I recently traveled with China Airlines so thought I would share my thoughts on them.
Despite its name, this is the airline of Taiwan not China. In some countries it is called Mandarin Airlines.
I traveled with China Airlines from Glasgow to Bangkok via Amsterdam. Amsterdam is their ... Read review
A review by ultras67 on China Airlines March 28th, 2003
Author's product rating:
Food Quality
Satisfactory
Customer Service
Nothing special
Punctuality
Good
Space
Comfortable
Value for Money
Good
Advantages:
Competitive Pricing
Disadvantages:
Some Safety Concerns,
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I recently traveled with China Airlines so thought I would share my thoughts on them.
Despite its name, this is the airline of Taiwan not China. In some countries it is called Mandarin Airlines.
I traveled with China Airlines from Glasgow to Bangkok via Amsterdam. Amsterdam is their main European hub, depending on where you are connecting from the first flight will probably be with KLM UK. The main drawback with Amsterdam is the number of delays. I have experienced maybe a 30% delay rate frlying into or out of there. But China Airlines were on time leaving and arriving.
The first leg - Glasgow to Amsterdam was on a Fokker regional jet, which is reasonably comfortable with legroom, seat size etc ( I am a six footer )
The main out leg was in an Boeing 747-400 with a standard passenger layout holding over 300 passengers. The plane was relatively old and showed it inside with average facilities - no personal LCD screen, only the older overhead TV screens, limited audio channels. The seats didnt have ''head wings'' that are supposedly there to support your head while you sleep. Seat pitch is supposedly 33" although it felt more comfortable than that.
The meals served were average western airline food with no real flavour but still edible all the same.
The level of service - despite me hearing horror stories - was effective without being notable, anything asked for was brought but no extra smile or effort. One thing of course that some people dont like is that there are no native speakers of English. But I found that all the staff had an excellent level of spoken English. Sometimes, their requests could be interpreted as brusque rather than friendly.
They were the cheapest for the length of ticket I needed and are usually very competitive for price. I had a 1 year ticket and they allow unlimited free changes on the return leg. Some airlines will restrict you to 1 or 2 changes and or charge you a fee.
The airline does unfortunately not have the highest reputation for safety or service, they have had a couple of big crashes in the last 10 years. The fleet is a quite modern one though, which tends to support the claims that pilot error has been the cause.
The routes are more widespread within Asia ( Taipei, is of course the main Asian hub )as you can imagine and to major cities in Europe and America.
The airline is not part of any airline alliance ie Star or One World but does have agreements for connecting flights with various airlines. It does have its own mileage program - Dynasty Flyer.
Their official web site is at www.china-airlines.com
Overall, I would have to say that if price is your main concern then I would recommend them, otherwise I would go with a main European flag carrier like KLM or British Airways. Overall a marginal 4 stars.
Advantages: Very friendly staff Disadvantages: None
...a very satisfactory experience. As the name suggests China Southern cover all of Southern China with an extensive flight schedule. The cost was around £120 each which I didn't think was too bad for a national airline. Perhaps Easyjet ought to muscle in on China though!!...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: more leg room more comfort Disadvantages: none
...I have just returned from a holiday to China. My flight outwards was British Airways scheduled as was my return flight from Hongkong. Both were not a plasant experience and BA disapponted me in a big way.
You can imagine after my experience with BA that I was hardly looking forward to the three internal flights I would be making within China using their local airlines. However, my fears were quickly dispelled I can can reassure anyway with similar reservations. The planes were far more comfortable and the staff knew something about that phrase 'service witha smile'. Come on BA you have fallen a long way behind....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: the price Disadvantages: the service of flight attendants.
...Air China is not China air line. They are completely different two companys. China air line is a taiwanese company. It used to be a state run company, and now has been privitisated. That's the begining of its disaster. Air China is a state-run international air line company. It has guite good reputition and very famous for the safety. It's not a bad idea to take Air China from China to go abroad, because it's cheaper and the food is all right. However, I don't think the service is good. At least, not as good as China air line. There is still some room for improvement....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
A lot of people have a lot of bad things to say about Indian Airlines. They tut, shake their head, roll their eyes. Even cringe.
For many years India had just two airline, both state-run: Air India, who did the international flying, and Indian... more
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