Inflight Review by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone
Airline : 9Air B737-800 in Nanjing is used for its inaugural flight to Manzhouli.
New Routes : Guangzhou-based 9Air launches daily direct low-cost flights to Manzhouli from Changchun on 25 June 2015 according to the following flight schedules:-
9Air flight AQ1031 departs from Changchun at 1.15 pm, arrives in Manzhouli at 2.55 pm before leaving Manzhouli at 4.25 pm and touching down in Changchun at 5.55 pm under AQ1032.
The convenient Changchun-Manzhouli return flight facilitates passengers' travels from Guangzhou and Nanjing to Manzhouli without retrieving their checked-in baggage in Changchun.
On 25 April 2015, 9Air launched flights from Guangzhou via Nanjing to Changchun.
Besides Guangzhou, Nanjing, Manzhouli and Changchun, 9Air also operates flights to Haikou, Harbin, Zhanjiang, Nanning, Changbaishan and Urumqi using 3 Boeing B737-800 aircraft.
Aircraft : The B737-800 Economy Class seat legroom is slightly spacious than an Airbus A320. ***
Safety Demonstrations : Adequate. *****
Inflight Service : The cabin crew serves free cups of mineral water and sells biscuits onboard. There is no inflight entertainment, no inflight hot meals and no inflight duty-free catalogue. Only limited 9Air duty-free products such as aircraft models and thermos flasks are on sale in an inflight marketing show. **
Postcard / Stationery : There are no aircraft postcards. The barf bags are collectibles. **
Inflight Magazine : There is no 9Air inflight magazine. Although 9Air is Juneyao Airlines' subsidiary, it does not carry hardcopies of The Moment, Juneyao Airlines Inflight Magazine, onboard its flights. **
Sky Shop : 9Air is the only low-cost airline in the world that has no Sky Shop or inflight duty-free catalogue in order to sell tickets as low as 9.99 yuan. **
Onboard Meals and Refreshments : Although 9Air web-site promised consumers were able to book hot meals online, hot meals are nonetheless not available onboard its flights. The onboard meal advertisement on its web-site is just a marketing gimmick. **
Surcharges : 9Air has stirred controversy in its passenger seat surcharges although online seat selections promised to be 60 per cent cheaper than selections upon checking-in.
At 9Air's destination airports, passengers choosing to sit in Rows 1, Seats 2D, 2E, 2F of the first rows and Emergency Exit Rows 15 and 16 are forced to pay the airline 60 yuan, 50 yuan for seats in Rows 3, Seats 2A, 2B, 2C, pay 40 yuan for Seats D, E and F of Rows 4-14 and pay 10 yuan for a seat in other rows when they specify their seat options as they check-in for 9Air flights. The airport counter staff said 9Air passengers choosing to sit in aisle seats or middle do not need to pay any surcharge if they did not request for specific seats.
A Chinese passenger however commented that 9Air does not charge passengers any seat surcharge if they had paid more than 360 yuan for a ticket and the airport ground crew on behalf of 9Air have no right to demand seat payment surcharges from passengers.
The controversies have fueled anger among its passengers and many passengers in Nanjing, Guangzhou and Haikou are contemplating lawsuits against 9Air for unreasonable travel surcharges. **
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone
Airline : 9Air B737-800 in Nanjing is used for its inaugural flight to Manzhouli.
New Routes : Guangzhou-based 9Air launches daily direct low-cost flights to Manzhouli from Changchun on 25 June 2015 according to the following flight schedules:-
9Air flight AQ1031 departs from Changchun at 1.15 pm, arrives in Manzhouli at 2.55 pm before leaving Manzhouli at 4.25 pm and touching down in Changchun at 5.55 pm under AQ1032.
The convenient Changchun-Manzhouli return flight facilitates passengers' travels from Guangzhou and Nanjing to Manzhouli without retrieving their checked-in baggage in Changchun.
On 25 April 2015, 9Air launched flights from Guangzhou via Nanjing to Changchun.
Besides Guangzhou, Nanjing, Manzhouli and Changchun, 9Air also operates flights to Haikou, Harbin, Zhanjiang, Nanning, Changbaishan and Urumqi using 3 Boeing B737-800 aircraft.
Aircraft : The B737-800 Economy Class seat legroom is slightly spacious than an Airbus A320. ***
Safety Demonstrations : Adequate. *****
Postcard / Stationery : There are no aircraft postcards. The barf bags are collectibles. **
Sky Shop : 9Air is the only low-cost airline in the world that has no Sky Shop or inflight duty-free catalogue in order to sell tickets as low as 9.99 yuan. **
Onboard Meals and Refreshments : Although 9Air web-site promised consumers were able to book hot meals online, hot meals are nonetheless not available onboard its flights. The onboard meal advertisement on its web-site is just a marketing gimmick. **
At 9Air's destination airports, passengers choosing to sit in Rows 1, Seats 2D, 2E, 2F of the first rows and Emergency Exit Rows 15 and 16 are forced to pay the airline 60 yuan, 50 yuan for seats in Rows 3, Seats 2A, 2B, 2C, pay 40 yuan for Seats D, E and F of Rows 4-14 and pay 10 yuan for a seat in other rows when they specify their seat options as they check-in for 9Air flights. The airport counter staff said 9Air passengers choosing to sit in aisle seats or middle do not need to pay any surcharge if they did not request for specific seats.
A Chinese passenger however commented that 9Air does not charge passengers any seat surcharge if they had paid more than 360 yuan for a ticket and the airport ground crew on behalf of 9Air have no right to demand seat payment surcharges from passengers.
The controversies have fueled anger among its passengers and many passengers in Nanjing, Guangzhou and Haikou are contemplating lawsuits against 9Air for unreasonable travel surcharges. **
Bookings : 9Air's web-site accepts online China bank card payments only. Elsewhere, tickets can be purchased at Ctrip and Qunar platforms using Mastercard. Tickets purchased cannot be cancelled and refunded. Changes of flight dates are permitted subject to fees and fare differences. Web-check-in is not provided. **
Check-In and Departures : Check-in at the relevant Chinese airports 1 hour 30 minutes to two hours before departures. Flights do not depart on time.**
Ground service in response to passengers' requests and enquiries : Poor. **
Overall Impression : Passengers outside China cannot contact 9Air. There is room for improvement for 9Air in terms of customer hotline, check-in and inflight services. ***
** Poor / two-star
*** Good / three-star
***** Very good / five-star
****** Excellent / six-star (the highest category)
