MADE IN CHINA JET: Flying the Wish.com Airliner

[@rollingtroll]

The people REALLY stand out in this video. Often when staf gets called friendly by airtravel reviewers I find them 'paid friendly' or 'fake'. These people truly seem lovely.

[@biking-viking-claus-andersen]

Totally agree. Bothe the check in staff and the cabin crew at the end were absolutely wonderful. I want these people to be there the next time I fly in that part of the world.

[@jays306]

Bothe? Da fuck? lol

[@rollingtroll]

It's called a typo. @@jays306

[@PaulAthanasiou]

Main comment said “staf” and reply said “bothe.”

[@mholtebeck]

The Chinese check-in lady had one of the strongest Singlish accents that I've heard in a long time. She seemed super sweet. I've never seen an airline chase down a passenger to let them know when to pass through security.

[@beckymunro2071]

That check in lady (I'm assuming a manager) was so friendly and helpful. Just so you know Subway also does salads, where you can choose your veggies. You don't have to get the bread.

[@hussainmohammad-rx7kj]

Hi, I love your videos.

[@kurohone]

Kinda funny, but as soon as I saw her walking on the conveyer belts, I knew it would be fine. That's a person who is more interested in doing her job right than doing it by the book.

[@gileshouliston7282]

I definitely gone for a roti 🫓. Dip dip in the curry, 🤤

[@biking-viking-claus-andersen]

That lady is exactly the kinda person you want to work at the airport you are flying from.

[@erikhomuth2520]

love the Subway salads. Your videos are quite fun to watch

[@aphidian]

It felt like a rocket because it was designed to do high temperature high altitude operation in the Tibetan plateau. The plane has very high thrust for its weight class, a bit overpowered for "normal operations".

[@youtubechangemynamewhy]

Not a pilot

[@jeffery7281]

@@youtubechangemynamewhy this is exactly what COMAC said. They said it's design for plateau operation, so it has a shorten fuselage, more like MD-87 or MD-95 instead of MD-80/83s. Thought this thing do have a bit too fast for its take off speed, 130 knots or so. Not a problem for plateau since you'll need lots of runway and go fast to get enough lift in thin air anyway, but in "normal" condition it could be a little tricky.

[@watermelon520b]

@@youtubechangemynamewhyneither are you

[@randomscb-40charger78]

@@youtubechangemynamewhy Hot and high is a phenomenon that exists buddy.

[@ShelterCats]

I really like how they were so helpful and were concerned about your luggage and connections. A happy friendly airport!

[@torstenscholz6243]

Asians really still know what friendliness and service actually is. They're actually nice and helping not just pretending to help and be friendly like in most Western countries.

[@PrivateCh123]

Certainly went above and beyond. She didn't have to ask about his flight on a different airline or care whether he'll make the connection.

[@ritz84in]

Loved the last conversation with the cabin crew. She's an absolute sweetheart and was so brutally honest. Loved it.

[@globoliver9697]

I thought the same - honesty!

[@markg2631]

she was hot too !!!

[@camotech1314]

😊😊😊

[@cooltwittertag]

@@markg2631 mark you have a wife.

[@raymondcaylor6292]

15:46 she was absolutely lovely

[@arghjayem]

02:34 wow! That was a reasonable, logical and sensible response from the staff to your luggage issue! Can’t see the staff of BA or any U.K. airline being so sensible when it comes to luggage issues and what you can/cannot carry on! These guys seemed to understand it would be simpler and less hassle just to let you have an extra bag as a carry on than create all the hassle of offloading your bag at Jakarta! And they didn’t even charge you extra! How refreshing 😂

[@urkolabat9635]

Yes!! But I wonder if, in most airports, that answer in the checking desk would guarantee that the staff in the boarding gate let you board the plane with two hand luggage.

[@bsr6823]

Now that is what I call customer service! What a wonderful woman she was to help you with all of that information.

