Shanghai is a city that you won’t miss when visiting China, and it is very likely that you’ll pass by the Pudong Airport, which in the main international travel hub of Shanghai. Despite having grown up close-ish to Shanghai, I haven’t travelled through Pudong many times and it is my first time flying an international route today.
Etihad Airways uses Terminal 2 of PVG, and contracts with the China Eastern First Class No. 77 Lounge. There is another No. 69 Lounge at Terminal 2, but words are it’s a lot worse.
The name may sound strange, but it is a very common way to name airport lounges in China. They are very often just called No. XX First Class Lounge, where XX is the nearest boarding gate. I find it not bad as locating the lounge is made super easy.
As you have guessed, China Eastern is the main sponsor of the lounge, although it’s also the contract lounge for dozens of other airlines. It is operated by Plaza Premium, which means you can enter for free with any Amex Platinum card.
My departure is in late December, and at this time China’s international travel is still pretty much non-existent. There are very few passengers in the lounge, and some areas are shut because of that.
There are some big sofas when you enter. This area is far from the dining area which makes it a lot quieter.
Going in, there are some open-plan rooms on the left, and armchairs on the right.
There’s a kitchen a buffet area at the very end of the lounge. The buffet is decent, with the following options available on the day:
- Braised beef with red wine
- Grilled fish with chillies
- Oyster mushrooms
- Fish tofu with Thai sauce
- Laoganma fried rice
- Pasta
- Buns
- Sour and spicy soup
- Sweet potato soup
Drinks and snacks:
China Eastern lounges are famous for their signature noodles, and I ordered one with high expectations. It turns out that they have outsourced catering to a third-party supplier at the moment unfortunately, and the noodles are very disappointing.
The No. 77 China Eastern First Class Lounge at Pudong Airport isn’t an outstanding lounge, but the catering is decent (and should have improved since China ended all the restrictions), and you can get in with an Amex Platinum card or DragonPass.
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