Atlanta airport's new international gates

Last week I was in Atlanta for an educational-industry tradeshow, and had a few extra hours on my homeward journey to explore that airport's new Concourse F.  I left very impressed with what they've built, and I think families traveling from the US southeast to the Asia/Pacific region are going to have a much better experience than previously.

For travelers who live in the area, you'll check in and go through security at the new International Terminal on the east side of the airport - which is directly connected to Concourse F.  (You'll come through the checkpoint at the bottom of this picture.)  Most families will be connecting from other cities, and to get to Concourse F you'll take the underground shuttle that links all the other gate areas. There are no extra security checks, and coming up from the shuttle, you'll see this view at the top of the escalator.

Like Concourses A through E, the middle portion is where you'll find most of the food and shopping, but here they've actually built enough space in the corridor so that people aren't running into each other as they move to their gates or enter and leave the shops.

Unlike the other concourses, there's also plenty of vertical space (and in the daytime, lots of natural light) to reduce feelings of being confined.  The extra space helps reduce stress - and makes it easier to herd children to where you need to be :)

Here's an overhead view of the central area - contrast this to Concourses A - D where the main corridor is only half this width, and where there's no atrium at all where you get off the shuttle train...

There's more room in the gate areas as well, compared to the other concourses.  Restrooms are conveniently spaced, and they've installed family-facilities as well.  There are food and retail options out at the ends of the concourse, too.

They've arranged some of the seating in the gate areas to create little islands where a family can group together and have some personal space, instead of being stuck in straight rows directly facing strangers.

A shortcoming ATL still hasn't addressed even in the new facility is the lack of play areas for young kids.  Perhaps they could replace their infamous "smokers' lounges" with some playground equipment?  Cartoon Network is headquartered in Atlanta; I'm sure they wouldn't mind pitching in with some kid-friendly space ideas...

Atlanta is a global hub, and flights depart and arrive at all times. This 777 is preparing to leave for Dubai, and at the next gate, the Buenos Aires flight was loading.

Korean Air now flies the Atlanta-Seoul nonstop twice daily, and will be using their big A380 on one of the flights beginning this spring. Delta also flies Atlanta-Tokyo from here daily. 

The food court is a two-story setup, with restaurants on both floors. Lounge chairs are spaced out on the first floor, and there are plenty of tables on the second floor.

Many options for eating at all different price points, and I like how ATL is beginning to incorporate more local businesses - like the famous Varsity hot-dog stand - throughout the airport.

On the homeward side, a problem that ATL had with their previous International setup was that arriving local travelers from overseas who were leaving the terminal after picking up their bags had to go back through security and ride the shuttle train all the way across the airport.  With the building of the dedicated International Terminal, this is no longer the case. Overseas flights arriving at either Concourse E or F now use one Customs facility, and local travelers may now exit straight outside.

This corridor runs underground between E and F so that connecting passengers don't have to take the shuttle train.  On the other side of this glass wall is a corridor for arriving international passengers to take to Customs, and from there, connecting passengers can take this hallway, or get right on the shuttle train for the other domestic concourses.

I'll be updating our Atlanta airport guide later this season - our family is taking a trip via ATL in a few weeks and I'll be able to get some daylight photos for more detail!

Hainan Airlines - American Airlines codeshare services: potential routes for Summer 2012

In December 2011 American Airlines and Hainan Airlines announced they would begin a transpacific codeshare arrangement. American would place its AA code on Hainan’s flights between Seattle and Beijing, and on domestic Chinese flights from Beijing. Hainan would place its HU code on American’s flights from Beijing to Chicago, and from Shanghai to Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as on connecting flights in North America on American.

(Click map below for expanded view of transpacific codeshare services:)

Each carrier’s rivals on either side of the Pacific had already created strong cooperative links (Air China and its subsidiary Shenzhen Airlines with Star Alliance partner United Airlines; China Southern and China Eastern with SkyTeam partner Delta), so travel industry observers figured a hookup between American and Hainan was likely as they were the last major carriers left unaffiliated.

