For the best part of a year and half, a five hour flight had been my maximum since I returned to China from the United Kingdom in February 2023. I had decided that Summer 2024 needed to be spent in Europe with stops in Portugal, Belgium and finally the UK. Beijing Capital Airlines guided me across continents from Hangzhou, China to Lisbon, Portugal. Oh, what a journey!
Shelving Shanghai Pudong International Airport for Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport was a whole mood because I was able to book a whole direct flight from China to Portugal for a cut-price! Beijing Capital Airlines hooked me up with that nonstop flight, making it easier to get from Ningbo to Hangzhou via a shorter car journey was appreciated. I had not had a good day, that travel day had started with a rather swift exit out of my then current apartment! I had to move everything from one property to another in the space of seven hours but I had that flight to Lisbon, Portugal at the forefront of my mind as that brief period of chaos ensued. Picked up on-time as usual, it felt like such a relief to finally be on the right track, rid of the completed academic year with a whole summer holiday ahead of me in Europe. Pulling up to Terminal 4 at HGH felt correct, my troubles had melted away but saying that, the heat had us all fading away! Well, another set of fun and games were about to fully begin! Sure, at least I had arrived early!
Checking in was a chore to put it kindly, every man, woman and child were carrying more than enough baggage than necessary, if you asked me! The amount of boxes per family ranged from four to six, even some of them looked large enough to be flat screen televisions! I had one small suitcase that I wanted to check-in even though it would've sufficed as a piece of cabin baggage. The check-in staff seemed to have little momentum between each other, resulting in not much of a flow in passengers as the line snaked around the stanchions step by step. When it was my turn, I was processed with my British Passport with no issues because like most of the flight I could enter Portugal visa free and Brexit wasn't even a factor for me. Later on, I would find that my UK Passport would lead me in good stead, that will be revealed soon enough. It felt like a major relief to be done with check-in, I proceeded to security and then passport control, no issues prevailed and it was swift! I was in serious need of an alcoholic libation! No bar was found! Oh!
Hangzhou's Terminal 4 looked shiny and new but I found that sitting at the gate was the only entertainment at that time, my flight was scheduled to take off at 00:40 the following morning. It didn't take long before boarding started and if truth be told, there was a constant flow of buses passing through with passengers heading to our remote stand. I boarded the final bus, it was then I realised that our 'Beijing Capital Airlines' aircraft had been parked at the far side of the apron. I was expecting our A330-300's livery to resemble that of 'Hainan Airlines' own white, yellow and red colours. Our 'Universal Studios Beijing' inspired livery was of a royal blue colour, it was a nice surprise even thought I was in my seat before I even realised any of the other differences. I was so ready to get on the way to Portugal, the thirteen hour flight needed to go by quickly because I already knew I needed to sleep! I had been through a whole day of shenanigans but knew that my holiday had finally started! Opting to not take a sleeping tablet, I did wonder.
Beijing Capital Airlines certainly wouldn't have been my first choice, I wanted to fly with either Emirates or Qatar via their Middle Eastern hubs but the lure of a nonstop flight with BCA became too much of a pull for me! Boarding concluded pretty quickly after I had made myself comfortable, I had hit the jackpot with my aisle seat but even more with the seat next standing vacant, it was a small victory for that very long flight. The lady who sat next to me in the middle seat also rejoiced that we didn't have someone sitting in-between us also! Before I knew it, China's Mainland felt like a distant memory as my Beijing Capital Airlines flight took off on-time from Hangzhou Airport. For feasibility, I would definitely consider flying from Hangzhou Airport again on an international flight even though the Departures in T4 didn't offer me any bars to choose from! I wasn't expecting much but I was expecting something decent to eat before I tried my best sleep through that long flight to Portugal. H, Beijing Capital Airlines kept it real!
Oh, I wish an airline would! You'd think that airlines would invent seats that can't recline in Economy Class because the woman in front of me really went there! You already know that when those 'Beijing Capital Airlines' cabin crew started the meal service, I politely motioned to her that the said individual needed to put her seat in the 'upright position!' Don't play with my time, lady! I was pleasantly surprised by the airplane meal that was served up to me, I was skeptical because my friend had told me to not expect much with 'BCA'. The beef noodles tasted fine and to be honest I wasn't mad because I had asked 有啤酒吗? In English that means 'is there any beer?' I didn't touch the salad because it didn't look like the one to mess with and I'm just not a salad person. Dessert? Yes, there was a little cake and that did the job, nothing more nothing less. I was truly then ready for my bed because the in-flight entertainment first didn't impress me, neither were the screens working for me! Chill, I wasn't mad because I needed to get sleep!
Now, testament to the day that I had just experienced with moving a whole apartment to a new one. To then boarding a flight into the early hours of the next day, it was safe to say that I clear knocked out for about four hours to start with. I usually find it really difficult to sleep on flights because I'm either really excited or I'm too buy drinking a beverage or four! Beijing Captial Airlines saw me sleeping like a baby, I didn't appreciate the intermittent 'turbulence' announcements because our passage over to Lisbon was smooth for the best part. Rocked by the motion, I fell back to sleep with seven hours remaining I needed to get some more shut eye! I knew in my heart that I wasn't going to waste that first day in Lisbon for nobody or nothing! Yes, those two little boys really tested my patience because they were just allowed to act up! To be honest, they weren't bad because it had been a long flight but when the cabin crew gave them the side-eye, well she was sick of most of the passengers by that time! Another beer? Oh, no chance!
As my flight neared Continental Europe, I needed a non-alcoholic liquid refreshment but that was easier said than done! I got my orange juice and then chilled coffee but the stank attitude of the crew didn't impress me! It was either they were busy or they had gotten used to speaking to passengers who gave them grief on a daily, I was not rude to them! A language barrier? I don't think because it looked like most of the crew also worked on Hainan Airlines which is know for great customer service given from their crew, his dismissive hand gesture to get my own drink was not warranted. I was a good passenger, I said 'thank you' and went back to my seat but knew deep down these crew deal with a lot of 'questionable' interactions. As the flight neared its arrival into Lisbon, our final meal service saw even a Chinese passenger not understand the crew members own shared linguistic response! I joked with her that maybe some Chinese get their own language mixed up? I hope this joke made her feel less 'over it!' Get us all to Lisbon, now!
Morning had broken and I was so happy to feel our aircraft start to make the descent into Lisbon Humberto Delgado International Airport. I had been talking to the lady next to me, she had a very hectic story about her brief trip back home to China. We shared our experiences during the latter part of the flight, she was an interesting soul with much to tell me! Our Beijing Capital Airlines flight would park at a very very remote stand, so we had plenty of time to talk. She was heading onto Switzerland, I felt content that Lisbon was my final destination for that day without any other major connections to be made. Stepping off the aircraft was the one, I saw a 'TAAG Angola Airlines' aircraft being serviced! Ola, Luanda! People were panicked from the Hangzhou flight but I was chilled, it was fine I was back in Europe and I didn't need to witness such unwarranted madness. Being allowed through the 'powerful passport lane' alongside other nations like the USA and NZ! That V.I.P lane wasn't quite 'E.U' but I got stamped in quickly!
Bom Dia, Lisboa!
Desperately Seeking Adventure
