BRUTALLY HONEST | Air China's Boeing 737 and AIRBUS A350-900 ECONOMY Seoul via Beijing to Vienna!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2024
- There were a couple of aspects about flying Air China that were just puzzling. In spite of that, it was an overall okay journey, and certainly great for the low price I paid.
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FLIGHT INFORMATION
Airline: Air China
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 / Airbus A350-900
Registration: B-1958 / B-322H
Flight Time: 1h 55min / 10h 00min
Seat: 27L / 57L
From: Seoul Incheon
Via: Beijing Capital
To: Vienna Schwechat
Date: December 2023
EQUIPMENT INFORMATION
Cameras used: Canon R6 (Canon 15-35mm F2.6), iPhone 15 Pro Max, DJI Osmo Pocket
Additional equipment used: Rode VideoMic Pro+, Blue Yeti Podcast Microphone, Joby Bendipod, Aputure AL-MC LED Light, Joby GorillaPod 1K
PRICE BREAKDOWN
Total Price: EUR 400.41
Total Routing: ICN-PEK-VIE
Booked through: Air China Website
Cost includes: Economy Class Ticket including two checked bags and seat reservations at booking
Booking made: August 2023
VIDEO BREAKDOWN
00:00 - Introduction
01:30 - Intro
01:50 - Getting to Incheon Airport
02:42 - Incheon Airport
03:16 - Flight from ICN to PEK
09:57 - Transiting at PEK
14:48 - Boarding
15:50 - Cabin and Seat
18:26 - Inflight Entertainment
19:31 - Taxi and Take Off
20:40 - Dinner Service
21:18 - Inflight
21:55 - Breakfast Service
23:35 - Conclusion
26:17 - Landing
26:36 - Deboarding
COLLABORATION DISCLAIMER
This video does not contain product placements. The airline was neither involved nor informed about the production of this Tripreport. The ticket fare was paid by ourselves.
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Created: February 2024
GRAPHICS ATTRIBUTION
Seat Drawing in intro made by Aviation Volume
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Website: taihungilouie.wixsite.com/avi...
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#airchina #a350 #beijingcapitalairport
As a Chinese who often flies Air China, I hope I can answer some of the questions in your video. First of all, it’s about Air China’s pillows. Generally speaking, pillows departing from the home port (for Air China, it’s PEK) are definitely clean. But their flights are usually same-day round-trips, so they won’t get a brand new pillow in Korea. That's why you see dirty pillows on the flight back to Beijing from South Korea. Secondly, many airports in China promote energy conservation, so their air conditioning is very limited, especially at night when no one is around, which is why you feel cold in winter. Finally, a big reason why connecting flights from China to Europe is cheaper is the cost savings due to access to Russian airspace.
I think they should provide a "warm room" for waiting in?
@@houseclearance7509 Well the Chinese are used to enduring somewhat extreme temperature
As someone that travel ALOT in different airlines. Before COVID, pillows in shorthaul is common, BUT just like in Air China case, I am 100% sure most airline dont usually change pillow cover until the end of day. So for aircraft that flight 1 long traip, that is ok, but for many, by the time you get on board at night flight, the billow are like be used by at least 3-4 people already. Its common practice. And lot of airline in COVID removed the pillow, and didnt return them in shorthaul, as it too save money.
Also China buys cheap fuel from Russia hence the cost saving
so your country is a shithole. thanks for sharing
Hey David, as a frequent traveler in China, I'd like to answer some of the oddities you've encountered in your trip.
First of all, I am impressed that Air China even offered a hot meal service ICN-PEK. Chinese airlines are hand-stripped by a rule imposed by the CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) that strictly prohibits any cabin service 20 minutes after takeoff and 30 mins before landing. This leads to many of the shorter routes (usually less than 1.5h) operated by Chinese airlines has basically no service other than handing out a bottled water, international or domestic. For instance, I've flown China Southern on Seoul/ICN - Yantai/YNT, a route comparable to ICN-PEK, and I got nothing but a water and a bag of cookies. By contrast, the same route operated by Korean Air has full hot meal service and the flight attendants still have time to sell duty free.
This also partly explains why cabin lights in your flight to Vienna was turned on very early. The crews just want the cabin cleared way before the 30-minutes requirement. Chinese pilots also has some odd behaviors, such as they never actually use the seat belt sign to indicate whether or not you should leave the seat and use the lavatory -- they just keep it on at all times.
