Airline Review - Air China Y TPE to Europe

[OZDUCK]

trentusjuventus

Thanks for this informative TR about a very different airline than those usually reviewed.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So trivia question - anyone notice what's unusual about the plane's livery in this picture?

Re Air China in general... they do what they say on the tin - transport you safely, with food, beverage and baggage. And often at very good fares.

I flew TPE-PVG with them - a route with notoriously high fares - and they were half the cost of their competitors (AUD220 v AUD400 one way). The flight is an hour and we got a couple of sandwiches and a beer. Can't complain.

For their business class. As cruiser says I guess it is a case of YMMV. Their A330s offer exceptional bed length (81 inches) and a full 21 inch width the whole length of the bed - no boxes, no cubby holes, no wedges for your feet. For someone tall they are pretty perfect. Again - the tin says 'food, chilled champagne, long flat well-padded bed'. And that's what you get. They make no claims about seat privacy or IFE.

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

I flew TPE-PVG with them - a route with notoriously high fares - and they were half the cost of their competitors (AUD220 v AUD400 one way). The flight is an hour and we got a couple of sandwiches and a beer. Can't complain.

I flew that route last year and found that Taipei Songshan to Shanghai Hongqiao was $38 and massively less than TPE-PVG.

Perfect for me as my friend lived near Hongqiao station.

 

[seanpodge]

Have flown CA a fair bit, almost all domestic with just one international flight (HKG-PEK) in an AVOD-free 330 like OP's. Would agree with his assessments of CA, which is similar to most mainland Chinese airlines. If you go in expecting it to be SQ, EK et al, then of course you'll be disappointed. Still, a good safety record, free check in luggage, free food and drinks, reasonable leg room in Y. Like others, if flying from Aus to Europe and SQ (or equivalent) were offering the near same price as CA, then I'd go SQ every day of the week. But if there was a significant discount with flying CA then I would have no problem choosing them, especially now that the main thing I held against them for long haul flying, the PED ban, is gone.

So trivia question - anyone notice what's unusual about the plane's livery in this picture?

No flag?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

No flag?

Yes! CA aircraft to TPE have the chinese flag blanked out on the side!

 

[Melburnian1]

trentusjuventus, I'm a bit slow so just reading your excellent TR now.

A male friend who recently travelled to and fro on MU (China Eastern) claims that Air China is better than MU, but worse than CZ (China Southern). He qualified by ranking Taiwan's CA - China Airlines - and BR - EVA Airlines (strangely when I've been on board always pronounced as 'E-V'A Airlines not EVA...') as way ahead of all three major mainland communist China carriers.

Is that your assessment?