Details of specific flight connections are still being worked out between the companies and are unlikely to be announced before Spring 2012. However, I’ve examined the current Winter 2012 timetables for each carrier to anticipate just what kinds of new connections are likely to be offered:

At Shanghai, neither carrier brings much to the relationship. The Chinese government allocates routes, fares, and frequencies among the various domestic carriers (much like how it was done in America pre-deregulation), picking who gets to dominate certain cities. The authorities have decided Hainan Airlines will have the slimmest presence in the country’s largest city – giving them only 7 daily flights from the international airport at Shanghai-Pudong, and just 5 daily flights from the downtown airport Shanghai-Hongqiao.

American’s arrival from Los Angeles gets in too late to connect to any HU departures at Pudong. The Chicago arrival comes in a bit earlier, allowing for connections to the major city Xi’an and resort center Haikou.  Heading eastbound, there is a possible daily connection from Haikou to the Los Angeles flight, and on the Chicago flight, travelers from Haikou, Xi’an, and Lanzhou could make connections.

With these meager connecting opportunities in the People’s Republic, the value of the codeshare agreement as far as Shanghai is concerned is to help Hainan’s local sales team book more corporate travel into the U.S.A.

(Click map below for two-way connections via PVG:)

At Beijing, Hainan Airlines has a much stronger presence, running a connecting hub with multiple banks of flights to dozens of domestic cities – as well as a growing number of overseas destinations. The HU flights to and from Seattle connect smoothly to many Chinese cities. Hainan’s operation is based out of the “old” side of the airport; mostly in Terminal 2, with a few flights from Terminal 1 just next door.

American Airlines has a daily run from Beijing to Chicago. AA flight #186 leaves PEK at 6:55 am on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and at 7:55 am on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. This flight arrives ORD before breakfast and delivers connecting passengers to their final destinations in the Midwest and East Coast by lunchtime. AA flight #187 arrives inbound from Chicago at 11:30 pm Beijing time.  American’s flights use the new Terminal 3 complex on the far side of the airport.

You may suspect that late-night arrivals and early-morning departures at Beijing don’t make for easy connections, and you would be correct. As it stands today, any connection heading into China or heading out to the U.S. would require an overnight stay in Beijing. (On the airport grounds are two full-service hotels: a Hilton and a Langham Place.)

The late-night-early-morning timing was not American Airlines’ choice; they had requested mid-day slots when the route was approved. The Beijing airport authority had other ideas. Perhaps now with a strong local advocate it might be possible to shift the timing of the Chicago run to allow for good connections on both ends so that AA and HU can both profit. (A separate question would be if American could move its flight to Terminal 2 to allow “walking” connections instead of requiring passengers to use shuttle buses.)

If we assume the timing for AA #186 and #187 stays as-is, early-morning departures from Beijing that American may want to put their code on could include:

• Chengdu
• Chongqing
• Dongying
• Fuzhou
• Guilin
• Hailar
• Harbin
• Kunming
• Lanzhou
• Manzhouli
• Mudanjiang
• Shanghai-Hongqiao
• Shanghai-Pudong
• Shenzhen
• Urumqi
• Wenzhou
• Xi'an
• Xiamen

Flights from these cities get into Beijing late at night, so may be potential code-share candidates:

• Changchun
• Changsha
• Changzhi
• Chengdu
• Chongqing
• Haikou
• Hailar
• Hangzhou
• Harbin
• Hohhot
• Jiamusi
• Jinjiang
• Kunming
• Mudanjiang
• Nanchang
• Nanning
• Ningbo
• Qiqihar
• Sanya
• Shanghai-Hongqiao
• Shenzhen
• Urumqi
• Wenzhou
• Wuhai
• Xi'an
• Xiamen
• Yinchuan

Cities that have both inbound and outbound potential codeshare are shown on this map (click for larger view):

To recap, while the Hainan-American partnership is important, at present there are few new service possibilities for U.S.-originating passengers looking to travel beyond Beijing. If American’s Chicago-Beijing flights can be rescheduled, however, a significant number of new connections may become possible. The HU-AA connections through Shanghai will be useful for only one or two cities, and are not likely to develop further.