[@alexdavis5766]

What a lovely helpful lady that check in manager was. Hope her boss is watching and seeing how helpful she is

[@ljacobs357]

The airline staff were great.

[@lesliebishop3516]

As a lot of the people here commented, the staff makes a good airline, not the plane. You enjoy friendly service and its makes up for older planes. It just makes the experience of flying so much better. (Note: In Australia we have a little airline called REX, Old planes, simple but the people make it enjoyable to fly)

[@TheObladeeoblada]

I do a lot of work in regional Australia and I love it when I get a Rex flight instead of Qantas Link for exactly this reason.

[@lindamoulton1560]

I've loved Rendang the couple of times that I've had it! It's basically a braised beef curry where the beef is cooked for a long time so that it soaks up the curry sauce and then continued to cook until the beef is almost dried. Highly recommend you trying it at a proper restaurant though! As always thanks for sharing this experience with us! Loved how helpful and friendly the staff was! :)

[@jfwfreo]

Rendang is awesome, I just haven't been able to find any where I am...

[@isaacflyaway]

I loved how genuine the staff were, both at Johor Bahru Airport and onboard Transnusa :)

[@torstenscholz6243]

So true. If you see the Asian way of service, you really get an idea of what service and kindness actually is.

[@kevfit4333]

Malaysians and Indonesians are pretty friendly.

[@bimoaa]

A bit of a fun fact, the Transnusa we know today is a restructured version of its old version where it usually operated small domestic routes and Charter services using ATRs and old Fokkers. This new Transnusa is a somewhat revamp by a Chinese investment group who has invested in rebuilding them. This group also has ties to Comac, and hence why they operate the ARJ21. Currently they operate ARJ21s and A320s, but I wouldn't be surprised if they will return all A320s to lessors and replace them with C919s.

[@Avantime]

Unlikely to happen after what happened with Mexico's Interjet and the Sukhoi Superjet. The last thing you want to depend your schedule on is an aircraft with minimal service history and support, especially parts support if Western parts get sanctioned.

[@ejreob]

It looks more like they are going all in on the ARJ21 as they have 28 of them on order.

[@OOpSjm]

​@@Avantime Interjet didn't pay its bills. You can't get parts if you have a history of not paying.

[@PanduBiasramadhan]

They will do mixed fleets of A320 and ARJ21, they also have plenty A320 on order.

[@Kuricang31]

Chances of that happening is almost slim to none since Indonesia is a neutral country that has long been in business with both the US and Iran for years. Had the Chinese been sanctioned, it wouldn't affect the slightest of their jets operational in Indonesia ​@@Avantime

[@JoshGratton]

What an amazing set of staff, well trained, caring, and thoroughly making sure you wouldn't have an issue. The lovely lady at the beginning deserves a raise! I hope the airline (and other airlines) see this video! Great stuff Noel!

[@redbaron4600]

A nice sunday and a new video from Noel Phillips is the best combination.😀

[@GeraintReynolds2]

Great customer service there, almost like a personal service

[@mamasinger49]

Great to fly on a rare plane, as you said, something like this might not last long, so it's great to experience it. Great video as always Noel, thank you.

[@noelphilips]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@abhishekchaubey9849]

@@noelphilips is it you or your some kind of superiority complex over asia is declaring this.

[@alfredwilson4224]

@@noelphilipsshe is so small and so cute inside her cabin am in love with her ❤❤❤

[@phreak761]

​@@abhishekchaubey9849Why would a plane based on a 1980's design last long or be popular outside of China? If you look up how the Chinese inherited the production plant and tooling from McDonnell Douglas after their merger with Boeing you might actually learn something instead of assuming shit. Noel has obviously done his research being an aviation geek himself and you have done zero and contributed nothing.

[@abhishekchaubey9849]

@@phreak761 I haven't done any research true but trust Chinese government, they must have tested plane for safety issues for flying over the years and exporting it to neighbouring countries, no country want national embarrassment. Philips criticism is just too harsh.