Overhead screens are still common, but it is reported that some Chinese airlines are neglecting it in newer orders. They are quite funny, actually. I've been on plenty 4 to 5 hours-long domestic flights where overhead screens are the only entertainment, and flight attendants will actually hand out free earphones for you to tune in to those "radio" stations in your armrest. The big three carriers in China will always offer you a hot meal (if the flight is on meal time and it's longer than 1.5h) and 20kg of checked baggage, but unless you are flying a widebody, there's no personal IFE. No hot meal service if not on meal time -- this applies to domestic and international flights operated by the big three airlines. There's hardly any Wifi, but I'm cool with that anyways. Part of the reason why I prefer traveling by air over high-speed rail, is that there's no moron blasting TikTok on loudspeakers next to you.
For airports in Beijing, since the new Daxing (PKX) opens, it siphons plenty of traffic from PEK. As it turns out, Beijing just never really have enough international passengers (at least for this moment) to support two huge airports. Also, part of international flights departs from PEK's Terminal 2, that takes away more passengers from T3 to keep all the shops from running overnight.
PEK's T3 is infamous for being too cold during winter and too hot during summer. T3's building has very high celling and huge glass wall -- as shown in the video. This makes it easy for heat to get trapped in like a greenhouse, as well as for heat to escape during winter. So, basically, PEK's T3 just sucks at HVAC.
Getting in airline lounges through Priority Pass may not be possible in the future. During Covid, many China Southern lounges across the country also allows PP holders to get in, but they stopped cooperation in early 2024. China Eastern lounges in PVG also never allows PP holders. But you can get in them if you have a credit card that has Plaza Premium access. This certainly makes me think PP access to Air China lounges may not last long, too.
Pressed vegetables are something that I particulate enjoy when flying Chinese airlines. Many in China prefers a saltier meal, so pressed vegetables are a good way to condition your dish. That's why no matter how mediocre the meal service is, there is always some kind of pressed or pickled vegetables. This is exactly how airlines should adapt to local taste. Even Delta and American provide chili sauce -- something to add flavor -- to their flight to Beijing, at least before Covid.
Air China is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China, but as seen in the video, some of its fleet has it's Chinese flag covered. These are planes that are flying to Taiwan. The bilateral treaty for civil aviation between Beijing and Taipei bans planes from flying the PRC's flag nor Taiwan (ROC)'s flag across the strait. China Airlines used to fly with ROC's flag on, but they changed all exterior design so it won't matter anyways; while Air China use part of its fleet that has the PRC flag covered to fly to Taiwan. It is said that Air China used to have one-third of its fleet with PRC flag covered.
Although Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern are all state-owned, this doesn't means competition don't exist. The last mainland Chinese airline videos on this channel are well before Covid, and they all changed quite a bit during the pandemic. China Southern implemented the most cost-cutting measures during Covid, made adjustments that caused the Chinese aviation geeks furious, while China Eastern crashed a plane but has been improving their service. You should try all these big airlines if you have time -- it's now visa free for many European citizens to get into China.
It should also be pointed out that airports in China can be quite different. Transiting in Beijing Capital (PEK) and Shanghai Pudong (PVG) just sucks. It's certainly better than some of the other airports that I've seen, but quite commonly I find myself helping some random foreigner in the terminal through the process or get a VPN that actually works. While Beijing Daxing (PKX) is much better -- they have policies that requires airport shops to sell at the same price as it is in downtown Beijing, and free transit resting areas, etc. I would recommend business travelers to avoid transiting in mainland China, unless the layover is short enough.
Honestly one of the most comprehensive descriptions of traveling in China I have ever read!
I love you dedication and description 🙌🏼
Nice reply, informative for future travel plans to Asia. Xiamen is okay
Wow, you wrote a whole book there. Took me about 20mins to read it all. 😂😅😂😅😊
棒棒！介绍的好详细 正好客观地科普了下国内的一些飞行文化和知识
The straw for the meal was for the yogurt, its very typical to drink the yogurt with a straw in china
The yogurt must be thin?
@@dragon32210 You've never seen yoghurt sold in pouches? Same way to 'drink' the yoghurt but no need for a straw. They're common in children's packed lunches.
It was invented by Japan.