We will keep watching developments in this association with great interest – follow @weninchina on Twitter and bookmark this blog for the latest news.

Updated Flight Options Article

Flying in and out of China is getting progressively easier, and we've never had so many options for adopting families as in this year. We've completely updated our Transpacific Flight Planning page to reflect all the new nonstops and connecting opportunities for Summer 2011. This resource includes links to the major carriers and maps of the different routes available for traveling home.

So, how do you get to sleep on long flights?

I'm in Hong Kong this week with my wife and daughter to check out the sights (and it would appear, miss the awful weather back home.)

Thankfully, our little girl slept like a rock on both the flight from the USA to Tokyo as well as the Tokyo-Hong Kong leg. My wife got a few hours' sleep on each leg.

I, however, managed only about 90 minutes, and that was just after leaving Tokyo. At least the Hong Kong airport is incredibly easy to get through, because my brains were mush by then.

So what are *your* tips, as parents, for getting good rest on long flights?  (Let's keep liquor and drugs out of it, since you still have to stay clear-headed enough to take care of the kids, right?)

Comment on this post - I'll add your ideas and other research for an upcoming article.

Now things start getting interesting!

After years of waiting, we are now finally at the beginning of a major expansion of flying between the USA and China, and this is going to be great news for family travel!

American Airlines will be entering the Los Angeles - Shanghai market in April 2011, which will help keep a lid on fares.

The bigger news is a set of new routes Delta will be launching from April through July 2011:  Atlanta - Shanghai, Detroit - Beijing, and most importantly for adoptive families, the return of Tokyo - Guangzhou service!

The Guangzhou flight will be operated by a Boeing 767-300, which is a much larger airplane than the 757-200 that predecessor Northwest Airlines used up to 2009.  That should also make seats more available and likewise keep fares out of Guangzhou from getting out of control.

As schedules start to load, we'll be updating our Transpacific Flight Planning page with fresh details.

In Beijing, the airlines have the hots for slots

Whoa there buddy, don't get too confident about that start date...

Stuck in Chicago O'Hare for a month?

While US carriers are finally increasing nonstop service to China, the process this year hasn't gone all that smoothly.

American Airlines was due to start Chicago-Beijing flights on April 24, and had been selling tickets since November. Delta Air Lines has been advertising Seattle-Beijing service to begin June 4.

Even though both countries' governments have authorized the services (years ago, in fact), the airlines also need permission from the Chinese air traffic authority to land and take off at specific times at Beijing. 

In American's case, the takeoff and landing slots they requested would have put their flight into Beijing at 1:55 pm, and out at 4:50 pm - very convenient. American never received the OK to use those particular flight times. But, they kept planning as if they were going to get them - all the way up to the day of the inaugural flight. Which they had to cancel.

The slots that American was approved for had the aircraft landing in Beijing at 2:20 am, and taking off at 4:20 am. Not exactly what you'd want if you were doing business in Beijing - or for trying to get a hotel room on your arrival.

American ended up canceling the flight for an entire month; today (May 25) is supposed to be the new launch date. And they're stuck with the 2:20 / 4:20 slots.

You can't always get what you want, either.

In Delta's case, the times they'd requested would have their Seattle run leaving Sea-Tac at 3:30 pm, arriving Beijing at 6:05 pm, and the return flight leaving Beijing at 1 pm, getting into Sea-Tac at 9:30 pm.

These schedules would have allowed passengers arriving into China excellent same-day connections on Delta's SkyTeam partner, China Southern, to dozens of domestic cities. More importantly, the eastbound flight would have been perfect for same-day connecting traffic from domestic Chinese cities - and for adoptive families, would have given them the option to take either of the first two Guangzhou-Beijing departures on China Southern.

The 9:30 pm arrival in Seattle would have hooked up with the "red-eye" runs leaving there after midnight bound for Delta's other hubs at Minneapolis, Atlanta, Detroit, and Memphis, saving families the expense of a hotel room somewhere on the way home.