[@robertn7469]

Great service & staff. Very helpful people 😊 A very different aircraft. A different experience. Love it!

[@ld4067]

love how the flight attendant at the end just wanted to talk planes and hear his opinion. good vibes 👴🏿

[@nurrizadjatmiko21]

As an Indonesian avgeek, I have never flown with Transnusa but i am curious wanted to try it someday. I accidentally spot Transnusa ARJ21 landing at Jakarta back January 5th 2024 and in my view, the ARJ21 is literally looks like a CRJ and the MadDog. 🤩Awesome video, Mr. Noel. I like it👍

[@simonmcglary]

Looked like friendly, helpful staff start to finish. Shows good customer service is achieveable at all stages, regardless. Having said that, Noel comes across as such a pleasant person to deal with and shows how being calm and polite can make such a difference to the customer experience.

[@Andre1980stavanger]

Pleasans person? He seems like an arse!

[@vicroc4]

It definitely goes both ways. Speaking as someone who's worked customer service for most of my life, it really helps me be pleasant and helpful when the customer is themselves pleasant and patient. Being obviously impatient or grumpy with me makes it that much harder for me to keep my own cool. So serious props to Noel for being a good customer, just as much as I give props to the staff there for being good customer service people.

[@Tumbleweed_]

@@vicroc4 Teamwork 👍

We went to Bali for our honeymoon last year and every single person we interacted with were incredible so I'm glad to see people on the other islands are just as friendly.

[@mzjamm2]

I am just really glad you were so excited about your flight. It was another thing to cross off on your bucket list 😊

[@NY20N]

The lady on the treadmill was very helpful very refreshing.

[@anya-forger923]

omg such a kind staff!

[@Hytrophic]

"it certainly has an aroma" what a nice way to sound confused about the food. hilarious, i love it

[@susanquigley8383]

Oh my goodness Noel, I don’t know how you can love flying as much as you do ! I wish I had a fraction of your enthusiasm. I am petrified of flying so watching you traverse the world as you do, seemingly without a care in the world , gives me hope. Thanks for your vlogs, always informative and interesting.

[@SuperMe212]

Your videos are getting better and better my friend. Thanks for all the efforts you put into your channel! You simply are…amazing! 🙌🏻

[@noelphilips]

Wow, thank you!

[@donstravelsandrants.]

That was a super cool plane. Loved that woman at Malaysia airport. Very helpful and friendly. 👍😊✈️

[@ianendangan7462]

16:06 rear engined planes is generally noisy at the rear in the cabin. Grew up with the BAC111 in the 70's and 80's and they use turbojets.

[@HendrikDaStar]

Such great hospitality makes your journey so wonderful, I truly applaud how helpfull the people where to you at the airport.

[@QuicknStraight]

All the airline staff, from check-in to cabin attendants, seemed very nice. I think Comac actually deserve a lot of credit for the strides they've made over the last 8-10 years.

[@jakewatson2660]

Comoc is a communist state run organization. Isn’t hard to make a plane with unlimited government funding

[@josh3771]

The whole country is taking leaps and strides

[@kirshari]

@@josh3771 yeah by building knockoff MD80. Haven't seen anything original coming out of China in ages other than billions of CCP propoganda.

[@thieflooter1904]

The way he opened the utensils was SUS!

[@mealien0808]

😂

[@justair921]

😂😂

[@michaelc8651]

I think Noel has done that before....open a bag of plastic cutlery, I mean😂

[@couz96797]

He knows the spoon technique

[@lwallis62]

Lovely people treating YOU, a lovely man. ✈️

[@JulieGlass-t7q]

Thanks!

[@goyoy6433]

That flight attendant was quite lovely...Quite lovely.

