Air China’s economy has potential, but needs improvement

Air China’s A350 uses a 3-3-3 layout, with each seat averaging 31 inch of pitch, 18 inch of width, and 116 degrees of recline (about 5 inches). Each seat has a six-way adjustable headrest which hugs the head well and stays in position. Surprisingly, for economy, every seat has a footrest. A good-sized seatback pocket also has two smaller pouches for items like phones and passports. A bi-fold tray table allows enough room for working and dining and is equipped with a cup holder when the table is locked away, a feature found on some of the world’s most premium airlines.

Despite this aircraft only being four years old (B-32AS), the cabin looked dated, with the light blue upholstery looking out of place. We have taken Air China before, and this is the airline’s cabin colour scheme, which does not feel on-brand. The cabin was a little dirty in places, and a deep clean is needed, especially the window shades.

Overall, the seat is comfortable, and we managed to get some sleep on this flight, mainly aided by the headrest. When the seat is reclined, even taller passengers can stretch out and put their feet right under the seat in front. We did not encounter any discomfort from seating for over eleven hours, and place the seat comfort high in AirlineRatings’ rankings.

Air China’s crew run an efficient cabin, though their manner can feel regimented and a little cold, and they were sometimes quick to hurry off before a conversation had properly finished. Their English is very good, which made it easy to sort out the small catering and entertainment issues we raised, and they stayed calm and professional throughout the flight. Call bell response was a real strength, with a crew member arriving in under 30 seconds every time we pressed it. The service never reaches the warmth or polish of the leading Japanese and Middle Eastern carriers, but on the whole the crew delivered a pleasant experience.

Catering is a real disappointment on Air China, and the service delivery method differs from that of many other airlines. Shortly after departure, a beverage service is offered, consisting of soft drinks, fruit juices, wine, beer and water. Around 15 minutes later, the first hot meal service begins, with a choice of chicken or beef with rice. Special meals are served first.

The meal tray comprises a couscous and prawn appetiser, the chicken and rice main course, a bread roll and a chocolate mousse dessert. The chicken dish is very salty, while the chocolate mousse is the standout item on the tray. The bread roll is served slightly warm and is of acceptable quality for Economy Class.

A subsequent beverage service is not conducted alongside the meal service, meaning passengers are left without a drink to accompany their meal. Instead, the second drinks trolley comes around after the meals have been served, by which time most passengers have already finished eating. This service approach is unusual and detracts from the overall dining experience.

Around two hours before landing, breakfast is served following the same service order. The options are Chinese beef congee or chicken sausage with omelette. However, the chicken option runs out quickly and is no longer available by the time the trolley reaches our seats. The crew are apologetic and offer a vegetarian alternative consisting of mushrooms, tomato, spinach and chickpea curry. While this is not a bad option, the fact that the Western choice runs out so quickly is disappointing, particularly on a flight predominantly made up of Western passengers.

A croissant (not pictured, as the replacement hot meal was delivered later), yoghurt and cheesecake are also presented on the tray. The cheesecake is easily the standout, by a long way.

We also request snacks mid-flight, but these have run out and the crew are unable to offer any alternatives. Water, however, is offered frequently throughout the flight and is also available on a self-service basis in the galley.

For a long overnight flight, passengers should be able to expect more substantial and better-quality catering, with sufficient choice to cater for all passengers. Unfortunately, Air China falls short in this regard.

Air China’s A350 features the Panasonic eX3 inflight entertainment system, operated through a responsive touchscreen. The refreshed burgundy and red interface keeps favourites, the moving map, seat lighting, crew call and a screen-off button in a permanent sidebar, while a flight-progress widget appears in the corner of every page.

The home page is divided into Entertainment, Kids, My Tour and Application tabs, with a Trending Now row combining new Chinese releases, such as All The Good Eyes, with Western titles including The Gilded Age Season 3. Films are organised into New Releases, Hollywood, Chinese, Global and various genre categories. The Hollywood selection offers a reasonable range of titles, including The Housemaid, Deadpool & Wolverine and Avengers: Infinity War, while the Chinese selection is more extensive, featuring recent releases such as A Writer’s Odyssey II and Crush the Wicked.

The TV selection is stronger than might be expected, with Global TV, Series, Variety, Documentary and Sports sections. These include Blue Planet II, alongside Chinese documentaries covering subjects such as the Potala Palace and the Qinling Mountains. Music playlists and an extensive games library round out the offering, with options ranging from Chinese chess, mahjong and the card game Landlord to blackjack and Minesweeper.

The main hardware omission is an external camera, which Air China does not offer on its A350s, despite being available on aircraft operated by China Eastern and China Southern.

Wi-Fi and connectivity

Free Wi-Fi is available on board and connecting is simple, with passengers logging in through a portal using their seat and passport numbers. The portal also streams films, TV and music to your own device, which is handy if you’d rather watch content on a phone or tablet. The landing page differs between the Chinese and English versions, which suggests English-speaking passengers see a reduced selection of content. In practice the connection proved patchy, as we only managed to send a handful of messages while over Chinese airspace and lost coverage entirely over Russia. That left us unable to confirm whether the free service covers general browsing or messaging only, or whether Air China offers paid tiers with fuller internet access. There is also no Bluetooth connectivity, so you’ll need wired headphones or the pair Air China supplies.

Comfort and amenities

Each seat comes with a blanket and a pillow waiting on boarding, and the pillow is a cut above what you’d normally expect in economy with a cotton pillowcase that feels softer against the skin and makes a noticeable difference to comfort, which counts for a lot on an overnight sector like CA847 where most passengers will be trying to sleep.

The washrooms are basic, stocked with hand soap and a hand moisturiser, which is a small touch many economy cabins skip. Standards slipped as the flight went on, as the crew didn’t appear to check or tidy the washrooms during the journey, and they fell into a poor state by the later hours. Beyond the in-flight upkeep, the washrooms are overdue for a proper deep clean.

Booking and pre-flight

Pre-booking seats or meals through Air China’s Manage Booking facility is a frustrating process that often fails to work. Before you can use it, you have to create an account and pass a passport verification step, and that verification itself regularly fails. Even if the requirement stems from Chinese aviation regulations, it makes for a poor first impression at the very start of the customer journey, and it leaves many passengers turning up at the airport without the seat or meal they wanted.

Turbulence and power bank management

The flight hit noticeable and sustained turbulence, mostly over Russia, and while the crew made announcements in Chinese and English asking passengers to return to their seats, nobody followed them up. Passengers kept walking the aisles, queuing for the toilets and standing in the galley as the aircraft bumped along, yet no crew member asked them to sit down or walked the cabin to check seatbelts. Turbulence remains the leading cause of in-flight injuries to passengers and crew, which is why an announcement alone falls well short of what most airlines now expect of their cabin teams.

Power bank handling was equally concerning, and when a crew member challenged a passenger using a power bank, the passenger explained that their seat power wasn’t working and the crew simply allowed them to carry on charging. That decision runs against Air China’s own published policy, which bans power bank use for the entire flight, as well as the latest international guidance, which recommends that passengers don’t use power banks to charge devices on board. It’s a particularly surprising lapse given that an Air China flight diverted after a lithium battery fire in an overhead locker just a year earlier. The expected response would have been to ask the passenger to stow the power bank and offer a seat with working power if one was free.

Together, these two observations led Airline Ratings to reduce Air China’s safety rating to Six Stars.

READ: Air China’s safety rating reduced to Six Stars