Welcome to my part 2 of my Air China's Flying Adventure in 2025!
My ride: B-307A (Airbus A350-900)
Introduction
I had about 6 hours 40 minutes of layover at Beijing Airport and I heard about others encountering unpleasant experience at this airport during the transit but for the airfare I paid, I was prepared to face whatever that is facing me during my time there, afterall as long as you follow the guidelines, you should be fine. In addition, I have done a lot of Singapore to London flights including stopovers and this would be my first time flying from China to Europe. This route also means I would get to fly through Russian airspace which many airlines excluding the Chinese airlines are avoiding and that is an advantage for the Chinese airlines as they are able to charge the tickets at lower fare while flying directly from China to Europe and vice versa but it can't be said the same for the European airlines. As a result, airlines such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have pulled out of routes to China due to this reason. Longer route means more fuel is required and the extra cost has to be passed on to the passengers which makes it less attractive for the consumers.
Anyway, without further ado, let's begin this trip report! First, a little look at the Beijing Capital International Airport.
My transit experience at Beijing PEK Airport
After a 45 minutes wait at the security and passport check, I was at the airside. As I had a 6 hours transit, I wasn't in the hurry to go anywhere and instead I decided to check out the airside during the early hours of the day. I find the land side to be quite spacious with a bit of chinese culture added to the atmosphere as shown below.
Airport WiFi is available but of course there are restrictions to western social media such as Facebook, Twitter (X) and other popular apps.
Beijing's PEK Terminal 3
It was around 6.45 in the morning, the airport traffic was light.
The terminal is quite big so you need to ensure you have enough time to get to your boarding gate.
There are duty-free shops throughout the terminal with operating hours.
Plane photography is possible but the design of the windows makes it difficult to capture a good photo of the aircraft parking at the gate.
Charging outlets are available.
CDF - China Duty Free group
There were a few passengers napping.
Plenty of seating area
USB sockets and a warning sign to keep kids away from them.
There is a resting area (below) and I spent a good amount of time resting and doing some plane spotting.
Although there are charging ports available, they were not working at this time.
Plane spotting time!
This is Air China's Boeing 747-400. There are not many 747-400 pax aircraft flying around these days.
Air China's Airbus A321neo
Air China's Boeing 777-300ER
Air China Airbus A350-900
ANA Boeing 767-300ER
Air China Airbus A330-300
Air China Boeing 777-300ER
Air Macau Airbus A321ceo
The flight screen display
More human traffic at this time.
Air China's Star Alliance and non Star Alliance partners
Another impressive feature of the app is it notifies you on your location of the baggage. (Photo below).
I did a check which aircraft was flying me to London, the honour goes to B-307A.
At this point, this aircraft was flying back from Geneva and would rest for a couple of hours before flying us to London Heathrow.
E26 - the assigned gate for my flight
Time to board!
The transparent glass of this aerobridge give a good view of this Airbus A350.
My ride: B-307A
During our wait, the mechanics changed the tires of the right landing gear.
Airbus A350-941
Engines: 2 X Roll Royce Trent XWB-84
Configuration: C32 W24 Y256
Delivered in January 2019
268th Airbus A350 built
Age: 6+ Years Old (May 2025)
Built in Toulouse (TLS)
Flight Route: PEK-LHR
Miles: 5,080
My seat: 60L (Aerolopa.com)
Date of departure: 21st February 2025
Airline: Air China
Flight: CA855
Route: PEK-LHR
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Registration: B-307A
Seat: 60L
Terminal (PEK): 3
Gate: E26
Load: 100%
Flight Duration: 10hr 10 mins
Actual Flight Time: 10hr 20 mins
Schedule Departure: 1245
Boarding: 1215
Pushed Back: 1248
Take Off: 1315
Schedule Arrival: 1532
Actual Arrival: 1533
Departure Runway: 36R
Departure Weather: Partially Cloudy
Arrival Runway: 27R
Arrival Weather: Cloudy
About Air China's A350-900
Air China A350 aircraft is configured in a 3-class layout, 32 Business Class, 24 Premium Economy and 256 Economy Class seats. While the economy class cabin is the same on all the A350, for the business class cabin, they are currently 2 types (Super Diamond and Recaro CL6720) and Air China was the launch customer for the Recaro's latest business class product CL6720 which is installed on the newest batch of A350-900. Eventually the A350 with the Super Diamand business class cabin will be upgraded to this new business class suite when these aircraft are due for heavy maintenance. (C or D check).
My flight experience
The economy class seats on this aircraft may be similar to the 787's but somehow I find these seats to be more comfortable even though I had a seat mate beside me. For this flight, every seat was occupied and I chose a window seat to enjoy the beautiful view. I had an issue with my seat as it tends to self recline and during the meal service, I had to sit upright so that the person sitting behind me won't be affected with the accidental recline.
