I made my recent trip to Thailand and return from Singapore via Beijing. On both legs I flew with Air China and had longish stop overs at Beijing International airport. Why did I choose this carrier and route - cost! The return journey total cost was £359 - amazing when you think about it. By a significant margin Air China was the cheapest.
So what of Air China - the negative - everything about the experience made you feel you were a budget traveller - except the legroom which was good in economy. Having said that everything worked ok - it was just the little touches that were missing. Check in - was not through a dedicated Air China desk and it was always at the back of the airport. The cabin staff were professional - friendly enough but brusque too. No nonsense. The "drinks" trolley content looked like it was bought at the local SPAR - and it was offered sparingly. Inflight entertainment was hopeless. Food mediocre. One that did make me laugh and basically summed Air China up for me - most airlines at some stage offer passengers a hot flannel to freshen up with. On Air China - cabin staff walk down the aisle and offer each passenger a single paper tissue pulled out of a tissue box as they go! But they got the job done. The plane was modern. I guess you get what you pay for overall so no complaints really.
What was much more bizarre and frustrating was Beijing Capital International Airport. It is massive and on the face of it palatial - glitzy - grandiose. Actually it could hardly be less interesting or functional. It consists almost entirely of duty free shops selling luxury items. There are few staff and very little activity. Thereafter there is nothing for the passenger. A small and very modest KFC - a tiny Costa - and a tiny restaurant of a sort at one end of the vast terminal and something similar and equally modest at the other. There isn't a bar. There isn't a general all purpose shop where you can buy say water or snacks or books. (there are a few vending machines) There are no ATM's and if you exchange for Yuan's it is expensive. There is nothing to do. On top of that there is mind numbing what I shall describe as piped Chinese "classical music" - as a constant background. It is a dirge - not uplifting in any way. The terminal has no personality whatsoever.
If Air China and China wants to establish Beijing as a realistic hub airport the authorities will need to do much better - particularly at the airport. One lesson I have learned on this flight is what you save on a fare you can easily waste making a stop over tolerable and therefore it is pointless. I think next time it will be back to the old favourites for me - one of the middle eastern airlines.
Perhaps I was in a grumpy mood but boy does that guttural throat clearing and spitting habit of the Chinese take a bit of handling too. The ups and downs of travel. We are all different of course. The Chinese are a phenomena - they just do their own thing.
So what of Air China - the negative - everything about the experience made you feel you were a budget traveller - except the legroom which was good in economy. Having said that everything worked ok - it was just the little touches that were missing. Check in - was not through a dedicated Air China desk and it was always at the back of the airport. The cabin staff were professional - friendly enough but brusque too. No nonsense. The "drinks" trolley content looked like it was bought at the local SPAR - and it was offered sparingly. Inflight entertainment was hopeless. Food mediocre. One that did make me laugh and basically summed Air China up for me - most airlines at some stage offer passengers a hot flannel to freshen up with. On Air China - cabin staff walk down the aisle and offer each passenger a single paper tissue pulled out of a tissue box as they go! But they got the job done. The plane was modern. I guess you get what you pay for overall so no complaints really.
What was much more bizarre and frustrating was Beijing Capital International Airport. It is massive and on the face of it palatial - glitzy - grandiose. Actually it could hardly be less interesting or functional. It consists almost entirely of duty free shops selling luxury items. There are few staff and very little activity. Thereafter there is nothing for the passenger. A small and very modest KFC - a tiny Costa - and a tiny restaurant of a sort at one end of the vast terminal and something similar and equally modest at the other. There isn't a bar. There isn't a general all purpose shop where you can buy say water or snacks or books. (there are a few vending machines) There are no ATM's and if you exchange for Yuan's it is expensive. There is nothing to do. On top of that there is mind numbing what I shall describe as piped Chinese "classical music" - as a constant background. It is a dirge - not uplifting in any way. The terminal has no personality whatsoever.
If Air China and China wants to establish Beijing as a realistic hub airport the authorities will need to do much better - particularly at the airport. One lesson I have learned on this flight is what you save on a fare you can easily waste making a stop over tolerable and therefore it is pointless. I think next time it will be back to the old favourites for me - one of the middle eastern airlines.
Perhaps I was in a grumpy mood but boy does that guttural throat clearing and spitting habit of the Chinese take a bit of handling too. The ups and downs of travel. We are all different of course. The Chinese are a phenomena - they just do their own thing.
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| Beijing airport on the face of it looks fine. |
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