China Eastern Airlines

I and my wife travelled from Delhi to Los Angeles via Shanghai return. Our outward journey commenced on 30th May 2012 reaching Los Angeles on the same date. We commenced our return journey from Los Angeles on 28th June reaching Delhi on 29th June in the early hours. The flights were on time. At Shanghai the transfer was smooth. We were impressed by the fact that one official was standing near the transfer desk and calling attention of transfer passengers when we were going to Los Angeles. That was good. The food was value for money in an economy class. But the entertainment in the flight was inadequate as the monitors were not attached to the back of the seats. One more problem that we faced was that we could not reserve our seats online. But our overall experience was satisfactory.

Red eye flight from Narita to HCM was delayed over an hour. We sat in the plane for over an hour waiting for take-off with no explanation. Almost missed my layover flight in Shanghai but yet again was delayed for over 3 hours! When the delay notice was given the crew wasn't even sure when the next departure would be. The plane ended up showing up at 3am. The worst thing about it was there was no apologies and flight attendants were extremely apathetic.

Flight from Kuala Lumpur to Shanghai. Was a red eye flight scheduled for 00.50 but delayed for 3.5 hours. No apologies and no explanation given. Seats were uncomfortable and staff unfriendly. A glass of water soon after take off and no flight attendants were seen for the next few hours. Had to get drinks myself from a trolley parked all the way at the end of the plane! A tasteless and unappetizing meal was served one hour prior to landing. Seats were uncomfortable and carpets were dirty. Have a return flight ticket but decided to forgo that and buy a return ticket from another airline.

FRA-PVG Business class. Check in at counter was quick and uneventful (China Eastern does not offer web check-in nor pre-seat reservation). Boarding by zones went smoothly. Airplane very new cabin tidy and spacious. Seat fully flat with comfortable cushion and blanket provided. Service was so-so kind of uncoordinated and slow but the food was decent and the choice offered was correct.

Shenzhen-Shanghai Hongqiao. At check-in was informed my 11.30 flight would be significantly delayed so they would put me on the 12.30 instead. That was then delayed and we didn't start boarding until 13.45. Then sat on the plane for a long time and told the flight was delayed due to air traffic control. Food was served whilst waiting no vegetarian food and no option to pre-order. Eventually took off after 15.00 with very little explanation or apology. Plane was very old and most of the fabric was peeling off. No IFE. Staff tried their best to bring around drinks.

I was pleasantly surprised when I flew LAX to Shanghai. I was expecting a terrible flight but everything went pretty well. The two meals and snack were tasty the airplane was clean and new. The flight attendants were fairly friendly and overall the flight was pretty decent. However the service was slow not sure if they were understaffed or what but most times to get water or get them to collect trash you'd need to buzz them. Also they did show movies on the drop-down TVs but they were outdated and not too interesting. But overall it was better than I thought. Also I am 6'1" and the seats were uncomfortable in coach. But I think that's probably the same with most airlines.

Shangahi to Okinawa in business class. Check-in was efficient with a dedicated sky priority section and staff were friendly and efficient. The China Eastern Airlines Business Lounge is very difficult to find and not worth the effort to be honest. The lounge is a small crowded windowless room with a few food and drink offerings. While I was there the lounge was very crowded and very dirty although they did start clearing plates and tables as I was leaving. Boarding for my flight was very organised. The business class seats on the A319 were 2 2 across and were proper regional business seats rather than the usual economy seat with the middle one kept free that you get with BA. Soft drinks were served prior to take off then hot towels and a second drinks round then a full lunch which I have to admit was the nicest meal I have ever had on any aircraft. Arrived slightly late in Okinawa first off the plane thought immigration and baggage on the belt within minutes. I was very impressed with China Eastern and will try then long haul as I can live with the fact that the lounge in Shanghai is dismal.

PEK-SHA business class. A well-maintained A330 with individual touch screen IFE. Boarding was efficient and orderly. Take-off on time (unusual given PEK airport's terrible air traffic control). Food was nice even with soup noodles on the menu and FAs were helpful. China Eastern is certainly trying hard to improve its services particularly on the "cash-cow" PEK-SHA route. Other routes (PEK-WUH for example) are still sub- standard.

LAX-PVG. Seats were narrow made me feel trapped they were hard and there was little legroom. Which made it a very uncomfortable flight. No personal IFE for the 13 hour flight. IFE on the OV screens were confusing and hard to understand. They also kept repeating the same shows throughout the flight. We were served 2 full meals on the flight as well as snacks. The meals were good for economy class. Service was good except for when a flight attendant rudely refused to clean the toilet. Speaking of restrooms they were not clean at all. There were power ports on the A340 we were on. But the ones in our seats were broken and didn't charge my laptop. The same thing was happening in other seats. All in all the crew was good the food was decent it smelled bad and was uncomfortable. I wouldn't recommend this airline at all.

Fuzhou to Shanghai however the aircraft was supposed to fly Hong Kong. At the time of our flight there were storms around Fuzhou which delayed all flights in and out so we waited in the terminal for an hour. When we got to the China Eastern desk staff were rude and made us wait 30 minutes before some told us that the flight was still delayed. Finally after 5 hours we got fed up and went back to the desk this time they told us our flight was cancelled and said that over 150 people had already been transferred to other flights. Finally after 6 hours they transferred us to a Shanghai airlines flight which was then delayed an hour.