I would give 0 stars if possible
Our experience with Hainan Airlines has been completely unacceptable. We originally travelled with Hainan Airlines from London to Melbourne, transiting through Hainan. My sister was travelling on an Afghan passport and was allowed to board and transit through Hainan on the outbound journey without any issue. When she was due to fly back from Melbourne to London, however, Hainan Airlines suddenly denied her boarding. We were told that immigration in Hainan would not deal with or approve her transit. This explanation made very little sense to us considering my sister had already travelled through Hainan successfully on the outbound journey. We had also contacted the relevant immigration authorities ourselves. We provided them with a copy of my sister's passport and her details to check the situation, and we were told that her transit was fine. Despite this, Hainan Airlines still refused to allow her to board. What makes the situation even more confusing is that my mother also travelled back from Melbourne to London with Hainan Airlines using an Afghan passport and was allowed to board and transit without any issue. My sister urgently needed to return to London because she had her graduation to attend. She therefore had no choice but to purchase a last-minute replacement ticket with a completely different airline and travel back that way. As a result, we were left approximately £2,500 out of pocket. Hainan Airlines are now also refusing to refund the ticket for the journey that they themselves prevented my sister from taking. The situation simply does not add up. My sister was allowed to transit through Hainan on the outbound journey. My mother was allowed to make the return journey on an Afghan passport. We had contacted immigration ourselves, supplied my sister's passport details and were told the transit was fine. Yet Hainan Airlines denied my sister boarding, blamed immigration and are now refusing a refund. If immigration genuinely refused her transit, Hainan Airlines should provide evidence of that decision and explain exactly what immigration requirement prevented her from travelling. They should also explain why this supposed restriction did not prevent her outbound journey or my mother's return journey. Instead, my sister was left stranded, had to urgently arrange a replacement flight with another airline to make it back for her graduation, and our family was left approximately £2,500 out of pocket. We have tried to resolve this with Hainan Airlines, but their refusal to provide a satisfactory explanation or even refund the unused journey has made an already terrible experience even worse. Based on our experience, I cannot recommend Hainan Airlines. I would certainly not trust them again with an important international journey.