After some two weeks in China, I was certainly looking forward to flying home. Having flown the airline’s older Boeing 777-300ER to Shanghai, I was excited to see that this was being operated by a newer plane, featuring new and supposedly better cabins. Before making its way to Shanghai, our aircraft had just flown from Los Angeles. Regardless, I was keen to see how the newer cabins compare to the older plane I flew on the outbound flight.

Check-in

After leaving the Mandarin Oriental, I arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport three hours before my 16.00 departure. Philippine Airlines uses Terminal 2 in Shanghai, with check-in counters located by Island C. By the time the counters opened three hours before departure, there was a bit of a queue for the Economy Class line, whereas Business Class remained virtually empty.

It didn’t take a few moments before my check-in was handled by the airline’s contracted ground handling agent. The agent was neither friendly nor unfriendly, although in fairness, the process was quick and efficient. Before long, I was handed my boarding passes and I headed inside to queue for the slow-moving immigration queue.

Lounge

At Shanghai Pudong International Airport Terminal 2, Philippine Airlines uses the China Eastern Lounge 77 for its premium passengers. The lounge is the primary contract lounge for most non-alliance airlines, alongside those belonging to SkyTeam. Being the terminal’s main lounge facility, the space is massive, akin to the China Eastern Lounge in Terminal 1. I will review the China Eastern Lounge 77 soon.

Boarding

As I find the case with my other flights on this trip, Philippine Airlines has a tendency to start boarding their flights before the printed boarding time. By the time I arrive at the indicated time of 15.00, I found that they were well into boarding Business Class, making me rush to get to the plane as quick as possible to get as many pictures of the cabin without people.

Today’s flight is operated by RP-C7782, delivered in December 2017 as one of the airline’s latest Boeing 777-300ER. This of course meant that the plane is equipped with a newer cabin compared to the one I flew on the outbound flight. Curiously, however, the plane features an identical number of seats to the older jets.

We boarded from Door 2L, where I was greeted by Hakim and Rubie, who pointed me in the direction of my seat.

Cabin

Just like the airline’s older Boeing 777-300ERs, this jet features an identical 370 seats spread between Business Class and Economy Class. Business Class has 42 seats in a newer 2-3-2 configuration, scattered between two cabins. Of those 42 seats, 28 are in the main cabin located between Doors 1 and 2, with the remaining 14 located in the aft mini cabin.

The cabin features an updated design, featuring the same blue upholstery you’ll find on the carrier’s flagship Airbus A350-900s and renewed Airbus A330-300s. However, in place of the arguably better Vantage XL seat you’ll find on those jets is the Zodiac Aura Enhanced seat; this is a fully-flat seat also used on select Turkish Airlines Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s.

While the 2-3-2 configuration wasn’t desirable, I liked how fresh the cabin felt, especially compared to the older plane I flew from Manila a few weeks back. Furthermore, these seats do not feature a footwell, making them feel a lot more airy and spacious than most seats with direct-aisle access. As such, these might be mighty comfortable, especially if you are travelling with someone else. As always, I’d steer clear of the middle seats, especially on a redeye flight.

Seat details

Waiting at the seat at boarding is a large and fluffy pillow, as well as a plastic-wrapped modacrylic blanket, in addition to the in-flight menu, as well as a pair of headphones. Unsurprisingly for a newer product, the seats were well-padded and generally comfortable for longer flights.

Across, you’ll find the decently-sized 15.4-inch touchscreen LCD monitor, along with a fixed-place ottoman that doubles as a storage cubby. There is also a pair of literature pockets between each pair of ottomans, where you’ll find the airline-branded noise-cancelling headphones. Additionally, you’ll find the entertainment remote control and an adjustable reading lamp next to the seat. This is in addition to the reading lamp in the overhead console above.

If you’re seated next to someone, there is also a small privacy shield that can be extended between the seats. On the centre armrest, you’ll find the seat controls, which were easy to use. Furthermore, hidden on the side of the armrest is a sturdy tray table, which can be swivelled out in case you need to leave your seat during meal service.

Under the centre armrest, you’ll find a small storage cubby, big enough for a small water bottle. This is also where you’ll find the audio port, as well as the USB-A and universal power outlets. I’ll also add that the cabin is unfortunately not equipped with overhead air vents, which would otherwise be a much appreciated feature.

Entertainment

As previously mentioned, the seats are equipped with a 15.4-inch monitor featuring Philippine Airlines’ entertainment system. Akin to what was available on the flight from Manila, there was a modest selection of films and TV shows, as well as music and games. In total, there were 96 films across the four categories of ‘Fresh from the Box’, ‘Blast from the Past’, ‘Across Asia’, and ‘Filipino Flicks’.