Once again, an announcement from the flight crew was made but it was difficult to hear what he was saying as it sounded like another voice in the background (could be the other pilot talking to the ATC) and also the cabin crew made some important announcement including a reminder to us about the consequences if we fail to follow the rules. All you need is an idiot to cause a flight disruption and fortunately for us, we didn't have to find out.
We took off about 45 minutes after our schedule departure time and it was quite windy as we hit some turbulence during our climb. It got a bit intense that I had to hold on to the seat in front of me due to the updraft and downdraft motion while flying through clear air turbulence. However, once we were above 10,000 feet, it was less bumpy and eventually the turbulence died off. The seatbelt sign didn't turn off until we reached our assigned flight level and that took about 40-50 minutes. Once the crew were released for duty, it didn't take long for them to prepare our meals for us.
We had 2 meal services on this flight and beverages were served along with it. The cabin crew were friendly and for the rest of the flight, it was relatively smooth with a bit of bumps flying through Russia, close to Eastern Europe. I managed to grab a few hours of rest while for the remaining free time, I watched a couple of movies.
Despite landing slightly late, we reached our assigned gate quickly and with that, my flying adventure with Air China has come to an end as I would be flying home a different route.
Business Class
Aerospace Super Diamond Seat map
Photo of the seat
Photo: Thedesignair.net
There are 32 Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. These are the older reverse herringbone type of seats and they can be converted to a 6 foot 4 lie-flat bed. The airline has planned to replaced these seats with the CL6720 seats. Each passenger gets to enjoy a 18 inches touch screen display for the In Flight Entertainment and each seat has a seat width of 21 inches and it comes with Universal AC and USB-A sockets.
Recaro CL6720 Seat map (Newer Business Class cabin)
Photo of the seat
Photo: firstclass.flights
There are 32 Recaro CL 6720 seats arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. Each seat has a seat width of 21 inches can can convert into a 6 foot 4 lie-flat bed, in addition, the passengers in this cabin can enjoy the 18 inches HD touch screen display for the In Flight Entertainment and Universal AC and USB-A sockets are available. Inflight Wifi is available on this aircraft, I am not sure whether it's complimentary for business class passengers, once I find out, I will update this post.
There are 24 Collins Aerospace MIQ seats configured in a 2-4-2 arrangement which comes with a 6-way adjustable headrest and an adjustable legrest. Each seat has a seat width of 18.5 inches, legroom space of around 39 inches and can recline up to 129 degrees. For the In-Flight Entertainment, each seatback comes with a 12 inches HD touchscreen display and USB-A sockets and shared Universal AC sockets.
The front row of the Premium Economy cabin
The window side of the premium economy class seats
For the first row, foldable inflight entertainment screen is available only after take off and before landing.
The last row of the premium economy class. There is a partition to separate the Premium Economy and Economy Class.
Economy Class
There are 256 Recaro CL3710 seats arranged in a 3-3-3 configuration and with the exception of the emergency rows, each seat comes with a legroom space of 31 inches, seat width of 18 inches and recline up to 118 degrees. The IFE screen in this class is slightly smaller, with a 11 inches touch screen display. Shared Universal AC socket and USB-A sockets for each passenger are available in this class.
Comparing this to the Premium Economy Class, the main difference is the tighter legroom space, smaller IFE screen, 3-3-3 configuration instead of 2-4-2 and the narrower seat width.
The economy class seats comes with an adjustable headrest.
Legroom space is standard for long haul international economy class.
This is where I sat (below), the right seat.
The seat at the last row is able to recline with a limited amount of space between the seat and the partition.
The cabin crew's uniform (below).
Unlike the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Air China's windows are the standard type. Airlines can opt for the dimmed windows which Airbus offers as an option for part of the cabin customisation when the aircraft is ordered.
The front view of the window side seats.
Cabin view of the economy class
The first row of the economy class is a 2-seater which means the 2nd row's window seat has a lot of legroom space.
This window seat (below) is suitable for tall passengers.
The last row of the front economy class cabin
A few more photos of the economy class seats.
The front view of the Economy and Premium Economy class cabins
More photos of the Economy Class cabin
Mood lighting was used on this flight.
There are lavatories located between the front and rear cabin of the economy class.
The crew's workspace at the rear of the aircraft cabin.
Overview of the economy class cabin
Economy Class Seat
Headrest
Each passengers gets a pillow and blanket.
Legroom space is adequate.
Inflight entertainment touchscreen screen
If you notice carefully, there are stretches on the window.
Adjustable bi-foldable tray
Bi-foldable tray fully opened
Not much privacy between the seats.
