Air Travel

Question:

>My wife and toddler and I are planning a trip to Beijing from Seattle >in December, and have found that the cheapest fares by far are >offered by a mainland Chinese-owned airline named China Eastern. >Aside from the mention of this airline in the foregoing thread >on the MD-11, I have never heard of China Eastern.  Has anyone >out there ever had any experience dealing with this airline?   >Any information you could give me would be much appreciated. >Many thanks!

We recently used them for HK to Shanghai on a MD-11. Plane seemed OK … especially compared to the Beijing-based China Air 747 form UK to Beijing where the interior fittings were falling apart ! According to the in-flight magazine, the airline is run by one of the new breed of Chinese entreprenneurs and efforts are being made to provide Western levels of service. However, as observed elsewhere in China, this is not easy to do and things were a bit frayed at the edges. The 2 worst things about the flight were the food – easily the worst of our holiday – and the inordinate time it took to land at Shanghai. It felt like the pilot was trying to find the airport by sight and then had great difficulty lining up with the runway. Cheers,         Mark Mark Enderby                       DRAL Daresbury Laboratory Keckwick Lane                                           Daresbury Warrington      tel:   0925-603353 WA4 4AD         Int:+44-925-603353 UK              fax:   0925-603230

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->My wife and toddler and I are planning a trip to Beijing from Seattle >in December, and have found that the cheapest fares by far are >offered by a mainland Chinese-owned airline named China Eastern. >Aside from the mention of this airline in the foregoing thread >on the MD-11, I have never heard of China Eastern.  Has anyone >out there ever had any experience dealing with this airline?   >Any information you could give me would be much appreciated. >Many thanks! >We recently used them for HK to Shanghai on a MD-11. Plane seemed OK … >especially compared to the Beijing-based China Air 747 form UK to >Beijing where the interior fittings were falling apart ! >According to the in-flight magazine, the airline is run by one of the >new breed of Chinese entreprenneurs and efforts are being made to provide >Western levels of service. However, as observed elsewhere in China, this >is not easy to do and things were a bit frayed at the edges. >The 2 worst things about the flight were the food – easily the worst of >our holiday – and the inordinate time it took to land at Shanghai. It >felt like the pilot was trying to find the airport by sight and then had >great difficulty lining up with the runway.

There are three things to watch for in the exploding air travel market in China: 1. The airline itself. There are quite a few airlines around with new    western planes (Boeing, Airbus and McDonell), but there are also    airlines around with old old chinese and russian planes. 2. The maintenance of the airplanes. There seems to be a lack of good    maintenance people in China. But some airlines try do be as good as    possible, others not … 3. The airporst themselves. Most airports are rather old and have    antique controlling equipment. That is the real problem in    China right now. Most airports are unable to handle the amount of    air traffice at the moment. China Eastern seems to be an airline that tries to be as good as possible. If they fly a MD-11 then there is much less to worry as if they would fly old old planes. As far as I know, all crashes in China in the last years were caused by bad maintenance or unsufficent air controll. — Peter A. Loibl       -or-

Response:

>We recently used them for HK to Shanghai on a MD-11. Plane seemed OK … >especially compared to the Beijing-based China Air 747 form UK to >Beijing where the interior fittings were falling apart !

You mean Air China (CA).  China Air(lines) (CI) does not fly to Beijing, or any part of the mainland, for that matter. >Mark Enderby                          

-Hank — disillusioned ME student/ballplayer/manager/umpire/airline agent "….life is a bitch…"   -Mitch Williams    "Enough warmth"  -Sledge Hammer

Response:

My wife and toddler and I are planning a trip to Beijing from Seattle in December, and have found that the cheapest fares by far are offered by a mainland Chinese-owned airline named China Eastern. Aside from the mention of this airline in the foregoing thread on the MD-11, I have never heard of China Eastern.  Has anyone out there ever had any experience dealing with this airline?   Any information you could give me would be much appreciated. Many thanks!

Response:

>My wife and toddler and I are planning a trip to Beijing from Seattle >in December, and have found that the cheapest fares by far are >offered by a mainland Chinese-owned airline named China Eastern. >Aside from the mention of this airline in the foregoing thread >on the MD-11, I have never heard of China Eastern.  Has anyone >out there ever had any experience dealing with this airline?   >Any information you could give me would be much appreciated. >Many thanks!

The mainland Chinese airlines are notorious for maintenance problems. I’d stay away from that airline, but your mileage may vary… RNA

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