin, ensuring smooth flight operation.

 In the early stage, the relevant maintenance personnel have been trained in requirements and knowledge related to intercontinental operations. All personnel performed routine inspections of wide-body aircraft one month in advance according to intercontinental operations and SAFA inspection requirements. The simulation exercise for fault handling in respect of the inaugural flight and the intercontinental operation was carried out. The monitoring system was used to monitor the fault condition of the aircraft system in real time, so that the personnel can identify and prepare for the fault in advance, and improve the quality and efficiency of the disposal as much as possible. In addition, Shenzhen Airlines has conducted related troubleshooting to and tackled various kinds of problems such as acceptable deferred faults and defects, appearance including the paint surface of the selected master and alternate planes of the aircraft by taking advantage of manpower, aviation materials and other resources, striving to show the best of the aircraft from inside.

   At Heathrow Airport, Shenzhen Airlines provides a number of convenient travel services to passengers, making it easy to check in even in London. As a member company of the Star Alliance, it follows the standard of “under the same roof”, and enters the Heathrow Terminal 2 jointly with other members, "seamlessly" connecting passengers’ transfer flights. Shenzhen Airlines’ passengers can complete procedures of self-service check-in and baggage check-in at Heathrow Airport. There are as many as 33 devices in the check-in area of the airport for passengers. It also provides the passengers with two high-end check-in counters located at Terminal B area and a passenger lounge.

Photo: Uniform show of Shenzhen Airlines’ attendants at the activity site

Shenzhen Airlines independently develops 230 kinds of airline meals

   Passengers on the Shenzhen-London flight can enjoy not only comfortable cabin service, but also airline meals developed by Shenzhen Airlines. The flight time of the direct flight from Shenzhen to London is more than 10 hours, and the food standard is higher than that of domestic airlines. In the process of forming the menu of the intercontinental route, Shenzhen Airlines actively learned the advanced catering guarantee experience from foreign airlines operating intercontinental routes, and completed the independent research and development of 230 food dishes. The meals on the aircraft not only include regular meals, breakfast, snacks served en route, but also creatively add the "British afternoon tea" including Earl Grey Tea, yellow peach cake, coffee walnut cake and the like. Passengers in business class can also enjoy more than ten kinds of dry white, dry red and imported wine. The morning tea with the characteristics of Guangdong is a must-have for Shenzhen-departing airlines. Shenzhen Airlines added steamed vermicelli roll, shrimp dumplings, shumai and steamed rice with Chinese sausage to the menu so as to provide passengers with multiple choices.

Photo: Shenzhen Airlines independently develops 230 kinds of airline meals

    Learning from the experience of foreign airlines, Shenzhen Airlines will change the menu of the intercontinental route on a seasonal basis in combination with its own situation. Each dish is made with fresh ingredients of the season, varying in four seasons. Passengers can eat lotus sprouts in spring, asparagus in summer, scallops in autumn and ham in winter.

    In addition, for the Shenzhen-London route, Shenzhen Airlines also provides passengers with a variety of high quality services, such as business class with fully flat beds, comfortable economy class, cross-city shuttle, Hong Kong - Shenzhen Airports Link and free hotel for transfer. For those passengers from surrounding cities purchasing tickets of Shenzhen-London flights, they can enjoy free shuttle service, and passengers in business class can be entitled to pick-up by a luxury car. Passengers who purchase the tickets of Shenzhen-London flights in Hong Kong can enjoy the free shuttle bus service. Passengers who transit to London via Shenzhen and who are eligible for transit accommodation conditions can enjoy one night of free hotel transfer service. With the mature operation of the new route, Shenzhen Airlines will also offer more high quality and convenient services to passengers, providing travel convenience for tourists and business travelers.