[@mattsmith7301]

Airport & Airline staff seemed pretty cool.. helpful and informative. Can’t ask for more 👍🏻

[@TimKrause-z1q]

Just love the Videos 😁 10:42 you were so happy about the Engine and the loo haha😂😂

[@patriciafuchs5970]

What helpful people! It’s a nice looking plane. It’s fun watching your enthusiasm. The experience was like shake, rattle, and roll days of aircraft. I think I would pass.

[@AledPritchard]

The staff member in the yellow shirt.. how nice was she! ❤ things like this I just love. Common sense and kindness with helpfulness, what a great combination. Heartwarming to see things like this 👌🏻

[@SilverfoxJB]

That's my local airport (I'm a Brit, but stay in Johor). I took that same flight just before Christmas. I really liked the plane. There are a lot more and a lot better places to eat at the airport. Best place to eat is Kuu or the little Indian place called Chutney and Chai. The staff are always very good in the airport

[@lzh4950]

AirAsia previously didn't want to fly to Singapore but serve passengers going to/from there by flying them to JB's Senai Airport & then run coaches from there to Singapore, but the Causeway border crossing along the way can have pretty long queues (I read that 150 million people cross the border crossings between JB & Singapore annually, equivalent to the population of Bangladesh, the world's 8th most populous country, or 37.5x Singapore's population, or 2.5x the no. of people who pass through Singapore's Changi Airport!)

[@goyoy6433]

That's great customer service. That woman chased you down to provide useful information. 👏👏

[@youssef3616-l8g]

That stewardess at the end of your video was absolutely gorgeous! 😍

[@Adam-yb2ei]

Beautiful

[@ianpilkington2037]

She's a stunner

[@AnnSmith-u9c]

Agreed

[@MrSnout5]

My comment to myself when I saw her was simply 'yum.'

[@TortillaPapi]

Passport bros have entered the chat 😂

[@kathleengary6979]

Noel is always so kind to everyone.

[@torstenscholz6243]

Well, he's British.

[@djmark143]

I was never a big fan of flying, one might even say I was kinda scared of it. But since I have been following you Noel I fly with much more ease and the being scared and anxious part just seem to have vanished. I actually do start to enjoy flying now which is just great, not having that stress anymore every time I have to fly. So a big thank you for that. 🤩

[@ahmadzahid266]

Arj21 technically isn’t a knockoff aircraft, formerly it was a SAMF, was building md-80 and md-90 in under license for Chinese mark, and still have it even after MD merged with Boeing, they managed to redesign wings and cockpit but it’s based on MD-80 instead a clean sheet design

[@nntflow7058]

😂 That's how exactly wish produce most of their products. Usually an updated older products produced to be sold at discounted prices. I didn't know it actually is the same.

[@maxart3392]

The wings are actually designed by Antonov. And the vibrations have been an issue since the beginning.

[@thecaynuck]

It's like if an MD-80 and a CRJ had a kid

[@travellinman382]

Great video! I liked the flight attendant talking with you at the end. I’ve also had good experiences with the Indonesian/Malaysian air crews. Continued Safe Travels, Noel! ✈️

[@noelphilips]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@senbok6126]

One of the best take-offs you've recorded. Wing plus engine, spot on.

[@roaddogg800]

What an interesting flight! Thanks so much for documenting this rare aircraft

[@jamespratt5509]

Noel chooses to sit in between two General Electric CF34’s generating 18,000 lbs of thrust…. Also Noel “the one thing I will say about this aircraft though… it is incredibly loud on board” 😂

[@jamesharris9816]

He also managed to slip in soviet too.

[@KanoKano-vn8wp]

I knew he would do so even before watching this video

[@ericgol7]

Not an excuse

[@Dubbeldavid4]

Flew with TransNusa many years ago from Floris (Komodo) back to Bali. The plane was fourth-hand or something, with a collection of safety cards, seatbelts and sick bags from multiple airliners. However, the captain absolutely buttered the landing. Big contrast with the Garuda flight to Floris a few days earlier. Afterwards the captain walked out of the flight deck like he was a rock star, recognized by some passengers who make this trip frequently.