The Chinese need to hear about gogurt
It is, still thicker than Yakult @@dragon32210
Air China is actually a great airline. Took a flight with them in March, for 380EUR return to Taipei from Milan. Cannot wish better experience for that money. I had the best sleep on planes ever in their A350. The only issue is their very outdated website and not the best quality of food on from MXP. PEK airport is quite modern, but in my cause it took about 70 minutes to make all the transit formalities.
13:00 I'm interested in the lounge just for the coffee machine 😂
Put a tip jar out and pretend to be the barista on duty.
IKR! Would be so fun to play with! My reaction was Self-Service!! As opposed to Self-Service?! 😅
@@ahqhue Just charge anyone who comes and asks for a coffee...
Yeah, I would definitely have a go at it.
As a frequent United flyer, I would have zero complaints on air China
United is horrible
I know right? Once air China had terrible food in flight, but when I came back on a United flight then took the air China connecting flight, I found the food really enjoyable …… think about how horrible the food is on United
@@putt7515no not really most of the flights I flown on united is good but I think why people hate it is because of the videos online but united is good.
As an Air Canada flyer, I have zero complaints on Air China too.
@@user-vy4lz9ux9s 艹，我唯一一次飞加航，他们还少发了一顿饭，还延误……我到了首都机场改签错过的后续航班，然后一路狂奔，人都差点饿虚脱了……上飞机第一句话：有水没……还好空乘很好，那天那个航班也没什么人，直接给了我一瓶一升的水……
Following your content all these years. This helped me a lot during my first flight.
When I visited Beijing’s PEK airport in the summer, the terminal was UNBEARABLY hot. I guess PEK directly relates the temperature outside to the inside.
Maybe that was an accident. Cuz ive been in that airport many times and it was fine
Standard temperature is 25-26 with A/C on. I took a high speed train in China last year and cabin temp was showing 27, possibly higher...
May i ask if you were in terminal 3? because that terminal is quite infamous for pratically being a greenhouse, when theres sun it gets very hot in there and when theres no sun it feels like you're inside a fridge.
no, the terminal feels perfectly comfortable to me everytime I went
@@themomentchannel3498 I’m pretty sure it was Terminal 3 because I was transferring from United to Air China (this was in 2018 BTW)
Air China has an insane value for the price. Got the flight myself from London LHR to Sydney (LHR-PEK-SYD-PEK-LHR) for just 580€ in March 2024. For the price, it was extremely nice in my opinion (except the Cabin of their Airbus A330-300)
Bargain!
Yeah, just wait till one of your flights with them gets cancelled, or delayed and you miss your connection... That value comes from the fact that there is no support or obligation from Air China to you. Has happened to me a few times. And every single time it was me paying for a new ticket. The customer support is atrocious and they look at you like a monkey. Twice they flat out refused to talk in English when I needed them to rebook my flight, after they cancelled the outbound... I'd rather pay more, and have that safety net where the airline MUST provide if its their fault.
As a Chinese,thank you for reviewing Air China.Great video as always!
Air China is the least quality of China’s “big three”. But they’re doing better I think, though I’d love to see brutally honest about for example China Southern, transitting Beijing Daxing or Guangzhou etc.
And all of them owned by Xi
I don't think it would be worse than China Eastern......for the international routes I mean. I've took the PVG-SYD flight of China Eastern for two times and I'll never choose this airline again unless I've got no other choices......although the food and air attendants are great😣
@@pauljohnson9749 Yeah Eastern is terrible imo, every time I flew them it's an horrible experience. Air China at least gets you where you wanna go (mostly).
Shenzhen Airlines is actually pretty good being Air China's subsidiary, catering and service is usually a bit better than CA, and even offers cheaper points fares than CA on some competing routes. Would recommend although they don't have a great international network.
@@pauljohnson9749 What plane? I basically only choose their A359s over their other widebodies as the 777s and 330s have different cabins with EXTREMELY different seats and services
@@thegrandaviator8308 A359, both times. For my flight in last month, they didn't give me a chance to choose the seat before boarding and I was placed in the middle row of its 3-3-3 economy class, which made me confused when both air attendants on each aisle were delivering food and drink. The contents in the PTV was limited as well. Luckily it was A359. If I boarded their A330, I couldn't even imagine what horrifying experience would be there waiting for me.