The requested slots were also a clever bit of engineering for Delta, in that they could use their aircraft coming in from Seattle to turn around to make a run to Tokyo, with the inbound Tokyo flight turning around to head for Seattle. Their airplanes would spend less time on the ground and more in the air, making money.

You shouldn't be surprised to read that Delta's plans didn't go how they wanted, either. Delta's slots were assigned just over a week ago. Instead of arriving in Beijing at 6 pm, the actual arrival will be 11:40 pm. And instead of leaving Beijing at 1 in the afternoon, the departure will be 8:55 in the morning.

Comparing the two airlines, Delta came out better than American; the eastbound arrival into Seattle will now be 5:30 am, so travelers can clear Customs and make all the morning flight banks to both coasts and all Delta's hubs. But Delta still doesn't have a chance of connecting to Chinese domestic flights inbound or outbound, and flyers going through Beijing are still stuck with an overnight stay in each direction.

And now once again I'll have to modify the weninchina.com Transpacific Flight Options page...

China Southern Airlines' Guangzhou-Los Angeles nonstop: comments

Looking at the map, the only nonstop service from Guangzhou to the USA would seem to be the simplest choice for returning adoptive families. No intermediate connections, no ground travel to Hong Kong, no worries about your child’s visa and passport status.

Comments on other blogs recommend the inflight service on China Southern’s long-range flights (compared favorably to other Asian carriers – which means several steps up from US-based airlines, even in economy class…). You earn Delta SkyMiles and can even book the entire trip through Delta.

So, why hasn’t this flight been the automatic choice?

For many years, the flight ran only 4 days per week – which meant extra days spent on Shamian Island if your consular appointment didn’t mesh with the flight. With the Spring 2010 schedule, however, they’ve added a fifth day, so we will see if the added convenience translates into more business.

The flight arrives Los Angeles at 7 pm. After getting through Customs, most of the same-day connections to US cities have long gone, with only a few late, late night departures to the East Coast and some Midwest airports available. The LAX website says the China Southern flight averages a delay of 27 minutes (18% of the flights are delayed by more than an hour.) If your connection is missed, then you’ll have to find a hotel room in L.A. on very short notice, and that’s a hassle you’d like to avoid at all costs on this trip.

Arrival at LAX is at the Tom Bradley International Terminal, an experience regarded neither as smooth nor particularly friendly. Waits can be long, especially when there are numerous arriving flights – and there are plenty of Mexican flights arriving at 7 pm.  Also, the multiple-terminal arrangement makes it a hassle to move your bags and family – especially after a long haul – and after sunset.

 We’d like to offer some suggestions to China Southern and Delta:

• Move the departure time from Guangzhou up by 2 to 3 hours, allowing an arrival at LAX in the 4 pm – 5 pm range. This would open up connections to the entire West Coast, as well as permit Mountain Time Zone families to make the dinnertime flight to Delta’s Salt Lake City hub, where they could catch the last bank of flights to their hometowns.
• Departure from LAX could be moved up a bit as well without affecting potential connections. The arrival at Guangzhou would be earlier as well – around 5 am – but this would give families ample time to clear Chinese Customs, freshen up and stretch their legs, and have a good meal before continuing on to their adoption cities.  The China Southern Boeing 777-200 that operates this flight would have enough time to operate a turn to Beijing and back before heading out to L.A. again.
• As the economy begins to improve, be ready to add Monday and Thursday frequencies to make this a real daily service. SkyTeam won’t be able to make Guangzhou a genuinely competitive East Asian hub without strong frequency on key routes – in sharp contrast to Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific’s double-daily and triple-daily nonstops to L.A., San Francisco, Vancouver, etc.  Mainland carriers have to allocate their aircraft and staff less efficiently than we’d care for, and operate some routes for purely political reasons, but they still have to make some profit – and that comes from long-range routes to major business centers.

For the full discussion of all your Transpacific options, check our flight planning article at weninchina.com. We'll be posting another update there soon to reflect the Summer 2010 flight schedules.


(Photo courtesy Phinalanji via Flickr, Creative Commons 2.0 license)