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.

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.

13:00 I'm interested in the lounge just for the coffee machine 😂

The straw for the meal was for the yogurt, its very typical to drink the yogurt with a straw in china

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.

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)

Following your content all these years. This helped me a lot during my first flight.

As a frequent United flyer, I would have zero complaints on air China

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.

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.

As a Chinese,thank you for reviewing Air China.Great video as always!

Another great trip report David! Thanks for posting. 😊

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.

Oh I was looking forward for such a video. Thanks guys 😊🎉

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.

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.

An Austrian shivers at 12 C? A Latvian would be in shorts and a t shirt. This would be a heat wave in Latvia.

This solution for Vienna-Seoul flight with interchange can also be used with LOT, but, this time, with interchange at Chopin Airport.

I always feel very entertained as your Reviews are very comprehensive and I do love the attention to the side information. Thank you

Hello David, great job as usual! May I say, I love the video's opening music!

My granddaughter recently flew from Narita to London Gatwick via Shanghai. Much cheaper than other airlines.

the safety announcement in Chinese make me cry cause I miss my grandparents

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.

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.

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.

Another great video 🎉!

2:55 what if your suitcase was made entirely out of Kimchi?

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! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳

❤Thank you for your review❤

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.

That straw is for the yoghurt, one common way to have yoghurt in China.

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

Brilliant review @simplyaviation!

Fantastic trip report as always David!😸

That was really well done!

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.

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!

I flew on Business and economy from LAX to HGK with a stop in Beijing. Great all around. Greetings from Panama🇵🇦

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?

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".

Thank you!

Did you know that the first a321 had no chinese flag because it flies to taiwan

Brilliant review! Just filed a recommendation letter to Beijing Capital Airport Group according to your review! Thanks for the honest review!

Good review. Bonus-point for the hot water-bottle action.

Very informative 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?

Looking forward for more reviews like this❤

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 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

Great flight and review.

You're Visiting Korea quite often! Always Welcome in Seoul ICN, Seoul GMP

Love them a350❤❤

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.

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

So I really missed air china and thanks for the trip review

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.

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.

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.

6:14 interesting feature of the ARJ-21

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.

2:55 Your Kimchi free suitcase lol! Looking forward to this video.

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...

Comparing this to your a330 air china flight makes this a350 flight look like Emirates quality

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

Not exhaustingly long by any means and quite entertaining; at least for me. Thank you for another excellent review.

Excellent video, it looks like Air China is worth giving a try. I've long wanted to sample their service on a transpacific routing.

I remember I went for a few runs round the terminal took keep warm when I went in march. Very cold….

I had the same exact experience of the Beijing Capital airport back in September, super weird!

What a review!!

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 :)

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...

Had almost same route, you said your connection time is over 6 hours? You can get a free hotel room for that period to avoid coldness😅, just find the counter outside baggage claim, in front of exit to parking lot, show your air china ticket and you get a room and transfer to that hotel or you can book the room ahead in their app, depends on your star alliance status, you may get a better hotel, at least last time I got a very sized double room for single use and free breakfast. visa is also not a problem, you get a transfer visa direct at PEK airport. And it doesn’t even require any visa if you hold certain EU-Passports, such as Germany or Austria, visa free right now for those citizens and this list is getting longer and langer. Air china service is much better than earlier years, the flight attendants approach to passengers much warmer than before, the security guy sitting on the first row of economy class is also politer. And the problem with shops at PEK.. don’t know why they are still closed, not that many international passengers due to second airport PKX? And air china does open their first class lounge at evening for normal star alliance gold passengers, but there is no different between first and business lounge, just open a second lounge when it’s crowded at day time

I recently flew Munich - Shanghai (A350) with Air China, and on the return journey SHA - PEK - MUC (B777). Got a very competitive deal at EUR 600 round trip and I was very positively surprised. This is def not the same airline that I recall from my childhood memory (I usually fly with China Eastern). Some points to share/confirm: - MUC-PVG is very pleasant with a brand-new A350, great entertainment system and in-flight WiFi (again within firewall). Stewed beef was decent. Flight was loosely occupied so in some rows you can even lie down in economy. - PEK-MUC is a bit worse with an older plane. Transfer not as pleasant since domestic flights arrive at a different section and needed a LONG walk to the security check and then taking the terminal trains. Heard some European transit passengers complaining about the lack of access to the "outside" internet which is totally understandable. So, it might be excruciating for those who've got long transfer (however, you can get VPN ahead). Different entertainment system but feels worse. BTW, the straw is for the yoghurt because Chinese yoghurt is usually thinner than the European ones and is perceived more as a drink. I also helped my German seat neighbor to clear the confusion ;)

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.

On your 2nd flight to Vienna, how many hours did you sleep on the plane?

Renew cathay Pacific pls

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!

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.

You need to try China Eastern A350 Business Class, Its so good!

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.

hello! the straw with the meal is probably for the yoghurt!

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.

Haha David watching Gaki no Tsukai in the Beijing lounge

I love the pickled vegetables. You can find them everywhere in China

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.

22:34 Cup Of Tea And Apple Juice , And No Orange Juice 😊🍎🍹

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.

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

I use priority pass card go into Korean Air and ANA often. No problem with the air China

First time flying to London from Auckland with Air China soon (Cheapest ticket available), if it works out well, I’ll fly them again ❤

Does Air China's A350-900 offer Wi-fi on board? I don't expect it to be for free, but at least I need to know whether it is available or not. Thanks!!!!

Please try out the chinese airlines (CZ and MU) to compare which ones the best

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).

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.

Qantas’s netted footrest on the A330 is the best

As you booked a flight to Taiwan, is a Starlux video coming out?

How are their business class fares for the routes you've mentioned?

Flown with them domestic, the service was fine but the food was subpar

i love flying i enjoyed the flight with you greetings from the netherlands