Air China

Customer Reviews

3 star Skytrax Rating
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Seat Comfort 12345
Staff Service 12345
Value for Money 12345
Customer rating from 774 reviews
4/10
3 star Skytrax Rating
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8/10

"footrest provided in economy"

(Germany)

Trip Verified | Flight on time from Beijing to Frankfurt. Seat range is great even footrest provided in economy. Service quick and had enough to drink. Open bar during night. Two meals in a 10 hours flight. At night they serve a sandwich and yogurt which was pretty dry but okay. For breakfast eggs or Chinese congee with Chinese egg. I liked it. Everything was fine.
AircraftBoeing 777-300ER
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBeijing to Frankfurt
Date FlownApril 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
1/10

"not care about customer service"

(United Kingdom)

Not Verified | Just awful! The entire airline seems to not care about customer service. The food was absolutely disgusting. On my outbound flight (CA837) the screen didn't work, and when I asked they were already aware of this. Only really an issue as it was a 13 hour flight, then they left my bag in China for two days Even with functioning entertainment the choices were limited or heavily modified by the Chinese government. I have never been with an airline that does so many unnecessary announcements.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteTokyo Narita to London Gatwick via Beijing
Date FlownApril 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"it's not a pleasant experience"

(Australia)

Not Verified | Air China is cheap it got us to China on a budget. The experience from Sydney to Japan (Tokyo) was ok, goodish even. My husband and I were seated together, meals were ok and we had frequent drinks offered. On the way home from China to Sydney my husband and I were seated apart. We booked together. People with children were seated apart which was appalling. Children shouldn't never be separated from parents. On this flight we were fed a sandwich with a muffin and yoghurt at midnight. A sandwich is not appropriate plan food. Sandwich was stale. We were then given a hot meal 5 hours later with no drinks beforehand. I was so confused the other flights we were given better meals and more drinks. We were dehydrated. Went the toilet saw there was self serve drinks and chocolate but no announcement of this service. Very strange. We should have served drinks every 2 hours. If you need to get somewhere cheap this will get you there otherwise it's not a pleasant experience. My review would have been better 3 stars if it wasn't for our last flight and being separated and fed sandwiches. They need more western films on the tv. Do not separate people when they have booked to sit together! Good way to upset people.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteSydney to Tokyo via Beijing
Date FlownApril 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
8/10

"Overall great experience"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | We flew from Frankfurt to Bangkok via Beijing. Legroom is great compared to other carriers. Two warm meals on a 9 hours flights in economy is great. Even had a foot rest. Food was good for economy. Drinks in a bar mid plane over night. Only the seat on the first leg was a little hard. The 3-4-3 configuration on the Bangkok leg had more cushioned seats then the older 3-3-3 config. Overall great experience. Flights on time. And the transfer in Beijing was easy.
AircraftBoeing 747
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteFrankfurt to Bangkok via Beijing
Date FlownMarch 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
5/10

"recommend this airline"

(Germany)

Trip Verified | Ground staff in Hongkong was nice and friendly. I arrived at the final call and off we went to Beijing. My neighbour complained that the airplane was old as you could not charge your telephone there. I have the feeling all the domestic Air China planes have a bit of an old fashioned feeling, but I guess it is just the colour of the seats. The food on board was okay, they first asked me which choice I wanted and then told me that one was not available. :-) Of course it was not a problem, I did not really care. Normally I ask the attendant to "surprise me" and just hand me a random meal, but most flight attendants don't like that game. What I did not like is that Air China had rescheduled that flight to arrive one hour later in Frankfurt, so my connection was a bit tight. Unfortunatelly, we spend a lot of time taxiing in Beijing (guess up to 40 minutes) until we finally left. There was no snack after boarding and drink service consisted of a stewardess walking around with a water bottle. I did not sleep that well, as my seat on that B777 was not that comfortable. Then we arrived in Frankfurt and of course I missed my train. My neighbour was worse, they had checked her in for a connecting flight with a connection time of 20 minutes in Frankfurt, which is ridiculous, I wonder why Air China did that. If they reschedule their flight, they should also change connections for passengers. It seemed the cabin crew was watching the passengers, as I woke up and had my eyes open for about 2 minutes I was handed a sandwich. Breakfast was okay, I always opt for Western Breakfast with Air China, as I do not like that "rice with water". In general, not only when handed by Air China. If Air China has competitive prices, I would recommend this airline and use them again.
AircraftBoeing 777
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteHongkong to Frankfurt via Beijing
Date FlownFebruary 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
8/10

“in-flight entertainment was good”

(Germany)

Trip Verified | My Air China experience mirrors my last experience with this airline. Check-in in Frankfurt was rude like always and done by Lufthansa staff. Our plane was delayed by 60 minutes, but as I did not have any tight connections, I did not care. The in-flight entertainment was good, they had interesting movies to keep one occupied. The food was good and the staff was professional. As it was an overnight flight and I was pretty tired I did not have a lot of interaction with the crew. Transfer in Beijing was a bit of a hassle, as so many notes (including on Air China website) tell you you have to pick up your luggage in Beijing, go through customs to enter China and then check it in again. Even at the airport in Beijing signs told us to pick up our luggage, though they said in Frankfurt my luggage will be checked through to Changsha. So I waited a bit at the baggage claim and as the delivery was finished without my suitcase, I continued into China. My next flight was okay as well, I remember we did only get a muffin on that domestic flight of 3 hours and there was basically no in-flight entertainment for non-Chinese, but I had something to read, so no problem. Arrival in Changsha was on-time, I guess. I had quite some time to catch my train, so I was not that critical.
AircraftBoeing 747-8
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteFrankfurt to Changsha via Beijing
Date FlownFebruary 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
3/10

