Air China reviews?

Megahurtz400

Megahurtz400

Megahurtz400

Soldato
Joined
5 Jun 2007
Posts
9,306
Location
extremes.spacious.indelible
Hey guys,

Got bargain flights from Sydney-Gatwick with Air China, so just wondering if any of you have flown with them before?

Seen a few horror stories online, but obviously its always the case, why write a review for a good flight haha.

Also, we have a 19hr stopover in Beijing, whats the likelihood we'll be allowed out of the airport?
 
Air China are a lot better than they used to be! Really not bad now.

There is a G-type transit visa which you can apply for, however, I believe you can get a 72-hour visa-free entry. See here for more details :

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/visa/free-72hour/

Edit: also here : http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/eng/visa/notice/t1003320.htm

From the 1st January 2013, citizens of the following 45 countries hold a valid passport, a visa for their final destination and a transit flight ticket with a confirmed departure seat and date leaving within 72 hours,who transit via Beijing or Shanghai airport (Beijing Capital International airport, Shanghai Pudong International airport and Hongqiao International airport) to a third country (region) may be exempt from a transit visa, provided that their stay within the Beijing or Shanghai administrative regions does not exceed 72 hours.

The countries that are eligible for the 72 hour transit visa exemption within Beijing and Shanghai airports are as follows:

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Actually, that first review is quite accurate - last time I flew back to London I had an emergency exit seat. After the meal, the Chinese get up to stretch their legs, and where better than around the exit, where I had to endure constant feet trampling and odious farting.
 
I flew Internally from Shanghai to Beijing, no issues, just a standard plane and a standard flight.
 
cheechm said:
To be honest I don't see how those taxi instructions were hard to understand. He couldn't even get the letters right.
Click to expand...

Yeah, most definitely not ICAO4. :eek:

OP is ****ing himself by now. :D

Edit: Wait, this thread is missing that picture of the emergency door falling in on descent. You know the one.
 
[FnG]magnolia;26144473 said:
Interesting to hear from any ATC bods (scuzi) on how language barriers are crossed.
Click to expand...

With caution. Generally speaking, the Chinese and Russian airlines are the ones which struggle the most. Anything other than standard phraseology can really throw them, especially on a busy frequency. However, their standards have improved vastly over the past few years. They are generally safe operators.

The ones you need to watch out for are the "developing nation" Africans, especially the private operators. A few grand will buy you a pilots licence and the right connections will have you in the right hand seat of a jet.
 
Flown with them many times, domestically and internationally, just a pretty standard flight, nothing fancy, but not awful. Though, the plane I had flying Taipei-Beijing last time had a broken pocket on the seat in front of me, which jabbed in to my knees for the duration of the flight. Not fun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom