Where there is Air China seatback TV, in many cases the films are just on a tape loop.

On many of the Airbus long haul aircraft in the economy cabin there is no seat-back entertainment system installed. Inflight entertainment is a mixed bag, and alternates between just about acceptable to total rubbish, and non-existent. Air China inflight meals.Īir China New business class on the Boeing 747 The onboard bar is a joke in Business Class: you are handed a big menu and wine list, but the wine list consists of two types of wine – Great Wall red or white – or a can of Yanjing Draft. Food can sometimes be comprised of looking at the Western dish and doing a variant of it – badly (if you eat on the plane – try the native Chinese dishes: they can be far better). Part of this is the fault of the crew, who don't always know what they are doing: service in the premium cabins can be mediocre at best. Why, then, does the airline seem just a little bit 'odd' when you step into an Air China cabin – and why do some passengers try and avoid it? Alas, an Air China review isn't always complementary: there are issues as you would expect with a new upstart airline.

However seats – particularly business class seats – are some time behind the latest designs. Operating primarily long haul, with a fleet of modern planes, a Star Alliance Frequent Flyer programme, and listed mainly on the London Stock Exchange, Air China is very western looking: it even has Wifi internet on board.Īir China seats and cabins seems very familiar to anyone flying in the West: the airline is a big Boeing customer, and tends to buy identikit planes and cabins from Seattle, with only a few subtle changes such as placing it's dragon enterprise logo - the 'artistic phoenix pattern' on the seat covers. The airline is large: tenth biggest in the world, with 293 aircraft, 60 million passengers a year, and snapping on the heels of its competitors China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines in terms of numbers of passengers carried. It serves a vast number of routes from its hub at Beijing, and a smaller hub at Shanghai.

Air China will offer nonstop flights from Beijing to Houston in the US using a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft next summer, pending approval from the US Department of Transportation.Īir China is the goliath of airlines operating in the middle Kingdom, a large grandfather carrier still with a full service onboard.

Air china 777 business class review