Guilin: Travel by Air

Domestic Flight Arrival into Guilin Airport

Arriving into any strange airport can be a stressful. This guide aims to give you sufficient information to be able to relax and even enjoy the experience. We'll assume that you have not taken any other flight in China. If you have, then most of this should seem familiar.

After exiting the plane you will have a short walk to the baggage reclaim area. You will normally be docked to a gate and will therefore need to go downstairs. If you arrive and are taken by bus then you will be on the ground floor anyway. Of course, you can skip the reclaim area if you have hand-luggage only.

 There are toilets on the way (upstairs) as well as on the right-hand side (facing out of the building) downstairs. No need to tip the cleaning staff.

Be wary of the carousels. Flights are sometimes indicated on one and the baggage arrives on another. You will need to present your baggage check0in slips on exiting the reclaim area so get these ready whilst waiting. Get a trolley if you must, but you will not be able to take it far outside so don't worry if you can't get one.

On exiting the security area you will see lots of people holding signs. If you have a pre-arranged transfer this is where you need to look around.

If you have no transfer arranged then you have two options:

Taxis

The taxi rank is straight outside the glass doors. You should insist on the meter being used but the drivers are reluctant. They prefer to pre-arrange a much higher charge based on your ignorance of the true cost. You should not be paying much more than about 60 Rmb (plus 50% for night rate) for a taxi to the Guilin downtown.

Like all taxi rides in China, you pay the road tolls along the way. In this case you have another 10 Rmb to pay. Some drivers may ask for you to pay the parking fee for the airport. You can safely ignore such requests.

If you have any problems, write down the taxi licence number (found on the windscreen and on the meter) and look for a complaint number. If you can't find one ask for assistance at your hotel on arrival. Sometimes the mere action of recording the licence number visibly is enough to make a driver more co-operative.

CAAC Bus

The cheapest way to get into town is to take the CAAC shuttle bus. This costs 20 Rmb (no extra charge for bags). You pay on-board the bus which leaves when full, or to a ad-hoc schedule which seems to be based on the known flight arrivals.

You will be dropped at the CAAC headquarters which, though not central, are close enough for you to then get a taxi to your destination for just another 10-20 Rmb.

Domestic Flight Departure from Guilin Airport

Getting to Guilin Airport is simply a matter of reversing the two modes described above.  You'll probably find taxi drivers much more willing to take you to the airport at the meter rate (or at least a more reasonable fixed price) since they then figure then can make good money coming back. If you intend going to the CAAC headquarters to catch the shuttle bus, it pays to have the name of this building written in characters.

The departures hall is upstairs at Guilin Airport. Check-in is frequently done at common desks for Economy Class Domestic Flights. You only really need your passport now that almost all tickets are e-tickets. It pays to have at least the flight number written down in case of any query.

Check that your boarding card has been issued correctly (names are often mis-spelled) and this can cause you a delay at the next stage. Make sure you keep the luggage check-in tags. These are normally stuck onto your boarding card.

Be sure to check all sharp objects into your check-in luggage. Security is thorough and sometimes a bit slow, so do not leave this until the last minute.

Check-in officially stops 40 minutes before the scheduled flight (with the gate closing 15 minutes before). These limits do not seem to be applied strictly but best not to test the system.

Listen for announcements about gate changes. These are not requent at Guilin but they do happen. If lots of people at your gate get up and move, try to find out what's going on.

Flights are sometimes delayed or even cancelled, especially in the summer months when typhoons can play havoc with schedules. Check the information screens frequently. Information can be slow to come up so if you suspect a problem (like when you don't see a plane at your gate and there's only 20 minutes before it is meant to depart) then start checking with staff.

Hopefull, you will board on time. Look for the free copy of China Daily available on board and check out the inflight magazines for the latest travel news in China.

International Arrivals and Departures

There is not much extra that needs saying for International Flights other than that these do have a separate area. Make sure that anyone meeting you knows that you are arriving on an international flight.

Security checks may be a little more stringent but the process is often quicker as there are less passengers passing through.

You need to complete an Arrivals or Departure card and pass through Immigration, Health Inspection and Customs. The procedures here are fairly standard.