Air China

FRA-PEK-HKG on 12/27/13 and from HKG-PEK-FRA on 01/03/14. Long haul flights with 777-300ER and medium haul flights with 777-200 and A321. Clean and modern aircraft's the 777-200 (15 years old) was clean. Flights were on time. Flights were fully booked except the flight from HKG-PEK. The announcements in English were too low and mostly incomprehensible. Meals were ok for economy class. Only 1 option (rice porridge) from PEK-FRA was absolutely inedible. Lots of drinks service from FRA-PEK. Cabin attendants very friendly. IFE system was quite good. From PEK-HKG and from HKG-PEK limited IFE system with overhead screens. Seat pitch for medium haul flights was very good and for the long haul flight acceptable. Overall all very good.

I traveled from SFO to Beijing (an 11 hour trip) and there were no TV's (monitors) at the seats. This is an 11 hour flight and I am shocked that an airline does not have seat screens for entertainment. Instead what was available was a projector screen with blurry vision that made it impossible to see. To my dismay the same thing happened from China to SFO (my return). What made the trip even worse was the use of my iPhone which was kept in airplane mode but the air hostesses would not allow me to have my phone on even in airplane mode. •Traveling to Asia on an 11 hour flight with no entertainment was extremely painful. I was given the same food from Hong Kong to Beijing and from Beijing to SFO. I had requested for a special Hindu Meal. Every time I had to remind them that I had ordered a special meal.

I travelled from Melbourne to Vancouver with a technical stop in Shanghai Pudong and transit stop in Beijing Capital - and return. I was very impressed with the service. Flight attendants on all flights were very friendly attentive and polite. They were welcoming with smiles and laughs all around which made the long flight quite pleasant. Food was excellent - great Chinese cuisine (more western choice was also available) with generous servings. Inflight entertainment was good. To top things off - I bought the ticket at an excellent price - considerably lower that all other airlines. I would definitely consider flying with Air China again.

PUS-PEK in a B737-800. Plane not new but clean and inviting. Departure on time (also due to generous turnaround time in Busan) arrival in Beijing ahead of schedule. Flight not fully booked thus our middle seat fortunately was left empty and provided some extra comfort. As in many Asian airlines the announcements in English were too low and mostly incomprehensible certainly a risk for emergency situations although you rely on the fact that this is not your first flight and you know the "rules". Lunch was served on this flight of almost two hours two standard options decent food - absolutely ok for economy class. The Chinese (white) wine they served is strange to European palate but you almost feel like Robert Parker and keep tasting and discovering. Overall impression of the crew was positive: polite and efficient not eager to talk. Limited IFE with overhead screens just the usual equipment in a 738 of about five years of age sufficient for a short haul trip.

I travelled from Beijing (PEK) to Houston (IAH) on 12/1/13. There were a few points that made this trip poor: 1) The PA system was nearly indecipherable most of the time. When the flight attendant would speak the PA system had a lot of feedback and echos and you could not hear what was being said. This could be a safety issue in an emergency. 2) Our main flight attendant was very rude. She rolled her eyes anytime she was asked a question (ie asking for more tea asking to take tray etc). I had a cold I was getting over and needed some water. I asked her for a bottle that was half full that I could keep with me and she refused again rolling her eyes. (We couldn't bring water bottles on board.) 3) My husband is ethnically Chinese but born in the US and speaks no Chinese. When the flight attendant spoke to him in Chinese he said he did not understand Chinese so she simply raised her voice and said it again rolled her eyes and walked away. Overall the crew was not helpful especially rude to foreigners and unpleasant.

Several rounds recently on Shanghai Hongqiao-Beijing sector all B777-200 or new B777-200ER. On time departure and arrival spacious let-room for economy class comfortable seat friendly staff provide efficient service I've decided to switch to CA from MU despite being an elite member of MU!

Flew Sydney to NYC via Beijing. New planes inflight entertainment decent food and good service! Also no cost stopover in China and the new VISA on Arrival (free) service that allowed me to do some sightseeing and break up the long trip. Only complaint was some passengers were too excited at the beginning of the flight.

Flying with Air China 737-800 from Beijing to Guangzhou. 3 hour flight was delayed 90 minutes. I was sat in the very uncomfortable seat for almost 4 hours. Flight attendants were patient with passengers that needed to transit at Guangzhou. The overhead TV was boring and in mandarin (maybe cause by domestic flight). The vegetarian food was too salty but okay for economy class. Will not recommend.

Thank you Skytrax! Finally you place Air China as 3 star airline which is where they belong. I have used them many times in the past 2 years for work and standards in biz class have dropped this last year. Cutbacks for many things and staff seem to be unhappier. BTW safety standards should be questioned - and why oh why do Air China let flight attendants take up biz class seats en masse for their sleep times? Very unprofessional and please please find me a Star Alliance direct service from London to Beijing.

Xi'an to Beijing long delay on boarding and complete silence from ground staff. They just ignore customers and were rude to foreigners asking about status. Onboard the cabin crew were in a bad moood because odf delay and were also rude and seemed like they could not be bothered to speak any English. Food was literally thrown out onto table without a word or smile and staff laughed when I asked for a beer. I flew them last 18months ago and their standards now seem to be slipping back 10 years to the Air China of old! Back to Dragonair and a change of routes for me.