London HR to Beijing, back again 2 days later, next week.
A340 i think?
What does the team think about them in terms of: –
Legroom in cattle class.
Service from the dinner ladies on board / food standard.
Safety record / Maintenance attitude, can’t be as good as BA but are they as bad as certain Irish owned rubbish?
Anything else you’d like to tell me about to compound my fear based on the last point?
I have a 2 hour internal flight after Beijng, to Harbin. Minus 20C with ice. Gawd knows what A/c that’ll be but I hope crew are good at controling the drift (Car driving term…not a snow drift!).
Ah well, I’ll just keep my Mp3 on full blast, it’ll be Rammstein, Maiden or Joe Satriani, I’ll go out smiling to good tunes.
By: Grey Area - 12th December 2010 at 07:16
Yes, I know.
If you look at the post that I quoted, I was simply pointing out that China Airlines do fly to Heathrow, contrary to what somebody else had said.
Quite so.
By: PeeDee - 12th December 2010 at 00:06
The A340 interior can be found here:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Air-China/Airbus-A340-313X/0818868/L/
If you stick to Air China then the plane on internal flight would be 737-800. Ditto about most of the many other airlines flying Beijing-Harbin.
Air China interior is this:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Air-China/Boeing-737-8Q8/1585451/L/
Thanks. I’m not looking fwd to 10 hours of that tomorrow. And 14 hrs of it on Thursday. I’ll kip most of the trip back as I’ve got a 750 mile drive to do next weekend.
I’ll post a basic trip report upon return.
By: T5 - 11th December 2010 at 17:15
True.
But PeeDee is flying to Beijing, not Taipei.
Yes, I know.
If you look at the post that I quoted, I was simply pointing out that China Airlines do fly to Heathrow, contrary to what somebody else had said.
By: chornedsnorkack - 11th December 2010 at 14:49
The A340 interior can be found here:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Air-China/Airbus-A340-313X/0818868/L/
If you stick to Air China then the plane on internal flight would be 737-800. Ditto about most of the many other airlines flying Beijing-Harbin.
Air China interior is this:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Air-China/Boeing-737-8Q8/1585451/L/
By: Grey Area - 11th December 2010 at 12:57
They do.
Services from London to Taipei began back in March.
True.
But PeeDee is flying to Beijing, not Taipei.
By: MSR777 - 11th December 2010 at 11:31
China Airlines (Taiwan) does to my knowledge not fly from Heathrow and certainly not direct to Beijing so Air China will be meant.
Mandarin is a 100% daughter of China airlines (bit like BA and BA Asia) so to make a difference between these two for safety reasons is not relevant in my opinion
Can’t comment on the service with Air China as I have never flown with them but I think from a safety record point of view there will not be a big difference with BA, LH or AF.
rgds
EC
I didn’t know they did either, hence my reply based on Air China.
By: T5 - 10th December 2010 at 18:05
China Airlines (Taiwan) does to my knowledge not fly from Heathrow
They do.
Services from London to Taipei began back in March.
By: civilspotter - 10th December 2010 at 12:19
China Airlines (Taiwan) does to my knowledge not fly from Heathrow and certainly not direct to Beijing so Air China will be meant.
Mandarin is a 100% daughter of China airlines (bit like BA and BA Asia) so to make a difference between these two for safety reasons is not relevant in my opinion
Can’t comment on the service with Air China as I have never flown with them but I think from a safety record point of view there will not be a big difference with BA, LH or AF.
rgds
EC
By: nigelrob - 10th December 2010 at 10:22
My employers are based in Taiwan with factories on the Chinese mainland, so in my travels I see a lot of Chinese airlines. Do you mean Air China (China based) or China Airlines (Taiwan based)? Either way, I have never heard any particularly negative comments about an airline operating in the area, except Mandarin Airlines, which they tend to avoid because of a perceived bad safety record.
They favour China Airlines (Taiwan based) as they have a lot of routes out of Taipei and our MD will use them over Cathay Pacific, whether this is patriotism or based on their service I cannot comment. What I would say, after suffering a lost bag back in July, China Airlines, who are the ground agents for Singapore Airlines in Taiwan, were excellent at reuniting me with my baggage, so no complaints there.
I hope this helps!
By: MSR777 - 10th December 2010 at 08:38
I flew Air China London to Beijing on the first part of my journey to Pyongyang, on a 747-400. The the legroom in economy was fine for me, but then I’m a couple of inches under 6ft. I found the seat had sufficient recline for a reasonably comfortable sleep and the pillows were the plumpest I’d ever seen on any flight I’ve undertaken. Catering was very good as was was the cabin service. The cabin crew were very attentive and never appeared harassed. I can only wonder what they were getting ‘up front’. As for the sector with Air Koryo? Well it was an experience but the service was well up to what you’d expect on a European charter flight, and the cabin crew to be fair, radiated that far eastern charm and politness. Still, that’s wandering off topic. Suffice to say I’d give Air China an 8/10. Hope this ramble helps and have a good trip!
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December 10, 2010 at 3:47 am