Air China Passenger Reviews and Air China Customer Trip Reports

Paris to Beijing in business class on a 777-300 and return from Shanghai to Paris in business class on A340. Seating on the 777 is excellent, with new seats, large TV screens, and a 2-2-2 configuration. On the A340, the configuration was the same, but there were older seats, smaller TV screens, though I cannot complain about seating. On both legs, staff were friendly and attentive. What is disappointing, was the quality of the meals. I have seldom tasted such bland food and the presentation was horrible. Before take-off, only orange juice and water were served. Wines (good selection of French wines) were excellent, but must have been very expensive, because there was no second serving, nor were liquors offered at the end of the meal. Another drawback was the total absence of reading materials in English or in French, except a few China Daily newspapers. A large proportion of the offered movies were oldies. If you are not interested in food, if you bring your own reading materials, Air China is a good option, as it is cheap and not too many people fly it, so you have plenty of space.

LHR-PEK return in economy. Did the same journey last year, this time it was slightly less enjoyable due to the seats I was in on the A330. On both legs 46J and 46L had a dodgy IFE whereas it appeared the rest of the plane was having no problems. Both legs had old interior/IFE, seat material was uncomfortable, legroom was ok for a small person like myself, taller people may have problems. Food wasn't top notch but they still give you 2 full meals. Flight attendants do plenty of drink runs, and were friendly. Outbound flight landed 30 mins early, inbound landed on time. Will probably fly again as prices and schedules suit me.

London-Beijing overnight return Shanghai-Beijing-London. Outward on a brand new A330 with individual screens and entertainment systems. Food not good and ran out of beer 2 hours into flight. All staff very surly and just sat at the back - no water/drink offers apart from 2 meal times. Shanghai-Beijing on old 747 - again surly staff with no smiles. Beijing-London on old A330 with very poor entertainment system - only 2 films, both in Chinese! Food appalling, ran out of 2nd choice within a few rows of service starting. Again all staff unfriendly.

SYD-PEK. The seats, entertainment and service were all very average. The food was edible but not enjoyable. However, it was easily the cheapest flight on offer, as far as value for money goes it was all about what you would expect.

PEK-FRA on 777 economy. Seats were fine and the inflight entertainment system was nice, although most of the entertainment was Asian. Staff were unfriendly and uncommunicative. Toilets were not cleaned during the flight and they were very dirty towards the end. No alcohol served after the main meal. The food was also quite sad.

Flew Beijing direct to JFK. A 13.5 hour flight with 2 terrible meals, no personal television screens and just a few screens dotted around. Unfortunately, Air China use videotapes to show films and so the picture was crackly. Very little room and a most uncomfortable experience. Additionally, flight attendants spend most of the flight behind a curtain trying to get some sleep. On the return flight there was a 4 hour delay. No apology or explanation. On our arrival in Beijing we were kept waiting for 1.5 hours for our baggage while employees were standing around laughing and joking amongst themselves.

Melbourne to Shanghai then onto London return. Booked Air China due to them being $1500 less than any other flights to the UK. The food, entertainment and service weren't top class, but for the price they were good. We had to transfer between flights at Shanghai but staff helped us with every aspect. Due to reading the comments on here, we were prepared with our own snacks and some entertainment, which I would advise. Would definitely fly them again.

Hong Kong-Paris via Beijing. Price of this trip was excellent. The first 3 flights were on comfortable planes, while the final leg from Beijing to HKG was on an old leased Air Macau plane which was rather cramped. Food isn't great, but flights were on time and the air hostesses excellent. Movie selection is spartan, but I took an ipod so didn't mind. The one curious policy is that Air China keep the fasten seat belt signs on throughout the flights. Would certainly fly again if price remains at least $HK 1500 lower than its competitors.

SFO-PEK in economy. Rebooked on CA after UA delay. In terms of seating, not enough legroom, but was made better because flight was relatively empty and my wife and I had an extra seat between us. Food was low average, about the same standards as UA economy transpacific flights. Their wine selection was small and there were no spirits offered. Soft drink selection very minimal as well. Plane was uncomfortably warm, but FAs did turn down the temperature after I requested. Entertainment was on the big screen, and mostly Chinese programming. Their domestic flights w/in china are very comfortable with excellent service, but their international flights are very bare-boned.

ATH-MUC-PEK-MUC-ATH on time A332. The older a/c had bad IFE with only 6 movies and no feet support. Seats comfortable, pillow and blanket supplied but no amenities pouch. The flight attendants made the difference - fluent in English and eager to help. There were 2 selections of food, Western and Asian.

DUS-PEK-MNL return. 2.5 hours delay to PEK in DUS. Unfriendly flight attendants, food acceptable. On the return PEK to DUS, no beer or red wine left after 30 min. However red wine served again with the second meal. I tried to complain, but flight attendants just laughed and try to make a joke of it. Would not recommend.

HKG-BJS on A321. Old looking plane but was clean and modern on the inside, similar to domestic travel in Australia. Delayed on the ground in HKG for 2 hours due to "cargo loading" but made up time in the air. Crew were friendly but didn't speak English.

Vancouver to Beijing return in economy. My vegetarian meal was quite good and the service good. Pillows and blankets provided as were earphones. The downside being the movies were not on demand and as such I did not watch them. Both flights on time. My only complaint would be the lack of on demand video and I would suggest the bathroom floors be mopped (this seems to be an issue on all long haul flights I have been on).

Vancouver to Hong Kong Via Beijing. Seating was comfortable, food good and the stewardess polite. Our flight leaving Vancouver was delayed 3 hours so could not make our connecting flight to HKG. Arrangements made for free accommodation in Beijing. When we got to Beijing, the transfer station misdirected us. Afterwards I found out there was an Air China official looking after other passengers who were also delayed. We had to wait another 2-3 hours for other delayed passengers to pick up their luggage. It seems that Air China need to improve procedures to deal with delayed passengers in Beijing.

Stockholm-Bangkok via Beijing. Return flight Bangkok-Frankfurt via Beijing. Seat was awful, headphone socket didn't work. Food was poor and service was slow, I managed to get 3 beers in 6 hours, after that they were out of beer and wine. Business class Beijing-Bangkok. Only good thing was the seat - fairly comfortable though no electric socket for laptop. Service not up to much. Very poor English from staff. Toilets smelt really bad and were dirty.

Beijing to Shanghai. Only one check-in desk for standby passengers. Flight time was 2 hours. Hot meals served and no options. The A/C was B777 without IFE system. Crew were helpful. Flight was on time. Shanghai to Beijing, B747 without IFE. One hot bun served as breakfast. Flight delayed 45 minutes due to air traffic control.

If you experience any problems submitting comments on the above link, please use our general   Feedback Page