AC universal socket
Charging and earpiece ports
The A350 cabin interior
Inflight Meal and Beverage
I chose orange juice for my first beverage.
We were given a choice of chicken or beef rice for lunch and I chose the chicken.
After the meal, I opt for a cup of coffee.
For dinner, we were given a choice of chicken rice or beef noodles and this time I opted for the noodles.
What's provided for each passenger?
Disposal Bag
Safety Card
Inflight entertainment menu
Inflight magazine
Pillow
Blanket
A set of headphones
Air China's A350-900's Economy class is equipped with Panasonic's eX3 IFEC in every seatback.
Safety video
Inflight map
Inflight information
Inflight information display (pilot's view)
Inflight movies
The user interface of the system is easy to use.
At this point, we were on final approach towards LHR's runway 27R.
Inflight Wifi
You can access the system by keying in your seat number and the last 4 digit of your passport number.
You can watch the airline's entertainment on your mobile devices
This is what you can do if you choose not to pay for the internet service.
The selection of programmes are the same as the inflight entertainment system.
Lavatory
The lavatory was clean and tidy.
Window view photos (Take off to Landing)
At this point, we started our push back.
Thanks for the hospitality, Beijing PEK airport!
Off we go in this beautiful weather.
Air China's owned built aircraft, the Comac C909 (Formerly known as ARJ-21).
We were given the clearance to enter the runway.
Off we go on our 10 hours journey to London Heathrow.
V1...rotate..
We were treated to a great view of the airport and city.
While climbing, we had to endure the turbulent condition due to the strong crosswind.
Even in good weather like this, strong wind can make the ride slightly uncomfortable but do remember this sort of turbulence is never a danger to the aircraft operation. Do trust the pilots as they are trained to deal in all kinds of situation.
At this point, the ride was less shaky as the wind condition was calmer at this flight level.
This is why you should pick the window seat, to enjoy the stunning views mother nature can offer.
After a few hours into the flight, we entered the snowy environment.
After this, I had a nap of about 4 hours and at this point (below), we had an hour of flying left.
We started our descent and for the rest of our flight, the flying condition was great.
Welcome to London! As the traffic at London Heathrow is always very busy, so it was no surprised we were put on a holding pattern before joining a queue to land at one of the busiest airports in the world.
Not the best weather but at least it was not turbulent.
We were on final approach into runway 27R.
Almost there!
We touched down after 10 hours 20 minutes in the air.
Virgin Atlantic's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner - hope to fly on it in the near future.
We have reached our assigned gate. The aircraft would rest for 2 hours plus before making its way home to Beijing PEK.
My flight summary
Welcome to London Heathrow Terminal 2 - the Queen's terminal
This has to be one of the longest aerobridges out there.
The walk towards the main concourse took about 15 minutes.
It was certainly nice to be back in the U.K.
Finally I was out of immigration and made my way to the tube station.
The view of Terminal 2 (just outside the building)
This is Barking neighbourhood where my accommodation was at.
That's all folks! Hope you enjoyed my part 2 of my Air China 2025 experience!
My ratings
Airline Website/Mobile App: 2.5/5
Airport Experience (PEK): 3.5/5
Inflight Service: 3/5
Seat Comfort: 3/5
Inflight Entertainment: 4/5
Cabin Ambiance: 5/5
Seat Condition: 3/5 (Seat reclining issue)
Cleanliness: 5/5
InFlight Meal/Beverage: 3/5
Punctuality: 3/5 (10 minutes late)
Overall Rating: 35/50
Percentage: 70%
Conclusion
This airline offers very competitive airfare especially on the China to Europe routes, mainly because the Chinese airlines are the only ones flying through Russia which enables them operate the route profitably even at a lower airfare compared to the European rivals and that is good for the consumers. While the website and mobile app are a mixed bag for me with the user interface being frustrating to use at times, at least you receive useful notification abour my flight and more importantly the wheresabout of my luggage. As for the soft and hard products, they are pretty good. Don't understimate these chinese airlines, they actually know what they are doing.
Despite some of the negative feedback I heard about transiting at Beijing from some of my friends, I had no issue at all after going through the transit at this airport. Just a strict security check and that's about it, the airport terminal itself is modern and fine, I have no issue staying a few hours hanging around over there, making use of the WiFi and also getting some of my electronic device charged.
Overall I had a pleasant flight experience with this airline and enjoyed the transit during my time at Beijing Airport. I would do this again if the airfare is right.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed these trip reports on Air China!
Cheers,
Charles
For my part 1 of my Air China 2025 Trip Report (Boeing 787-9 SIN-PEK), click here
For my next trip report (ITA Airways LCY-LIN A220-100), click here
(If you are happy with my work, feel free to contribute by donating any amount over here. Greatly appreciated!)
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