Air China

This was my first time flying on Air China and the last. In all my years of flying, I have never witnessed what I am about to describe. While sitting on the plane parked at the gate for over 1 hour waiting to take off, a passenger returned to his seat with a food tray. Less than 10 minutes later, we were informed to put away our tray tables, bring our seats to the upright position we know the routine. The flight attendants walked up and down the aisle checking all of us passengers. Oh, we also had to put away our noise cancellation headsets - explain that one to me. Anyway, I watched as the flight attendant glanced at and then walked past the passenger with the food tray with tray table down. And and that is how we took off! Definitely one of the worst Asian carriers I have ever flown.

Flew Air China from Heathrow to Bangkok via Beijing on 21 Nov returning on 5 December. Late taking off from Heathrow due to them not opening the boarding gate until 10 mins before scheduled take off. No apology or explanation. Landed in Beijing with 1.5 hours to make our connection, which should have been enough time. However we waited over an hour to disembark and due to long queues at security ended up running the length of the airport to the boarding gate. Managed to catch the connecting flight, only to be grounded for almost 7 hours. No food or water offered with the cabin crew congregating in the back of the plane. After 4 hours I went down and suggested they offer water to passengers. Staff were very rude. After 5 hours I asked if they were going to offer the passengers food. I got a rude "no" in reply. A male steward who angrily thrust a small bread bun at me. On the return flights Air China changed the time of our connection but did not tell us. We had an hour from landing to take off so once again running through the airport after hold ups going through security. I'm 52 years old and not very fit. Not an enjoyable experience.

Frankfurt to Beijing return on Air China Boeing 777. On first impressions I thought it was going to be okay - a flat bed seat but angles are strange in this cabin and no privacy. But once you start to look at things more you realise this is below standard. The seat controls on several seats did not work properly, my IFE controls out of order and staff could not get it working after resetting - they just laughed each time a new problem was found. The seat table was crooked for the meal service and bent hinges - again they laughed. Asked for 2nd glass of wine, they laughed and said it had run out! Unfortunately, the laughs were not nice, but unfriendly and sarcastic, and the only English comment they seemed to know was that we have reported faults before - so much for Air China maintenance! Food was okay, not a patch on major Asian or European carriers, but I ate it. Staff could not speak English, there was 1 German speaking but kept away from most western passengers? Definitely try to switch and use Lufthansa on my return, as this is a shabby set up and not close to normal business class standards.

London to Sydney via Beijing and I chose Air China because of the low price. The seat was great converting into a lay flat bed. Food was excellent with a choice of western or Chinese menus and a choice of good quality wines. The staff were pleasant and attentive with no language problems. The entertainment system worked well but the content needs attention. Not enough up to date English speaking films. Will use Air China again.

Frankfurt to Beijing on Air China. Worst customer service I've ever had. I was on hold for ages when I called, and when I spoke to an agent he then passed me on to a different agent who never materialized. As a result it was completely impossible to make any changes to my tickets once I purchased them. Aside from this, the seats were cramped, the film selection was poor, and the cabin was dirty. I will not fly with Air China again.

Outbound flight from London was poor, the return was in a word "awful". Late departure from Beijing (75mins) but not a word of apology from crew. Boarding by remote gate and long bus ride, twice the number of passengers on bus as there should have been, but that's Chinese safety! Cabin staff were seen to talk with a few Chinese passengers but they just scowled at us westerners. Asked for coffee 3 times and it never came, water was served lukewarm and no beer or wine was available - a simple "no" was the answer twice! This flight was cheap, but not cheap enough for what was awful service, surrounded by very noisy travellers - they shout across the middle aisles, walk around when seatbelt sign is on and staff just ignore it. Onboard entertainment kept freezing up on screen, staff are angry when you ask about it - but hey, the programmes available were rubbish so I didn't really miss out on anything. Never again, and for a little more will go back to Emirates or Qatar Airways.

Great value for the money! Booked flights way in advance 7 months ago, Boeing 777-300 LAX-PEK comfy in exit row requested at airport. A much older Boeing 777-200 from PEK to BKK. Both flights on time, nice crew, super cheap flights.

Melbourne to Harbin via Beijing with Air China, and the worst flight experience in my life! Tight legroom, the seat is very uncomfortable. No USB charging pot, personal TV control is very stupid. It only has one way to choose something, so you have to keep clicking 'down' button. Food is below average but acceptable. If you transfer domestic flight in Beijing, you have to pick up your luggage and go through custom and check it again. Overall a bad experience with Air China, I wouldn't fly with them again.

I recently flew Air China from Montreal to Beijing round-trip (connecting to Hangzhou, returning from Hong Kong). The B777-300 were recent, clean and equipped with the new lighting system. Standard seat width and seat pitch in the economy cabin with a 3-3-3 configuration. There are power ports between the seats. Each seat has its own screen and personal entertainment system. There were a lot of movies in English or with English subtitles available. A few movies also available in French as Montreal is a French-speaking city. However, there was only Chinese music available. I found the lavatories quite clean, I found the crew professional. It's a fact that staff don't really speak English - a few could speak a little bit of English but it's very minimal. Only two meals were served during the 14-hour flight (in comparison with other airlines that serve three meals on similar routes). As a result, I found the 8-hour interval between the meals a bit too long. The meals were good enough Montreal to Beijing but only average on Beijing to Montreal flight. Outside meal times, drinks and tea are available in the galley. All in all, I think Air China is not bad and I think it's good value for money.

London Heathrow to Bangkok via Beijing with Air China. I will never fly with this airline again! The worst of the experience was the lack of service regarding food and drink. On our return flight yesterday we boarded and received our lunch within the hour of takeoff as expected, however, we weren't offered any more food or even water, particularly the water, apart from once within the next 7 hours! We were next offered a meal and a drink less than 2 hours before landing at Heathrow. Apart from being thirsty and hungry, my inflight monitor wouldn't work on the last 10+ hour flight. On the earlier flights, inflight entertainment consisted of outdated films and tv. Not sure what the flight attendants got paid to do - only positive think I can say is that the toilets were clean so maybe they were all on toilet cleaning duty! Arrived at Heathrow late early evening to discover our 2 suitcases hadn't arrived - along with dozens of other peoples baggage. This apparently was due to one hour flight connection time hence baggage of passengers were not put onto connecting flight (last call for connecting flight was out on landing at Beijing. Big thanks to Beijing airport staff for rushing us all through, but no help from Air China staff). Lots of queuing to complete form for missing luggage at airport. Needless to say, we missed the train we'd booked home to Yorkshire. Finished up having to travel home in t-shirts and flip flops in freezing UK weather as we had winter coats and shoes ready to change into on arrival at Heathrow! One out of ten for flights being on time. I will leave a review of Air China's customer care on investigating missing luggage once we have completed this process.