Sichuan Airlines

My family and I traveled from Chengdu to Shanghai in comfort and on time. In fact we took off 5 minutes early and arrived 10 minutes early. The plane was modern and very clean. No issues with service at all. One of the stewardesses spoke good English and without prompting sought us out when the meal came to check we understood the choices. I would recommend this airline to anyone and will definitely choose to fly Sichuan Airlines when I'm next back in that neck of the woods.

Chengdu to Kunming. 2 minutes to check in and 15 minutes early departure which makes a change when compared to anywhere else where the 30-minute-delay is near obligatory. Bags waiting by the time I reached the carousel but beware the lengthy walk at Kunming.

We took this airline 3 times in China from Kunming to Yichang from Yichang to Chengdu and from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou and all 3 flights were on time. The seats were wonderfully comfortable and there was a lot of leg room - I'm 5'11" and didn't feel cramped at all. Our favorite part was the beginning with a sort of "flying 101" video - just in Chinese but it was still hysterical. I loved the terrified plane that flew around the bad weather pattern. Then you got another fun video near the end of the flight. Any time I'm in China and have a choice to take Sichuan Air - that will be the one.

Shanghai to Chongqing 30 July 2013. Very efficient. A319 a little long in the tooth however spotless inside. Excellent leg room Arrival 10 minutes early with bags delivered a few minutes after arrival in hall. Choice of meals on offer.

Chengdu to Shanghai Pudong on A321. Flight slightly delayed due to weather. Lounge in Chengdu basic but better than sitting in departure area. Priority boarding and offered pre departure drinks of water or juice. Flight attendants were very courteous and obliging always smiling. The English was acceptable for a domestic flight. Dinner served on request and the food was reasonably good. Only limited selection of drinks beer wine water or juice but no spirits. Standard 2x2 seating with good pitch but limited recline. Overall a pleasant experience for 2.5 hours.

Vancouver to Shenyang on May 21 and back on May 28. Got off to a bad start - 10 hour delay! None of the information boards were updated in Vancouver. I checked at 7.45 am before heading off to YVR with the indicators having the incoming aircraft on time even though it had not then left Shenyang! Hotel accommodation and meals provided as the 11.30am take off time became 9.45pm. Flight was good. Business Class seats were comfortable with easy access to all power outlets. I slept all the way. Check-in at Shenyang was chaos no signs and airport representatives gave inconsistent advice. Eventually checked in and headed off to immigration only to have the staff member chase after me tell me to stop leap onto the luggage conveyor return minutes later with my once- checked bag and lead me off to another check-in desk devoid of staff. At 12.30 (take off was 2.30) staff appeared and began checking us in. Only after they had spent a full 15 minutes checking in the first passenger in line did the indicator boards confirm this was the Sichuan Airlines check-in! Passengers should be warned that check in opens only 2 hours before take off. Flight itself had excellent staff poor in-flight entertainment a good dinner a bad breakfast and an on-time arrival. First bags took 20 minutes to arrive but they were the priority bags at least. Direct service from YVR to Shenyang is a godsend for those of us bound for north eastern parts of China but Sichuan will need to increase its frequency upgrade its processes internationalize its in-flight entertainment and improve its food before people will readily defect from Star Alliance and Sky Team airlines. The equipment and in-flight staff are fine.

Chengdu - Lhasa 17 May. Overall I was impressed by the service. Efficient service good food and comfortable seats. A well maintained A330. No IFE though. But It's one of the better Chinese Airlines.

Travelled domestic first class Beijing to Chengdu. Price was very competitive and had the new A330-300 with lie flat seats very comfortable. Lunch was provided and consisted of traditional Sichuan food and very tasty beer and wine freely available. Staff were quite good and spoke English. Departed and arrived on time with the mandatory 20-30 min wait for take off in PEK. Entertainment system was poor with no real English movies or shows. Now they have started to fly non stop Melbourne to Chengdu I hope they improve their entertainment system other than that they have a good hard product staff catering and competitive pricing.

Chongqing to Wuhan. Flight delay of almost an hour due to fog in Wuhan. A320 used. A ham sandwich with a small bottle of water and Chinese tea served onboard.

Poor airline - pulled away from the gate then a passenger wanted off - she ran up to the front and wanted off the plane. So they pull back to the gate and delayed us 1.5 hours. On return back to Chengdu from Thailand boarded plane and our seats were taken by others. When we advised the stewardess our seats were taken she forced us to take a seat at the very back of the plane. After 10 mins of arguments we got our new seats at the back of the plane. Advise all foreigners not to use this airline.