"never recommend this airline"

(New Zealand)

Trip Verified | The only positive part of our experience with Air China was onboard the flight; the flight attendants were amazing. Unfortunately, the service we received on the ground in both Tokyo and Beijing was so awful, that I would never recommend this airline to anyone as a result. We had a pocket Wi-Fi device that needed returning to the company's kiosk in the same departure terminal we were in at Haneda airport Tokyo. Unfortunately, immediately after check-in, we were ushered straight into the line for the departure gate to go through customs and didn't get a chance to return it before going through. We went to the information desk and were informed that this happens often, and that all we need to do is go to our gate and the gate crew can escort us back through customs to return the device, as we had plenty of time before our flight. We thanked them and we went to the gate where there were two Air China staff behind the counter. I went up to the counter and was met with a rude stare from the female staff member who, while typing, said to me "What? What flight?" - so I responded, "I am on the Air China flight - I just wondered if you could please help me" and I pulled out the device. She immediately looked back at her computer screen and while typing said abruptly "We cannot help!". I thought, in that moment, that she was looking something up for me as the exchange was so abrupt so I stood there waiting awkwardly for a few moments, but it turned out she was just completely ignoring me and didn't acknowledge me any further. When I realised I was being ignored, I said okay, thanks, which she ignored as well, and I walked away - this took place in front a whole bunch of people in the departure lounge. For some, this may not even be an issue, and I do acknowledge that the mistake of not returning the Wi-Fi device was our own fault of course, but I personally don't care at all for this kind of unnecessarily rude, dismissive customer service. She barely acknowledged me, looked annoyed the moment I stood in front of her, and then legitimately ignored me until I went away. I would have understood completely if our request was declined, but I will never understand that kind of treatment. Following this, when we arrived at Beijing Airport, we had to go through the passport/ticket scanners. After scanning my passport face-down, I tried to scan my ticket face-down as well. It wasn't working, so I was taking a little bit longer than normal, and out of nowhere I hear someone say "face up". I look up, as I'm not sure where that voice even came from as the place was extremely quiet during this process and the airline staff member was standing quite far from me. Because I didn't immediately click that I was the one being spoken to, the staff member got annoyed at me and then shouted from the other end "face up" - this only startled me further so I fumbled trying to do what she said, which only prompted her move closer and shout once again "face up". This whole area was completely quiet, and there were four or five lines of people behind me, so I was genuinely embarrassed. Again, these might not be a big deal to some, but I've never, ever received this kind of "service" from another airline. Wouldn't bother with this airline ever again as a result, and will actively encourage friends and family members not to either.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteTokyo to Auckland via Beijing
Date FlownJanuary 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"Worst company ever"

(France)

Not Verified |  Worst company ever. They couldn't find our booking so we couldn't get our plane. They didn't offer any compensation and didn't apologize. WE have waited for hours to have new tickets for another flight. Don't choose this company!
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteParis to Manila via Beijing
Date FlownJanuary 2024
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"cancelled 7 days before my schedule"

(Japan)

Trip Verified | I booked my tickets from Expedia. The airline rescheduled my itinerary with a 32-hour layover in Chengdu. I paid the cancellation fee and rebooked the flight again. Again the connecting flight from Shanghai to Chengdu was cancelled 7 days before my schedule. I had to cancel the booking again and wait for the refund. On the other hand, now I booked another flight with a higher ticket fee which is about double.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteOsaka to Kathmandu via Shanghai / Chengdu
Date FlownJanuary 2024
Value For Money 12345
no
8/10

"went very well because it wasn't full"

(Italy)

Trip Verified | Returned to travel with Air China, quick boarding at the gate, flight went very well because it wasn't full, rows of seats close together all at my disposal, (the single one is a bit narrow for XL sizes) food was normal, even good compared to other more famous airlines. Decent entertainment, several films in Italian, super crew, they came with water throughout the flight and always available, very poor offer of in-flight snacks, chocolate-covered wafers and little else. Absolute savings but the cost of the ticket makes up for it all. I will gladly return to fly with them for the price, quality and time to get to Japan. Ritornato a viaggiare con Air China, imbarco veloce al gate,volo viaggiato benissimo perchè non era al completo,fila dei sedili vicini tutti a mia disposizione, (il singolo e un po strettino per taglie xl ) cibo nella norma, anche buono se raffrontato a altre compagnie più blasonate.....intrattenimento decente , diversi film in lingua Italiana (Eva ne aveva un paio solo :-( ) equipaggio super , passavano sempre con acqua durante tutto il volo e sempre disponibili , offerta di snack in volo molto povera, wafer ricoperti di cioccolata e poco altro.... ( al risparmio assoluto ma il costo del biglietto ripaga il tutto , me li sono portati da casa gli snack) . ritorno volentieri a volare con loro per il prezzo, la qualità e il tempo per arrivare in Giappone
AircraftA350-900
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteMilan to Nagoya via Beijing
Date FlownDecember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes