Flying from Shanghai to Heathrow aboard Virgin Atlantic

A Virgin Atlantic Dreamliner at Shanghai. Photo / Michael Flyger

Michael Flyger flies from Shanghai to Heathrow aboard Virgin Atlantic.

The plane: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which looks like it's had a bit of a tough life.

Class: Premium Economy.

Price: One way from around $1900 NZ

Flight time: 14 hours in the air — a biggie.

My seat: 25A, window bulkhead at the front of the 2-3-2 Premium Economy cabin. Lots of recline and a 96cm pitch meant I had plenty of room. We chased the afternoon all the way to England, sun coming in the window for a good 10 hours, so the K rows would have been a better option.

Fellow passengers: A mix of Chinese nationals and Brits returning home. My neighbour chopped a handful of sleeping pills with a glass of wine and slept the entire way — the perfect seatmate!

How full: Stacked and packed.

Entertainment: Virgin's Vera service has more than 300 channels and a whole stack of the latest films, so I swung for the fences with Dunkirk, Despicable Me 3 and War for the Planet of the Apes.

The service: Virgin's long traded on its slight quirkiness, and this was in evidence throughout. The bubbly and chatty flight attendants were always quick with a joke, and made sure everyone was happy and comfortable for the duration.

Food and drink: Fizz on arrival at my seat put me in a good mood straight away. The three-course lunch came with a passable effort at the Dessert of the Gods (sticky date and toffee pudding), and a proper British afternoon tea included warm scones with jam and cream. Jolly good.

The toilets: Clean and tidy, but getting changed required some undignified gymnastic manoeuvres.

Luggage: Premium Economy gets 2x23kg in the hold, plus a 10kg carry-on. More than enough for me, even on my way to a European winter.

The airport experience: Shanghai Pudong is a massive, dated and slightly intimidating airport that looks as though it hasn't had a lot of love since the 90s. Checking in was easy, though, with a dedicated line for Premium Economy, and once I'd slogged through the huge security lines, there were plenty of seats with outside views to park up on while I waited for boarding.

Would I fly this again? Probably not — there are nicer airports in Asia to transit through.