Review of China Eastern flight Shanghai Phnom Penh in Economy

Airline China Eastern
Flight MU759
Class Economy
Seat 37B
Aircraft Airbus A321
Flight time 04:00
Take-off 25 Feb 17, 20:15
Arrival at 25 Feb 17, 23:15
MU 173 reviews
ChrisB
By GOLD 636
Published on 10th July 2021

my first time in asia: hello cambodia!


Back in 2016 a very good friend of mine had the idea to go to Cambodia amongst us 6 friends… He used to work there and knows well the country. What we didn't know at the time and found out later is that he also proposed his girlfriend on a beautiful beach!
I just wanted to share this little story to bring a bit of romance into this world of kerosene! 


Flying blue Miles earned with this flight: 504
Status earned: 5 XP



photo shanghai

This flight is in continuation of our previous flight from London; I know a bit of a detour but really cheap! Look at the price 


photo routing

China eastern airlines isn't the best user friendly website, and there was no application at the time… In fact it really felt like completely out of time as you had to phone a call centre to book seats in advance and to have your boarding pass issued to your email directly - see below.


photo boarding-pass-2-19671

The flight is operated on an A321, that has a configuration of 178 seats, which is quite ok for this kind of cabin… If you compare with A321 of Air France / Lufthansa / British Airways where they fit a good 30 more people for the same fuselage..

You can tell Business class is fitted with proper business seats, not just with the same layout but with the middle seat free. 


photo w020190320720985744088-61435

at shanghai pudong airport


We arrived at the airport from the previous flight from London Heathrow with a transfert bus.
Arrival was a bit impressive to go through passport controls as we were asked to provide a few elements. 


photo hkg-pvg-19

We got another boarding pass ticket printed and stamped to let us go through the international area.


photo 20210706_114900

We had some food in the duty free area at coffee place… 

The lady at the coffee told us off as we sat near the windows to have the view on the runways, instead she requests us to move and offered us a table near the entrance of the bar… The avgeek in me was disappointed! 


We arrived at our gate and I realised there was no jetway, another transfer bus was positioned instead.

The bus followed the route and we got lucky - we passed in front of the - what was supposed to be the real flagship of Air France - super dumbo jet! Sorry for the quality of the picture…


photo 20210706_165556

onboard the a321


photo dcm6784

Our bus arrived and parked on the side of the plane and we boarded with stairs - good old fashion way.


Aircraft: Airbus A321-231
 Registration: COuldn't remember sorry!
Engines: 2x IAE V25200
Age: 10 Years
Layout: 178 seats
Observation: With the new livery


The AvGeek bit

China Eastern airline has an impressive fleet of 566 aircrafts, amongst which 329 are out of the A320 family: 35 A319, 180 A320, 37 A320Neo and 77 A321s; that is really the backbone of the domestic aircafts. It has to be noted that it was the first chinese airline to order Airbus aircafts. China Eastern airlines was born at the same time as China Southern and Air China, all three for the former heavily regulated national airline. The airline is the second busiest airline in China, after China Southern however is the most present Chinese carrier internationally, strengthening bonds with Delta, Virgin and AirFrance KLM. 


photo 20210706_165908

The Cabin seemed quite modern and the seats were nice. I think it is a nice thing that CEA decided to position toilets in the section of the cabin just near the emergency exits.


photo img_2365

We taxied a short time and took off shortly after.


photo 20210706_165830

We were a bit tired after all this journey and without having a shower nor properly resting all these hours so I must admit I fell fast asleep.

The crew woke us up when they served food, which was a real plus to have a complimentary snack for that fare.


The time for my usual magazine review!!


photo 20210706_115148

The magazine is quite thick, the pictures are all very attractive and is written in majority in chinese but there is also some english.


photo 20210706_115215

Quite sadly, for an avgeek like me, there isn't any information / graphs about the fleet, but instead there is this interesting map featuring some of the major airports both nationally and internationally with the indication as of where China Eastern Airline usually operates from. 


photo 20210706_115327

After almost 4 hours and me being fast asleep again, we descended towards the capital of Cambodia..


photo img_6343-min

at PHNOM PENH airport


I remember the landing being very smooth, the airport staff being very friendly, the airport very cool with AC and outside very warm!

And very soon after we were off in a tuk tuk!! 


photo 20210706_165745

the last Cliché of our plane.

See more

Verdict

China Eastern

5.0/10
Cabin6.0
Cabin crew2.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering6.0

Shanghai - PVG

7.0/10
Efficiency6.5
Access7.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.0

Phnom Penh - PNH

7.2/10
Efficiency8.0
Access7.0
Services6.5
Cleanliness7.5

Conclusion

Flight was ok, but the stop at PVG made it a long and tiring journey.

The real plus was the catering offered with this medium haul flight.

Related

0 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !

Login to post a comment.