There were 15 newer releases loaded onto the system, although curiously, ‘Blast from the Past’ was devoid of content. For what it’s worth, you can also check out the full entertainment catalogue here. Furthermore, I’ll note that Mabuhay, Philippine Airlines’ aptly-named inflight magazine hasn’t been published since the Covid-19 travel downturn.

Departure from Shanghai

Soon after I took my seat, Rubie came by to offer a pre-departure drink of either orange juice, water, or apple tea. As usual, I elected to get the most uncommon option, which turned out to be unremarkable. The apple tea was literally sweet tea with little cubes of apples suspended in the liquid. The drink was served with a hot towel on a plastic plate, alongside a bottle of water.

Before long, our meal orders were noted, with the menus collected after pushback. The boarding process continued for the next hour, culminating with the closure of the two boarding doors at 15.44. Despite being ready for departure, we were only cleared for pushback 12 minutes later, by which time a Juneyao Air Airbus A320 pulled into the gate next to us.

As we readied for departure, Captain Alejandro came on the intercom to welcome us on board, detailing our flight time of three hours and our cruising altitude of 33,000 feet. Following his announcement, the safety video was played.

Following pushback clearance, we slowly taxied to Runway 16R, passing by a great deal of traffic as we taxied along. This included a Spring Airlines Japan Boeing 737-800, which I had no idea flew to Shanghai!

We reached the runway at 16.10 and and a long takeoff roll before lifting up to the skies to return to Manila!

Lavatory

After the seatbelt signs were extinguished 10 minutes after takeoff, I went to quickly check out the lavatory. Business Class has a total of three lavatories, with two between the cabins and one near the flight deck. The lavatory looked like any standard Boeing 777 washroom, featuring a few amenities offered by the sink, including Philippine Airlines-branded cologne and body lotion. Regardless, I appreciate that they were kept clean and dry throughout the flight.

Inflight Service

As we reached our cruising altitude, the crew jumped straight to work to start the meal service. After setting up the table cloths and distributing ramekins of warm cashews, we were served our drinks of choice. This time, I decided to start the meal with an aperitif of a dry martini. Served at room temperature, this was unfortunately one of the worst martinis I’ve ever had. I wish I had just stuck to Champagne!

As the meal orders were already taken before departure, it didn’t take long for the starters to be served. For reference, the following was the menu for our flight.

Dinner

As is standard procedure with any medium-haul flight on Philippine Airlines, the meal service was really drawn out, with all three courses brought out individually. First, we were presented with a cold starter of a Mesclun salad, served with smoked chicken breast, as well as slices of Parma ham and melon. This was quite nice in terms of freshness and taste.

For my main course, I decided to try the Western option of white fish served with a mushroom cream sauce and mashed potatoes. While it was fresh, the dish itself was very bland. Seeing my similar experience with the meals on China Eastern, I’d probably steer clear of non-Chinese mains when departing from Shanghai.

Finally, on top of the cheesecake offered as part of the tray, a second dessert was offered in the form of vanilla ice cream. This was fine enough, although not as nice as the Carmen’s Best ice cream offered on flights departing from Manila.

Service

Both Rubie and Hakim, who worked my aisle, were very friendly and efficient. For instance, during the meal service, I never have to wait long to have empty crockery cleared. While drink top-ups weren’t proactively offered, any requests were promptly delivered. As always, I was impressed to see that when serving wines, they are poured at the seat, much like on Qatar Airways. In that regard, I really have no complaints about the service, which isn’t surprising considering how the Philippines is world-famous for friendliness.

Arrival in Manila

About 40 minutes before our estimated arrival time, Captain Alejandro announced the start of our descent. As we hit a continuous wave of turbulence, the seatbelt signs were already lit – and it remained this way until we approached Manila Bay. It didn’t take long before the crew made their final landing checks, and soon enough the brightly lit skyline of Makati became visible.

We had a semi-smooth touchdown on Runway 24 at 19.25, precisely 20 minutes before our scheduled arrival time of 19.40. As we exited the runway, our purser announced our arrival and welcomed us to the Philippines.

Despite our early arrival, however, it still took a while before we managed to disembark. As we arrived at our final parking position, a quirk about the gate’s design meant that we had to be towed into our gate. Waiting for a tow required another 15 minutes, with us ending up being parked 22 minutes after landing.

As I had a tight connection for my next flight to Jakarta, I rushed to disembark – though not forgetting to thank the crew as I left the plane, of course!

Verdict

Overall, I had a pleasant experience flying Philippine Airlines’ newer Boeing 777-300ER. While I doubt that the airline will top any global rankings with its Business Class product, there was genuinely nothing negative about the experience. In fact, I really enjoyed flying with the Philippine flag carrier, especially when you factor in the exceptional fares that they often offer. Having said that, I definitely wouldn’t think twice about flying Philippine Airlines again.

Read more from ‘A Summer in Shanghai’ here!