The second Air China flight I took as part of my trip to Africa in June 2024 was from Beijing Capital to London. Rather than flying to Heathrow, I took the airline’s third ever flight to Gatwick.
Continue reading this review to see what the economy class flight was like. While Air China has switched the aircraft type on the route to the A350-900 since then, this review should still give you a good idea of what the service on your flight will be like if you are flying to London or what your aircraft will be like if you are flying somewhere else on the A330-300.
Transfer, Lounge & Boarding at Beijing Capital Airport
After arriving in Beijing from Jeju on an Air China 737-800, I followed the transfer signs, which ended up leading me, as well as a few other passengers to a dead end. As such, we made a U-turn and headed back, finally finding the actual transfer area.
From there on, things were smooth – I had my boarding pass stamped twice (a couple of meters apart…), went through a security check (where I had to take out all my camera gear), and then found myself in Terminal 3E’s departure area.
As I still had a couple of hours until my flight to London, scheduled to depart at 2:30AM, would depart, I took some aircraft photos before heading to the Air China Business Class Lounge for a quick shower and a bite to eat.
I left the lounge around 1:45AM and headed to gate E14.
Outside, an Airbus A330-300 registered B-8385 was being prepared for the flight. Having been delivered to Air China brand new in August 2017, the aircraft was just seven years old.
Boarding started at 1:52AM and, being a Star Alliance Gold member, I was able to be among the first onboard despite flying in economy class.
At the end of the jetway, China Daily and a newspaper in Chinese were available for passengers to take.
Air China A330-300 Economy Class Cabin & Seat
Air China operates A330-300s in two different configurations – an older configuration with 311 seats and a newer configuration with 301 seats. The aircraft operating my flight to London was in the latter configuration.
It was equipped with 30 full-flat business class seats in a 2-2-2 layout and 271 economy class seats in a 2-4-2 layout. The first two economy class rows were marketed as “premium economy” but were simply economy class seats with more legroom than the remaining rows.
There were no individual air vents on the overhead panels.
The seats offered decent legroom and lacked an in-flight entertainment box which would take away valuable leg space.
Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the seats were equipped with leg rests, something that is a rarity nowadays.
The seatback in front housed a relatively small and low-resolution in-flight entertainment screen, a literature compartment, a small seat pocket, a coat hook, and a tray table which could be folded in half and or used as a cup holder.
While the seats lacked USB charging ports, there were shared (i.e. one per window-side seat pair and three per middle section group of four seats) universal power outlets under the seats.
Air China Flight 851 Departure
Upon boarding, a decent-size pillow and a blanket were waiting on each seat and headphones were placed in each seat pocket.
At 2:18AM, we were welcomed onboard by the captain who also mentioned that our flight time would be 10 hours and 20 minutes.
By continuing to fly over Russian airspace, Chinese airlines are able to offer considerably shorter flight times than their Western counterparts. While there is no non-Chinese airline currently connecting Beijing and London, in the case of Shanghai, for example, China Eastern’s flights take approximately 11.5 to 12 hours while British Airways’ and Virgin Atlantic’s flights take over 13 to 13.5 hours.
Having fallen asleep shortly after boarding, I am not sure when exactly we were pushed back. However, we started taxiing toward runway 36R at 2:39AM and took off 10 minutes later.
Air China Long-Haul Economy Class Late Night Light Meal
About 45 minutes after take-off, a late night light meal service, which ended up dragging on until after 4AM, started.
First, drinks were served. I was pleased to receive a full can of Coke Zero rather than a half empty cup as is often the case on some airlines nowadays. About 20 minutes after I was served the drink, I was served a small tray with a tune and cheese sandwich, a packaged muffin, and a cup of water.
While the meal was nothing to write home about, it was just the right size given the late night (or early morning?) departure.
About 10 minutes after the meal was served, the crew passed through the cabin again, offering both hot and cold drinks.
Another 20 minutes or so later, just under two hours after take-off, the trays and trash were collected.
Air China A330-300 In-Flight Entertainment System
In-flight entertainment on the Air China A330-300 was available both through the in-seat screen, as well as through streaming via the aircraft’s wi-fi network. There were some differences in the content selection available on the two.
As mentioned earlier, a (decent for economy class) pair of headphones was available in the seat pocket upon boarding.
The in-seat entertainment system was available in English, Chinese, and French, and mainly controllable through the touchscreen.
It offered a selection of dozens of movies (both non-Chinese, presumably modified to one extent or another, and Chinese). There were also a few TV shows, each with a couple of episodes, as well as a variety of documentaries about nature. Music selection primarily consisted of classical music, Chinese pop, and folk.
There was one game – Do Di Zhu, a Chinese card game.
Prior to each movie, a commercial that could be fast-forwarded through was played.
In addition to entertainment, the personal screen also offered access to an in-flight map and flight information screen.
The map was fully controllable (i.e. one could zoom in and out, go to different places on the map, change the views, etc.).
Air China A330-300 Onboard Wi-Fi
While, as mentioned above, there was a wi-fi network onboard the aircraft which allowed passengers to stream entertainment, the Air China A330-300 was not equipped with internet connectivity.
Cruising Onboard an Air China A330-300
Given that the flight departed Beijing after 2AM and landed in London around 6AM, I spent most of my time onboard sleeping (luckily, I sleep well on planes, even in economy class).
That said, at some point, I paid a visit to one of the aircraft’s lavatories, which was kept fairly clean. In addition to soap, there was also body lotion.
It is also worth noting that throughout the night, the cabin crew regularly passed through the cabin offering water.
Air China Long-Haul Economy Class Breakfast
The cabin lights were switched back on around 3:15AM London time, just as we entered the Finnish airspace. At that point, we had about three hours to go until landing.
Fifteen minutes later, the breakfast service started with a drink run.
Shortly after, an announcement was made that breakfast would be offered and that there were two choices: Chinese beef porridge and omelet with potatoes. I received my breakfast around 4AM, about 45 minutes after the cabin lights were switched on.
I went with the latter option, which was just fine. In addition to the omelet and potatoes, a sausage was also part of the main. Additionally, there was a packaged croissant and some cut watermelon.
Interestingly, my neighbor opted for the former, however, after seeing the meal, regretted her decision and ended up switching her meal with the passenger sitting to her right.
About 15 minutes after the meal was served, the cabin crew went through the cabin offering drinks.
The trays were cleared about 35 minutes after the meal was served.
Arrival at London Gatwick Airport
Around 5:25AM, just as we were flying along the German coast, the cabin crew made an announcement saying we would be landing in about an hour and that onboard service would be ending in 10 minutes.
At 5:50AM, the pilots asked the cabin crew to take seats for landing, and at 6:13AM, we landed on London Gatwick’s runway 26L.
We reached our parking spot at the airport’s North Terminal at 6:27AM, eight minutes ahead of our 6:35AM scheduled time of arrival.
Going through immigration was a breeze given that Japanese passport holders can use the automated gates and in no time, I found myself waiting for a bus to London Heathrow where the next flight of my trip was departing from.
Air China A330-300 Economy Class Summary
If you are looking for an airline offering great, above average service, then Air China is not the airline for you. However, if you are looking to get from East Asia to Europe or vice versa comfortably enough, quickly, and cheaply then it is a great option.
Especially so given that on most of the airline’s flights to Europe (now including the Gatwick flight) you get to fly on Air China’s newer aircraft including its A350s and 787s for an enhanced onboard experience compared to my flight.