Had the of flying CAAC in 1988 to HK to Guilin. As I was young, I did not realize that was close to the end for the CAAC incarnation. At that time the 737-200s they were flying were built in 1983 and were fairly new. Overshot altitude on departure (apparent training flight with passengers) and had an altitude drop for several uncomfortable seconds. Return flight was extremely smooth. Got little CAAC wings with every flight in a fancy plastic case. We’re considered bravery medals for the flight in. CAAC was mocked a bit in HK at the time, but they weren’t too bad.
I presumed it was about that time when CAAC flight 301 crashed a Trident at Kai Tak and ended up in the water.
Another great trip report David! Thanks for posting. 😊
An Austrian shivers at 12 C? A Latvian would be in shorts and a t shirt. This would be a heat wave in Latvia.
Es reāli būtu šortos un džemperī.😅
@@legouniverse8976 Es brauksu no ASV uz Latviju Augusta. IAH-RIX $503 r/t ar British Airways.
I agree with you, 12 C for me as a Norwegian is early summer temperature and not shivering. I thought Austria had some similar temperature like us due to their mountains but I guess not.
Latvian says in old my beer.
Similar flags 🇦🇹🇱🇻
I haven’t been flying on CA since 2015 hence not many impressions retained.
Thank you for reviewing it, that’s a lot of help on airline choosing.
Oh I was looking forward for such a video. Thanks guys 😊🎉
Love the clean announcement recordings on the A350 flight!
Also: Business class product on CA's 737-800 looks like the B/E Aerospace Millennium seat.
the safety announcement in Chinese make me cry cause I miss my grandparents
I visit Beijing Capital airport (PEK) around twice a year and agree that the airport has a mysterious abandoned nature, probably because of Beijing's surge in capacity after the opening of Beijing Daxing (DAX) airport and the pandemic which China still hasn't fully recovered from. At night the lighting seems dim, the airport feels cold, even in spring and despite being quite new, the airport is beginning to show its age. I think the airport is drastically different in the daytime, the difference being well... Night and day. Natural light fills the airport, turning it into a warm and pleasant space, far from the gloomy feel it takes on at night. It is a shame that Beijing makes me feel unwelcome, the feeling of entering a lifeless dystopian world, far from the warm welcome that I would like to also see at night rather than just the day. Hello from London! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳
True! i remember how busy and crowded PEK used to be, at one point it was the second busiest airport in the world behind (obviously) Atlanta's airport.
it's PKX, not DAX
@@austinli8891 Oh yes! It felt wrong when I typed it in... I am sure I have seen DAX somewhere else... (Excessive use of elipsis)
@@austinli8891 Wrong side of China! DAX is Dazhou Heshi Airport. (Chinese: 达州河市机场) (ICAO: ZUDX) It is an airport in Dazhou, Sichuan province, China.
I flew on Air China from/to Geneva and one thing I rlly liked was those stickers at 21:16 to let u know u can ask for food its a rlly small thing but a nice detail.
I always feel very entertained as your Reviews are very comprehensive and I do love the attention to the side information. Thank you
These airlines are all state owned. They don’t have labor unions. Their crew makes less than foreign carriers. So they can lower the airfare that others could hardly match.
Hello David, great job as usual! May I say, I love the video's opening music!
Another great video 🎉!
I flew 4 Air China flights this year, I can honestly say I was impressed by the service on the plane, I met some very friendly crew. The problem I had with them was in actual China on the ground as not many of their ground staff know English that well which can be a pain in the ass when you have a cancelled flight like I do. Another thing I noticed was the pilots really try to make the flight as smooth as possible, when you hit turbulence they slow the plane down and try to change altitude.
12:20 Same Experience in Shanghai. Huge, massive Airport and nobody around. Also my Gate was incorrectly displayed on the screens. That was in 2019, so no pandemic thing it seems. Transit was also very chaotic with sketchy passport controls.
This solution for Vienna-Seoul flight with interchange can also be used with LOT, but, this time, with interchange at Chopin Airport.
I took CX393 from PEK to HKG on 1 Apr. The departure time was 18:40 and I pass through security check 2 hrs before departure time. The only shops opening were duty free and some restaurants in the restricted area. I was shocked to see that as it was evening and there are still many flights for departure.
My granddaughter recently flew from Narita to London Gatwick via Shanghai. Much cheaper than other airlines.