[@shanelipscombe4540]

Fantastic Vid Noel , really interesting to see different aircraft and the way you present is top notch. Keep it going

[@noelphilips]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@KayH6]

Thats malaysian hospitality and them not knowing tht ur a famous utuber😊

[@Fitzrovialitter]

Illiterate.

[@BrodieD]

I love sitting in the last row of the Fokker 70/100 and used to love sitting in the back row of the Qantas 717s

[@MrSnout5]

Looks like a great little aircraft. Reminds me of travelling on the Boeing 717 in Thailand, in the early 2000s. Bangkok Airways had a fleet of them, before changing over to Airbus A319s. They also used to take off like a pocket rocket. I also seem to recall that in the 717, there were no windows parallel to the rear engines.

[@TangerineTulip]

Glad you had fun, I enjoyed it with you 😊 much ❤ from Auckland New Zealand 🇳🇿

[@noelphilips]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Happymali10]

The "weird light thing" in the bathroom is just a random neon tube that they stuck in a safety-cover (that doubles as a diffiuser)

[@lizajane1878]

Noel! Disturbing motion with the cutlery bag 😮lol😅

[@nino88881]

Better record than Boeing lately so dont worry.

[@jb8328]

Malaysians and Indonesians are some of the sweetest people, really glad to see even on airlines like Trans Nusa they are still super helpful and friendly!

[@kylepearce5311]

Staff was top teir in genuine customer service. I think the young lady at the end was interested in you Noel lol but the shake in the wings constantly would have set me into a full on panic attack fs! Good video as always sir!

[@matthewwelsh294]

I bet she is a keeper

[@kylepearce5311]

@@matthewwelsh294 I agree 👍 💯

[@LMays-cu2hp]

Thank you for sharing this trip. Wow, that was nice you were getting supervisors help you!!!😊😊 Too cute!!! She was nice there in the beginning!!!😊😊

[@LMays-cu2hp]

You and I, Noel, both know how airport life can be!! So, when you have someone like her is in any airport that approaches you like this it is nice!! 😂 Hahaha.

[@jassenjj]

12:50 Well, an aircraft, built in 1980 is a "modern" aircraft by all means when it comes to smoothness of the ride. By the way, it could be just the weather. My bumpiest ride ever was from Toronto to Frankfurt in 2011 with a 777. I had a vertigo, for 6 hours the feeling was like in a horse-driven carriage on a stone road - constant small shacking and tilting side to side from a very mild and very annoying turbulence.

[@dncnlltt]

Back in the 1980s, the flight from Boston Logan to Provincetown was an old Douglas DC-3. I was living in New York, so I didn't have to go to the other end of the world. i was super-stoked to book that round trip flight to and from P-town. Even for the time, that was a very rare treat. Obviously that one stopped flying shortly afterwards.

[@abimanyurizky8350]

You aren't completely wrong mentioning Soviet influence in the Arj21. The wings are designed by Antonov.

[@davidwill5347]

I completely understand your desire to fly on rare types. Not quite at the same scale as you Noel but I always try to include a rare aircraft type as part of my hols. Recently went to Spain and couldn't resist flying on the CRJ 1000 (GRX/MAD) as IB are the only carrier using it. Was a fine experience.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

by the apparent flight characteristics (fast but rough) and seat layout (3-2 fairly wide seats), it feels almost like a cross of a soviet period Yak-42 and an MD-80...

[@michaelosgood9876]

Visited Hawaii back in '97 and did a bit of Island hopping on Hawaiians DC 9 50s, which their MD 95s replaced later on. No seats were assigned so I was the guy in the back seated next to the left JT8D-17 while evryone else was up front, if flights weren't very full. Marvelous!

[@PhilOsGarage]

Gotta love a perfectly placed advert. “It’s gone from shaking the entire plane to three actions in one toothpaste”

[@cirias]

I love the check in lady standing on the belts, haha, great character

[@AveragePostnordHater]

1:37 I would've exploded from frustration at this point, you have nerves of steel Noel.

