Shenzhen Airlines

Customer Reviews

3 star Skytrax Rating
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Seat Comfort 12345
Staff Service 12345
Value for Money 12345
Customer rating from 45 reviews
4/10
3 star Skytrax Rating
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1/10

"I would avoid Shenzhen Airlines"

(China)

Trip Verified | Late flights, unfriendly service and I was allowed to fly to Hanoi without a visa, at which point I was sent back but the airline did not pay for my ticket. So, between delayed flights and although it was my fault for not checking to be sure I could get a visa on arrival as my friend who lives in Hanoi said I could, the airline was at fault as well for letting me fly without the proper paperwork and had I been notified in Chengdu I would need the prior visa I would have avoided having to buy a 250 usd return ticket and would have asked to be refunded the original tickets instead of spending 4 hours of flying time and 6 hours in a Vietnam airport only to be out 500 usd for a trip I was unable to take. I would avoid Shenzhen Airlines at all costs.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteChengdu to Hanoi via Shenzhen
Date FlownSeptember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"customer service is non existent"

(Japan)

Not Verified |  Flights are cheap for a reason. Their customer service is non existent. And when you are finally able to reach someone via phone or email, they tell you it's not their problem and to call again or write to a different email, only to get no reply or help after. Hate this flight. Never book this airline. EVER.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBarcelona to Osaka via Shenzhen
Date FlownAugust 2023
Value For Money 12345
no
5/10

"very good value for money"

(United Kingdom)

Not Verified | Airline checkin at Heathrow was long winded due to current Chinese Govt. regulations, namely there is no transit available in Shenzhen, passengers must clear immigration and customs. For non-Chinese, this necessitates obtaining Chinese 6 day visa on arrival (free of charge). As I was travelling to Cambodia, the airline had to check that visa on arrival was available to me. Staff were courteous throughout. Despite Covid 19 free certification required for entry into China, the airlines are not required to check and nobody in Shenzhen customs or immigration checked for this either. Still, it's a big risk not to have this. There is an online Chinese customs/health declaration form that must be completed before arrival in Shenzhen. To be blunt - this is a total nightmare for people in transit, as it asks questions like "where/with whom are you staying in Shenzhen? What's the address? What's the phone number? Truly Baffling as you must fill these in! Flight to Shenzhen was good. Staff were friendly and helpful. Food good. Beverages were a little limited: soft drinks, wine and beer. More could be obtained on request. IFE In Flight Entertainment in English was a little limited; just about enough for 12 hour flight. The terrible Chinese online health declaration had to be completed again for Shenzhen to Phnom Penh flight. Nightmare. Smaller 737 Aircraft. Snack boxes and beverage. No IFE. Staff again friendly. Shenzhen Airline's websites are terrible. No better than useless. Customer service via email - if you're lucky enough to find one - also useless. Overall, flight very good value for money - but it's not Air New Zealand or Qatar Airways.
AircraftA330
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon to Phnom Penh via Shenzhen
Date FlownMay 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
8/10

"The flight was a bargain"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | London to Hanoi via Shenzhen. Boarding was a little prolonged and we were called to the gate much earlier than needed on the London - Shenzhen leg. Both of my flights left slightly late. The crew were friendly, seat was comfortable and food was surprisingly good considering. We had two full meals and drinks on the first leg, and a snack box on the second. The entertainment on the London - Shenzhen leg had enough options to satisfy me, though far fewer than other airlines. The system was modern and worked well. The Shenzhen - Hanoi leg had no entertainment. Crew announcements were hard to hear and very brief in English. Transiting in Shenzhen was as chaotic as expected, but took around an hour in total. I had to follow signs to domestic transfers, wait in a holding area to fill in some forms, through immigration, then headed upstairs to departures of my own volition. My checked bag went all the way without having to collect in Shenzhen. The flight was a bargain and I definitely would use again.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon to Hanoi via Shenzhen
Date FlownJanuary 2020
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
7/10

"Transit in Shenzhen is shocking"

(Germany)

Trip Verified | We flew with Shenzhen Airlines between London and Shenzhen with final destination of Singapore. The review is related only to the LHR-SZX flight. We ordered vegetarian and got vegetarian food that was tasty for airplane food. Comfortable seats with plugs and usb chargers. Extremely helpful and nice staff. The entertainment is really poor. There are only Chinese movies, music or TV series. Transit in Shenzhen is shocking for a country and city of this dimensions. I would not recommend transiting via Shenzhen until this is improved.
AircraftA330
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon to Shenzhen
Date FlownDecember 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
3/10

"only accept Chinese credit cards"

(United Kingdom)

Not Verified | Shenzhen to London. Just got on board and asked to upgrade to business. Was told the price and agreed to pay. After 20 minutes the airline discovered they could only accept Chinese credit cards or wechat payment and international cards such as MasterCard couldn’t be used. We got kicked out of business. Very poor.
AircraftA330-330
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypePremium Economy
RouteShenzhen to London
Date FlownOctober 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"Never use this airline"

(Slovakia)