I flew on Business and economy from LAX to HGK with a stop in Beijing. Great all around. Greetings from Panama🇵🇦
Seoul Incheon Term 1 is nice. Clean. Well organised. Easy for T-money card. Quick train connection, bus 6001. Restaurant boulevard upstairs. And cheap prices for smokes (29$ for M’boro) and liquor
Air China has improved significantly. We took ours at the same time as yours, in December, albeit from Singapore -Shanghai( PVG)-London(LGW) and London(LHR)-Beijing(PEK)-Singapore but in business class. Everything was top notch except the limited IFE offered for non Chinese speaking passengers. There are quite a few Air China lounges at closed proximity in the Capital. We didn’t use the First but Business Class lounge. There were a few coffee machines where we were. I have to agree with you on the empty shops in the airports. It was a surreal experience for us. My initial thought was that they were closed for renovations but one of the crew members said it has been in that state since the pandemic. Would we fly with Air China? It’s a resounding yes for us! P.S. Loved their air safety video with their mascot!!
A little correction, Deng was never the Chairman (or President) nor the Secretary-General ( to be honest he was the Secretary-General in 1956-1967, but the position is not the highest in CPC at that time, Mao is the Chairman of the CPC at that point), he was the chairman of the central military committee of CPC/PRC and the chairman of the Central Consultative Committee CPC.
I'm always kinda confused how Deng was considered a paramount leader since he held neither the position of President nor general secretary
@@John_.Cabell_.Breckinridge his fraction won the verbal battle with Hua’s fraction, hence gain power
@@alanwang848 Yes but he still didn't wasn't the head of the party, shouldn't that position have gone to Hu Yaobang? But I'm guessing it's whoever is the head of the CMC has the title of paramount leader
@@John_.Cabell_.Breckinridgetitles don't matter, it's whoever control the military matters
Brilliant review! Just filed a recommendation letter to Beijing Capital Airport Group according to your review! Thanks for the honest review!
2:55 what if your suitcase was made entirely out of Kimchi?
❤Thank you for your review❤
Good review. Bonus-point for the hot water-bottle action.
Brilliant review @simplyaviation!
Hi David,
As a Chinese, I appreciate your unbiased and fair comments about air China. It's definitely not a very good airlines, but they are certainly improving. I also echo on your comments about PEK T3, the reason being that their are not so many international travelers in Chinese airports right now. My trip from Shanghai Pudong last September was similar: it was really quiet and not many people or shops there. Therefore, it may also make some sense why these carriers offer cheap international transit fares --- they have to carry out their international flights anyway, then better cheaper than empty.
Safe trip!
Took the A350 from Vienna to Bejing a week ago. I really liked it. Food was good, staff was friendly and the toilets werde always clean. They checked after almost every visitor. I guess because some Chinese still squat on the toilet with their feet and everything gets dirty. I was unlucky to experience that. But they quickly cleaned it. Having clean toilets up until the end was something new to me. I travel to China frequently and I am pretty sure I will take them again. The price and the not having to avoid Russian air space plus are unbeatable.
yo simplyaviation, i'm from vienna/austria too and i would love to see your flight departing/landing one time. Do you somewhere make a post before you attend a flight so i know when i need to get to VIE?
i booked a flight from frankfurt to seoul via beijing on air china and then cancelled it the same day after seeing that there was an emirates flight available to seoul for only 70€ more. I couldn't get air china's app to work at all which was super frustrating and kind of gave me the vibe that they do not care about their international passengers at all, as this was apparently a problem people have been having for years
Ek is not too much better than ca in economy, tbh.
@@huhuhuhu2470 I think emirates has a solid economy class
@@austinli8891 not in economy.
Fantastic trip report as always David!😸
Air China is a airline I regularly keep my eyes on, they provide acceptable service and standard full service amenities for a very competitive price. I personally like their older roomier 3-3-3 seats on their 777 fleet as well.
That straw is for the yoghurt, one common way to have yoghurt in China.
Interesting. My experience is completly different. I were on the same ICN - PEK route but depart on 14:40 (CA439). There was no meal service, only 2 rounds of drinks.
Your departing time missed the meal hour, they only tend to serve meals commonly during noon(11-13) and evenings(17-19).
That was really well done!