[@MrCraigNic]

Looks like a great little aircraft! TransNusa could really do with a few A220's but i guess the ARJ is much much cheaper

[@MrPickledede]

That transition to the lou review was spot on!

[@quainstein]

I remember seeing the plane packed in Indonesia with the engines covered in one of your videos 😅

[@clairedobson2240]

Brilliant video Noel. What friendly staff at check-in & crew on the flight.

[@dylanness2003]

Noel I love your videos, entertaining, very funny, and educational

[@noelphilips]

Glad you like them!

[@mybraintalks]

The ground crew in JB really rocks and that lady really helpful. A pride for Malaysia.

[@rogerfozzard2902]

When I was in KUL last October, I saw 2 different ARJ21 of Trans Nusa, so they do fly to other airports.

[@guacamoleunited]

13:27 Noel convincing himself that riding on this rickety bucket of bolts was a good idea in the end after all 😂

[@paradonym]

"You can only carry one bag".... "do you want to carry on your second bag? It's okay..."

[@megaedwin2363]

I love your sense of humor especially on 11:16

[@kajfeis7713]

Noel giving his inner aviation geek the free hand...always the best ones. I expect that he is the first one on board if they would start flying C919's also! Co-production with Josh Cahil maybe?

[@steveort2105]

Okay the fork "opening" had my in tears laughing

[@CentralValleyOperator]

Thank you for the Vids Noel! You do a really fantastic job at putting them together and you quite literally put you life on the line sometimes. You deserve more views imo

[@noelphilips]

Glad you like them!

[@karlgalway7605]

17:02 “Thanks very much for washing” lol 😂 But yeah nice video!

[@noelphilips]

😁

[@c.douglasgolden9088]

As an expat living in Malaysia, I was genuinely wondering during the Air Asia video what in the world you’d need to go to JB for, aviation-wise. Well, that answers that. 😂

[@vernonharvey5657]

It has the GE CF34 engine, same as the CRJ & ERJ, it's the only one to use the -10A model and the closest would be -10E on the E190/195. I have noticed the E170/5 is very loud on take off, but not too bad in the cabin. I guess the noise is all about the insulation - or lack thereof - or maybe because it is falling off already!

[@buffdelcampo]

Very interesting review! Thank you for being persistent in getting a flight on that plane.

[@yindyamarra]

12:57 that bouncing wing reminds me of one of Rex Saabs, same buzzing sound as well

[@decr5555]

Wow! That agent went above and beyond!

[@jndyap]

I've flown with TransNusa from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur. It was quite surprise because it's ARJ21 flight instead of Airbus. I never flown with a compact plane like that before, definitely a unique experience.

[@bganonimouse2754]

The stewardess was stunning! If you watched to the end you will know what I mean. Incredible service at the airport and flight!

[@Tumbleweed_]

Yeah really attractive.

[@rhanemann9100]

That "whistling" of the engines... that are GE CF34s. Same as the E175/195 and CRJ series. Not exactly "Soviet".

[@andremp03]

Kudos to the check-in staff

[@デデザイン]

小型飞机重量轻经常颠簸是正常现象，尽量不要坐在靠引擎的位置，因为那里有巨大的噪声，这不利于你休息

[@jorgesoaresgeral]

Hello Noel! Nice video, and the plane nice too. You are so funny when you can get into a plane like this! The best to you and your family!

[@noelphilips]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@brian402]

Awesome customer service / helpful staff 10/10✈

[@vikingsbuckeyesfan]

Amazing customer service especially that lady at 3:08

[@jamiedonohue4884]

So cool you finally got to ride on a super rare plane. I am currently in china and was looking into getting on the c919…fingers crossed all the best to rach and the kids enjoy the Bahamas

[@teazerfemi]

Thanks fantastic Noel for this lovely video, the airport staff are equally lovely and customer service froendly