CHINA AIRLINES review :  26 February 2009 : by D Riddell   (UK)

AMS-BKK business class. Have now used China Airlines on 4 flights and found staff to be very good while planes are dated - but what do you expect for £1200 return business class. You get good service and while the business class seat does not fully recline like BA it is still good value.

CHINA AIRLINES review :  25 February 2009 : by Graham Shaws   (UK)

AMS-BKK return in business class. Both flights on time. Crew friendly with good english. Row 5 behind bulkhead gave better legroom than other seats, which were poor, but lights from toilet a nuisance in 5A/B. Seat ok in upright position but poor recline and difficult to sleep - the footrest far too short for anyone of average height or above. Very poor storage in overhead lockers and standard hand baggage had to be stored at rear of cabin. Dinner after take off ok but limited choice and only one drink with meal. Cabin awoken 3 hours before landing to serve breakfast - presumably for convenience of crew, then cabin left to sleep for last hour or so with lights on! No service through night so if water needed you had to go get it. Inflight entertainment very poor, tiny screens, no video on demand. films started with no warning so difficult to catch the start as channel switched off when not active. IFE broke down altogether on return flight. Overall not business class, but for price a fair product

CHINA AIRLINES review :  16 February 2009 : by G Boothman   (UK)

Man-AMS-BKK with China Airlines. B747-400 Economy. Flight on time and quite full but plane old and no personal inflight entertainment. In fact the cabin screens didn't work, so 11hrs with no entertainment. Food average and comfort of seat poor. They ran out of red wine and tonic water. Staff were excellent. BKK-AMS, again 747-400. Delayed by tech fault for 90mins so missed connection at AMS. Still no personal inflight entertainment although main screens working but due to restricted view it was useless. Food very poor.

CHINA AIRLINES review :  10 February 2009 : by Vincent Wang   (Australia)

TPE-SYD on A330. Seats were firm and provided reasonable support for the overnight journey. As I opted to sleep, I skipped the first meal, which looked pretty good. Breakfast was a hot snack service. AVOD worked perfectly, and kudos to China Airlines for changing the movie selection. The flight attendants were highly visible throughout the flight and responded to calls immediately, but it would've been nice if they did more drink runs.

CHINA AIRLINES review :  7 February 2009 : by Albert Kuan

I was on the economy cabin San Francisco-Taipei, B747-400 with the old cabin. There were English and Chinese newspapers available for picking up before going in the aircraft. The economy class seats seem to be worn out. The seats should be replaced by the new economy seats that includes a personal screen. The seat pockets were very dirty, and the magazines worn out. There is no PTV in economy class on the old cabin, however there is audio entertainment and overhead screens. The flight attendants responded fast to calls and demands. The were two different meals served which mainly focused on American and Taiwanese cuisine. The meal served very delicious. Viewing the overhead screen was fine for me, however the audio is very bad. The headphones are so terrible that all you may hear is high pitched sound, and adjusting the volume is no use. Going to sleep was not good for a tall person. There are footrests, however the recline is not very great, and there are no adjustable headrests. The legspace is very bad for international economy. Amenity kits are available upon request. The restrooms are clean, and there are amenities for use. Overall, I would say that I arrived in my destination in good shape and elevated.

CHINA AIRLINES review :  21 January 2009 : by K Chan

BKK-HKG on A330-300 - was put on this connected flight due to flight cancellation from AMS to HKG direct. Got a bit of problem with our checked in baggage due to different requirements between original airline and China Airlines but was sort out after about 15 or so minutes of arguments and complaints. Flight only half full. Food was great. Cabin crew pleasant. Service was more than adequate for a short 2 hour flight.

CHINA AIRLINES review :  19 January 2009 : by David Passmore

AMS-BKK-AMS Business Class B747-400. Equipment seemed a little dated and inflight entertainment needs to be modernised. The seats in business are not the best as they have limited recline, however, I always attempt to reserve the bulkhead window seat on the upper deck which allows your legs to stretch out on the side storage panels. Boarding was efficient on both sectors and both flight were on schedule. Crew were efficient and polite without being too overwhelming. The food on the AMS - BKK sector was a vast improvement on my last trip. CI business class still represents good value and I will still use this carrier, but a little refurb on the equipment and entertainment system would not go amiss.

CHINA AIRLINES review :  15 January 2009 : by R Wu

LAX to TPE, AVOD not working well, meal quality declined and meal servings decreased. Lounge at LAX is a joke as almost nothing served but fruits, chips and instant noodles. Cabin crews worked hard to try to accommodate the passengers, yet it cannot overcome the poor quality addressed above. Both the pilot and purser's announcements were difficult to understand.

CHINA AIRLINES review :  14 January 2009 : by Nethran Pathman

Sydney-Delhi via Taipei return. China Airlines made this trip a pleasure in the A320-330s. The seats were quite good, and vegetarian food was brilliant - typical chinese veg. The transits in Taipei both ways was great, with accommodation in high class hotels with meals. The only problem was that we arrived hungry and quite late in Taipei, so veg food was hard to find at that time. The free tour of Taipei city was truly a highlight. A great trip.

CHINA AIRLINES review :  13 January 2009 : by J Huang

Economy Class Brisbane-Taipei-Hong Kong return. Clean and reasonably new A330-300 equipped with PTVs on all legs. Unfortunately they've taken out the footrests in Economy and replaced them with some sort of Inflight entertainment computer box (I hadn't noticed those before when there were footrests). Brisbane - Taipei return flights have an improvement - a warm snack now instead of cold. Meals great on all flights and service was friendly and efficient. We were served Hong Kong style dim sim flying to Taipei which was very nice. Call bells were always answered, and this is quite amazing considering all 4 flights were full to the brim. All flights were on time and the flight attendants even have a good grasp of English. I will continue using this airline.

CHINA AIRLINES review :  13 January 2009 : by Frank Mauz

HNL-NRT-TPE-HNL. Generally excellent experience, friendly, efficient cabin crews, food quality and quantity both good. A340 aircraft on return far superior to B-747 outgoing in terms of roominess and in-seat entertainment. China is slight below the best (Asiana, Singapore, ANA), but much better than US carriers.

CHINA AIRLINES review :  9 January 2009 : by Tony Koo

SYD-NYC via TPE/ANC return economy. On a general scale I give CI a 8/10, with a fantastic experience. Cabin crew mostly friendly and helpful and pleased with the food/meal service. SYD-TPE A330-300 with AVOD, which was alright but dont expect too much. Legroom on the A330 pretty good, clean cabin and quite pleased with service. CI offered me a night in their hotel near the airport after arrival in TPE however I turned it down and opted to stay with a friend in downtown Taipei. The hotel was at no cost however, which would have been an attractive option if it was in downtown Taipei! Taipei to NYC via ANC a 747-400 with no PTV's which was a big disappointment due to length of the flight (total 17 hours, excluding the 1.5 hour stop in ANC). However cabin service was excellent and crew very helpful. Food was fantastic out of TPE but from ANC it went downhill. The trip back to Australia was a mirror-image of the trip out. The downside I have with CI is their punctuality - my flights on CI saw 3 delays out of the 6 legs I flew.