I had a more or less similar experience at PVG one year ago, except the heating was OK :D. We walked around the whole building to see if we find something, but except a little Starbucks, everything was closed and the passangers of our 747 were simply invisible in the vast emptiness. At least the kilometres of walking were good before the 13 hrs of flight to Frankfurt. I attribute this experience to an effect of the pandemic.
The straw was probably for the yogurt. In Chinese, we say 喝優格 (in Taiwan) or 喝酸奶 (in mainland China), which means "drink yogurt".
Great flight and review.
I transit through Beijing airport in 2014 and had the same exact thoughts (though I didn't visit during winter so thank God for that). Seems like the airline improved the last time I flew with them so if they could fix the airport then I may "consider" this airline again
Excellent video, it looks like Air China is worth giving a try. I've long wanted to sample their service on a transpacific routing.
Not exhaustingly long by any means and quite entertaining; at least for me. Thank you for another excellent review.
Looking forward for more reviews like this❤
I had the same exact experience of the Beijing Capital airport back in September, super weird!
Hey David/Simon/Felix,
Great trip report here and I loved at the start they asked for "no kimchi in suitcases" . I would love to visit Vienna one day. It looks fantastic. Just saying that you should make a trip report/brutally honest video about United's 787 flight from Brisbane, AUS ----> San Francisco, USA, or potentially Air Canada's Brisbane, AUS ----> Vancouver, CA (Canada). Anyways, thanks again for your tripreport today. Watching from Brisbane, AUS (😝) since 2017 :)
So I really missed air china and thanks for the trip review
Hi, love your videos. I have a question. How do you experience seats on rows that are located in front of the lavatories, is it bothersome or not?
Did you know that the first a321 had no chinese flag because it flies to taiwan
Hi David! Some clarifications,
Beijing went through VERY heavy winterstorm with -30 degree C, where normally a daily low would be higher than -10 degree C. Heating is an infrastructure problem in that day.
In addition, Beijing has just opened a handful of international flights the shops have not yet adapted for the growth of traffic after a full lockdown of 3years. New tenants have yet to move in so the airport seems desserted. That is almost the case for all international departure hall in China post-pandemic.
Very informative review ❤❤❤
That straw was likely for the yogurt.😊
T3 was pretty chilling when I transferres through it in Dec 2019. The terminal is huge and weather could be cold, and it is amazing they didn't put this into consideration when building it? Hope they could make improvements. The infrastructure was nice when I visjted, but services from airport staff and immigration were inconsistent.
One of the airport staff literally screamed at us passengers to tell us to queue a certain way (louder doesn't make it easier to be understood 😅), and an immigration officer telling us anyone less than 12 hours transit time will not be processed for their visa free entry which almost killed me coz I picked a 7 hour layover to dl a quick visit in the city.
I used them on one round trip intercontinental in 2017. Their soft product matched their cheap fare. It's the airport system that twisted things on the return leg, resulting in a delay of over 24 hrs and incurred hotel fees out of my pocket.
Transitting passengers had to queue at immigration back then, though your video shows otherwise, which is an improvement.
They also had an air marshall in uniform, occupying a business class seat in domestic flights then... Don't know it same goes for their international flights...
2:55 Your Kimchi free suitcase lol! Looking forward to this video.
Thank you!
You're Visiting Korea quite often! Always Welcome in Seoul ICN, Seoul GMP
Yeah he onto sth there lmaoi
Hi David ! Do you have a plan to review the Comac either ARJ or the C919 ? Would be nice to hear your comment on the Comac product , thank you
Love them a350❤❤
Hello, straws are provided with yogurt in China because people drink their yogurt instead of using a spoon. That's usually because yogurt in China is more watery due to it not being fermented for as long
Funny enough, I agree, the Air China lounge is nice, but yes, When I transited through Beijin back in 2019, it was freezing then as well.
You need to try China Eastern A350 Business Class, Its so good!
Been hoping somebody makes a review about Air China. Been looking into flying with them from Europe (probably Stockholm or London) to Tokyo via Beijing, especially given the cheaper prices.
First of all thank you for sharing this.
I always found air China very good value for money. Based out of Frankfurt, even before Covid we got the 77W (in a 3-3-3 configuration making it very comfy) and the 747-8.
Good is usually average but besides that I only had received good value for the money I paid.
I remember I went for a few runs round the terminal took keep warm when I went in march. Very cold….
