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We are planning on visiting China next July. We will travel there with BA. Which airlines do people recommend for internal flights within China, with a good safety record and good service?

I flew China Southern from Guangzhou to Shanghai and return last year. For a 2 hour flight each way it beat quite a lot of established airlines - with free hot meals, beer, 2 rounds of drink service, polite crews, clean aircraft, on time arrival, etc. Passengers tended to be a bit pushy but that's the culture and not the airline's fault, just be mentally prepared for it and it's not too bad. Have a nice trip.

China is unique, and aviation is no exception. You just have to stay open minded as to what can happen. I showed up at the airport a few weeks ago for my flight from Beijing to Shanghai to be told that someone cancelled my reservation (it was not me, got on the next flight). You book Air China, you might get Shanghai Airways. You book at Air China you might end up with a China eastern flight. I have been on both Air China and Shanghai Airways - and my only advice would be to book on flights that are big planes!!! To me they just feel safer... My pick is Air China, or Dragon Air if you are coming from HK.

Dragonair would be the best I have flown although it tends to be a bit pricey relative to the other airlines in China. Air China and China Eastern though are quite acceptable. They are safe and tend to be on time. Service onboard ranges from average to good.

To be honest, I think all of the main airlines within China offer the same standards, services and prices. I've flown with China Eastern, Hainon and Shenzhen airlines with no problems at all

In order of preference would reccomend as follows: China Eastern (large network, reliable timing and consistent service). Hainan Airways (smaller network but better quality). China Southern (large network but hit and miss quality plus CAN as hub is to be avoided). In case you are flying to and from HK then opt for CX or KA or take the train from HK to CAN which is very convenient.

I flew business class with China Eastern and China Southern and frankly there was not much to choose between them. The lounges were very basic and the flights were on time and service OK. Seats were old fashioned and more comfortable than the economy product though not great. In flight entertainment was non existent, but these were only short haul flights. Pick of the bunch was Shanghai Airlines, which was more of what an international carrier should be. Staff very attentive, food not bad, ground service very good but, again the lounge while better was not great.

As a regular visitor to China, I strongly recommend Hainan Airline. Good service, always on time and low fare. This is not a budget airline, it provides meals and drinks with good quality during the flight. Air China is another choice. Never fly with China Eastern - has a very bad repuation.

Be aware that it is the immediate pre-Olympic season, so you might run into some non-normal situations (e.g. overbooking etc). I fully agree with the judgement of "br777" on China Southern, but depending on your destination China Southern might not be the airline serving it. I have good experiences with Air China on the trunk route from Beijing to Shanghai and vv, but do not hesitate to use other names like Shandong Air, Shanghai Airlines, Szenzhen A., Hainan A. and so on. Their services matches every domestic airline in the US, maybe some food items are "slightly different", but that is part of the trip!

Made three flights a couple of years ago on Shanghai Airlines, China Eastern and Air China. Went to China with plenty of thoughts about what it might be like, but all the flights were operated on time, with good service levels and new equipment (738's and 777's).

My advice is to upgrade yourself for only a few hundred RMB extra. A few years ago, Chinese airlines offered only three booking classes: Y, C, and F. Very simple, and the same thing applied to the pricing structure: Economy was 100% full fare, Business Class came at 30% extra and First Class at a 50% surcharge. These days the airlines also operate with discounted Economy tickets, but the upgrades are still worth every RMB in your pocket. Here's why: 1) Avoid the crazy Chinese queues by going straight to premium class check-in. No frustration, no pushing, no panic. 2) Have the big seat onboard - instead of a small seat in a packed Economy cabin. As opposed to their European counterparts the Chinese airlines still offer af wider seat for their best customers 3) Take momento photos of the worst Business/First Class catering in the world. Do eat beforehand!

On domestic routes all Chinese airlines are much the same. Probably tried tham all now except Hainan. Can be bad and can be acceptable - never good. Food quality is poor and drinks are mostly limited to fizzy pop from big bottles. All are equally reliable or unreliable in my experience. In- flight entertainment is mimimal with overhead screens on some and the sound piped through the intercom whether you like it or not. Main choice is just price on the day and whiich ones serve a particular route. It's the airports whcih vary more.

Just fly out of Beijing Today. Dragon Air will be my suggestions. New Plane, clean cabin, nice attendant and great safety record.

There are some new carriers such as "Hainan airlines" or "East Star Airlines" - these are probably the best as the aircraft are new and service is also new. Older airlines such as China Eastern are ok - but the aircraft are old.

China Eastern for better and newer aircraft, Hainan Airlines for peace-of-mind service.

Flown twice with China Southern from HKG to Guangzhou and HKG to Beijing return. All I can say from my experiences, cabin service was OK but both flights were delayed for between at least one to two hour with no explanations given. As ti777 mentioned stay open minded as to what can happen!

China based so travel frequently on domestic flights. Agree Dragonair is the best but as it is HK based it only flies on routes to / from HK. For internal domestic flights I would recommend one of the smaller airlines as they seem to try harder to please, i.e. Hainan Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Shanghai and Shandong. Agree with CX168, China Eastern has recently been getting a bad reputation for punctuality (also from my experience). Airline traffic growing rapidly so many newer aircraft on routes. Food is so so, and coffee is guaranteed to be Nescafe 3 in 1 no matter which domestic airline!

Flying within China meaning flying within the People's Republic of China (not Hong Kong), my strong preference would be to go for Air China although I personally also made good experience with Shanghai Airlines. Hainan is supposed to be very good. I try to avoid China Eastern when I can and did not like Shandong as they do not offer Business or First (their flights in Y are however very efficient).

Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern are all operated by the government. Safety record, service, etc are all comparable. I agree with other posts, try the independent airlines like Hainan Shanghai and Shenzhen because they actually need to compete to earn business. If traveling during the peak season, book early as prices usually shoot up. An economy flight booked near, during, and/or for a flight during the peak season can equal the price of a first class ticket during non- peak times.