Trip Verified | We were supposed to fly 10/06/2019 London - Shenzen - Kuala Lumpur. They canceled our flight Shenzen - Kuala Lumpur and give us another flight, but with 15 hours delay. Nobody in Shenzen Airport speaks English! After few hours and arguing we get a hotel, no water, no food! 23/06/2019 Kuala Lumpur - Shenzen - London. They also canceled our flight from Kuala Lumpur to Shenzen just few days before departure. They offered us to fly totally different day through different city (Singapore, where we had to arrive on our own!) , which was unacceptable for us. We were willing to buy ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Shenzen by ourselves and use their flight from Shenzen to London, but they denied to check us in to this single flight. Overall, first flight - 15 hours delayed, night in hotel in really bad conditions without food and beverages, necessity to buy different flight and our expenses on calls to their useless customers service. After all we were asking for some compensation for this horrible experience and according to their manager there is no compensation. They send us refund for canceled flight which was no near the half of the price of this ticket. Never use this airline.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon to Kuala Lumpur via Shenzen
Date FlownJune 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"required to have China Visa"

(United States)

Trip Verified | Singapore to Shenzen. Our booking this year for our annual trip to destinations in Asia involved a return flight from Maldives to Singapore, Shenzen, and finally LA. The booking did NOT give us any indication that transfer via Shenzen will require an entry visa and complete customs process, immigration control and re-checking in. Shenzen Airlines food is lousy, weird Chinese option that my wife and I did not eat. Entertainment consisted of watching tiny ceiling mounted screens which require everyone to watch the same program which was Chinese material. Business Class seats were the same ones we get for a basic flight from LA say to San Francisco, except this is a five hour flight. Then there was the surprise upon arrival that we are required to have China Visa. We had been told our luggage would go directly to LA and there had been no mention of visa requirements. This involved about a dozen people. Other than the airline person who dumped us off at passport control, nobody spoke English: from the officer who got our passports and disappeared for about 25 minutes, to the immigration office who then stamped my passport and my wife's passport with the wrong sticker (visa is a sticker with name of holder and the name on it must match information on passport's photo page data. So the entire process had to be repeated. This also involved finger printing of all digits, email, US email address and phone number. Then we had to figure out mostly on our own how to get our luggage back, and take it to check in. After check in, we crawled our way to security check in which had a large line. They discovered via electronic transmission from check in area to security screening that there were batteries on our luggage and required us a stop by the inspection area. We had to wait for retrieval of our luggage and someone to inspect it, and that too took about half an hour. The few words they were able to tell us in response to my visible anger was - Sir, you have battery! Battery problem! We dive, we have lighting gear for dives and photography that are too heavy to add to carry on. So they had us empty our luggage to inspect the batteries. By the time we went through a second screening, I was so livid I was yelling at everyone at security. When we were done, we had wasted our 3 hours layover. By then I was so heated and sweaty, the only thing I wanted was to get a shower before our 12 hour flight to LA. Get this I was able to do it because flight was delayed by a.5 hours! So we used our additional time to shower at the business class lounge. Shenzen Airlines lounge had no showers, and the Priority Pass lounge near it had no towels. I showered there and dried myself up with my own polo shirt!
AircraftBoeing 739
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteSingapore to Shenzen
Date FlownMay 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"caused me to lose tickets"

(Indonesia)

Trip Verified | I bought return tickets London to Jakarta via Shenzhen. My trip from London to Jakarta in March was alright, yet I could not make it back. Shenzhen Airlines unprofessional gestures have caused me to lose the return flight. I tried to call and e-mail them to resolve the problem, but they never answered. It started with their flight cancellation on the 5th May from Jakarta to Shenzhen. After much hustles and hours waiting at the airport, the airline (through the Travel Agency) confirmed to transfer me with SC for Jakarta - Shenzhen flight on the 8th May, to continue with SA to London on the same day. I came to the airport in Jakarta on the 8th May for my flights, only for getting rejected to board by SC check-in crew because I don’t have Chinese transit visa, although I have valid UK Visa. I didn’t know that I needed it because according to my previous experience flying from London to Jakarta transferring in Shenzhen, the immigration could give me, Indonesian passport holder, a 24hr entry permit without problem. The officers threatened me that if I would’ve not been allowed to enter Shenzhen without visa by the Chinese immigration, I had to be repatriated and buy my own ticket back to Jakarta. In short, I missed the flight to Shenzhen for this. The next day I called the Chinese Embassy, they said that Indonesian passport holder may enter Shenzhen for 24hr free. I tried to call Shenzhen Airlines to confirm about the correct policy and ask about their procedure in this case, but they never answered my phone or e-mail. Shenzhen Airlines final words to me was given through travel agency, saying that they cancelled my flights for no show and couldn’t change or refund it. I think it was an unprofessional gesture from SA since it wasn’t my fault to miss the flight. They made a mistake by cancelling their own flights at first place, passed me to an airlines that demanded me a transit visa to fly with them, yet Shenzhen Airlines never instructed it clearly to me, or opened their communication line with the client in trouble. This visa requirement unclear information has caused me to lose tickets, which remains unclear to me up to now. It was such a horrible and traumatising flying experience.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon to Jakarta via Shenzhen
Date FlownMarch 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"Staff can’t speak English"

(United Kingdom)

Not Verified | I never fly with them before, so the only reason I was book with was the open tickets of going back to London. The worst experience in my life. The flight was 9:10pm and it was cancelled at midnight they put on the screen that it is cancelled. No communication, no customer service, no offers food and drink from 11/04/2019 at 9:10pm till the next yesterday we on the new flight on 12/04/2019 at 9am. Staff can’t speak English, shouting at Customers. The connection flight from Shenzhen airport, you will need to go out and back in to get your connection flight. So if you buy stuff in duty-free And put in your luggage and you go over 3kg it cost you €52 for 3 kg even them cancel your flight. I will never fly again with Shenzhen airlines.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon to Phnom Penh via Shenzhen
Date FlownApril 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
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