What a review!!
On your 2nd flight to Vienna, how many hours did you sleep on the plane?
I feel happy knowing that this trip with Air China was a big improvement over the 2019 one
It’s a bit livelier in the domestic sections of both PEK and PKX, but still plenty of space between people. They were clearly built to handle way more people than they’re serving nowadays, which makes the facilities feel empty and kind of haunting especially at night.
I also fly on Air China’s A350 to Stockholm recently. Really like Air China’s new aircraft with a very affordable price. But, still Air China does have very weird(?)/ bad meal services among the big 3s. Those random combo of food feels like they just give whatever they have in the kitchen. No Chinese or Western breakfast look like that. Hope they can improve.
IMO, demands for international air travel was still lower than it was at 2019, and vendors might have not gained enough confidence to reopen their stores in the international area, as of my personal experience in Guangzhou, China Southern's hub
From the Asiana A380 preview, it seems you got to ride on the Upper Deck Economy cabin.
Comparing this to your a330 air china flight makes this a350 flight look like Emirates quality
Fantastic review. I noticed Air China flying the shortest route to Asia and their prices, together with the possibility of a long layover to explore the city!
I have a planned trip to SE Asia this year, but my end city is a bit off ways requiring an extra leg of a trip vs. an ME3 airline but I do want to take them with such low fare to South Korea or Japan... that together with a 18-24h layover that allows a quick visit of Beijing or the Great wall.
The airport sounds like quite typical for China (not just air travel) - very big and shiny terminal on the outside, but weird usability problems inside, such as even basic restaurants being closed and the temperature. Probably also true for the Middle East, lots of bling blang but then weirdly overlooked practical details. Places like Japan are the opposite...
First time flying to London from Auckland with Air China soon (Cheapest ticket available), if it works out well, I’ll fly them again ❤
Haha the coffee machine at the lounge is indeed hard to find. It's at the section nearer to the entrance, together with yoghurt, snacks and fruits.
Just checked the flights from Paris: still with the B-777 and no premium economy. I keep it in mind to check their A-350 premium economy destinations
I use priority pass card go into Korean Air and ANA often. No problem with the air China
TBH the low prices could also because they sets the standards in CNY. If you want to compare the price level in China and many western countries by converting the currency it would be super cheap already.
6:14 interesting feature of the ARJ-21
Nice to watch. I think Chinese airports are still suffering from largely reduced international traffic comparing to pre pandemic. Therefore services and commercials are not resumed very well. Such as a full service bar is now self-service. Even though, it doesn’t justify the low temperature in terminal.
Hi David, im quite curious to see how China Southern has changed since the last time you reviewed them (in 2018 when they were still a member of skyteam).
22:34 Cup Of Tea And Apple Juice , And No Orange Juice 😊🍎🍹
I had the pleasure to fly with CA back in 2017 for 450 EUR p.p. on a round-trip to KUL from NUE via FRA and PEK. The food was very tasty, but it was a special meal. The seats on the A330 and B748 had very good legroom. What I didn't really like was the transit at their base for several reasons. One was that they accepted no foreign currency, be it cash or cc. Secondly it was a total bon smoking airport with no sealed rooms or any to smoke. Even though they removed lighters from the carry on, one could smell the odour in every restroom. I, too, wouldn't hesitate to book then again, unless there's a better option, also because flying with them to Malaysia is a detour.
Chinese carriers have come a long way and are quite good now. Although catering and IFE are still subpar.
Have only flown with CZ and MU and service was excellent, crew were very accomodating and polite. Legroom is much more spacious compared to others, even their domestic 'LCC' provides free water and have FSC-esque legroom.
Would fly with them long haul if the fare is reasonable!
I suspect the airport doesn't have a decent ventilation system. Last summer I was having a transfer from Hong Kong to a Chinese city via PEK, and the boarding bridge for my inbound flight felt like a greenhouse with no A/C whatsoever... It wasn't much better in the main concourse either...
i love flying i enjoyed the flight with you greetings from the netherlands
I have flown many time with Air China and always say it’s price relevant. I have thought they have been great and can’t fault it. That being said, I did fly from London to Manilla rt for £252. Meaning I couldn’t complain, for the price you pay I think the product is price appropriate.
hello! the straw with the meal is probably for the yoghurt!
a barista coffee machine as self-service?!? my dream