I have gained the travel bug in the last few years and have had the chance to discover many new and ...
I have gained the travel bug in the last few years and have had the chance to discover many new and wonderfull places. Some I have already written about and the others no doubt I will get round to them at some point.
I enjoy many forms of music and...
Member since:03.08.2000
Reviews:86
Members who trust:8
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 MandarinAirlines.
I traveled with China Airlines from Glasgow to Bangkok via Amsterdam. Amsterdam is their main Europeanhub, 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.
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.
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nice review. i've flown with them a number of times. i agree with your comments. their safety record was not the greatest. they had 2 big plane crashes between '96 and '98. about 200 people died in each crash - once in Japan during take off and once in Taiwan during landing. since then, they seem to have improved their safety measure. however, i have to admit that i always feel a bit anxious going on their flight. i won't choose them if not for their special offer. if money isn't an issue, i always go for EVA - another Taiwanese company with more leg room, better services and a great safety record. i wouldn't choose KLM because they've lost my luggage twice and services were appalling; i wouldn't choose BA because i felt that their services were not as good as EVA.
sue.51 14.04.2003 00:51
Great op - but i'm afraid those three little words "Some Safety Concerns" would deter me, saving money or otherwise, a recent shift in my role has seen me reach, not quite frequent flyer status, but a lot more regular than your standard 1/2 holidays a year, add this a sister-in-law who has recently moved to Madrid and you would think I would have overcome my fear of flying - sadly not so - will be sticking to mainstream European Airliners and hopefully remain on relatively short routes.
Sue
lilchilie 28.03.2003 08:25
How long did you go there ? Have you heard that some people died from that "pneumonie" ? If you went to Asia, you never know...
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