Review of Air China flight from Beijing to Islamabad in Business

Intro/Great Wall Of China

Hello from Peshawar, Pakistan! My next part of this live series would see me heading over to country number 115: Pakistan, in hopes of obtaining my visa to Afghanistan. With a nice fare out of Hong Kong, connecting in Beijing, I was able to visit my last world wonder that morning before returning back to Beijing Capital Airport. The Great Wall Of China is a magical place! 

First, a few pics from my trip to the Great Wall Of China. What an amazing experience! It started off after a sleep at the Camfrey, a basic hotel but decent, and we headed off at 6 am to The Great Wall. 

From there it was an amazing experience taking the cable car up. The only problem is that I only had a hoodie, and it was 24 degrees F outside. FREEZING!

But once at the top, all of that went away. My 7th and final World Wonder. Let's just say, this is by far my favorite and the most magical. 

Truly surreal…

Okay, back to the flight report…

Well, yesterday, I had the chance to fly on the Air China A330-300 from Beijing Capital to Islamabad in Business Class and it was quite the experience. I’ve gotta say, this flight was really good on almost all fronts. There were only two things that let me down, the crew using the cabin for rest, and the lack of WIFI… 

Routing

How I Booked

My main goal for this trip is to visit Afghanistan, and the quickest way to get a visa into the country is through Peshawar in which they supposedly issue visas in 30 minutes. As I had cleared pluspoints to Hong Kong, that just meant I had to get from Hong Kong to Islamabad/Peshawar.

So, this left me with two options. Either CX to CAN, and then China Southern to Islamabad for 800$ in Business, or Air China from Hong Kong to Beijing and then onward to Islamabad for 798$. The only issue was that this meant I had to book it through Expedia, which I always get nervous doing.

Considering this was about 10 hours of Business Class for 800$, I would get to see my last World Wonder (on the drive out now there), and it would get me closer to retaining 1K, this is an exceptional deal. 

Check-In

Following a surreal morning visiting my last World Wonder, and an 80-minute drive to the airport, I arrived at around 11:30 am, with plenty of time before my scheduled 2:30 pm departure to Islamabad. 

For those interested, Air China uses Terminal 3 for all international flights.

Strolling inside door 1, there was a quick explosives check at the door before heading down the walkway and turning right towards the dedicated business class check-in. This business class check-in is quite nice, with friendly staff, and even a dedicated “rest space”. 

Quite a nice check-in hall. I saw some United signs as they operate 1x daily flights from PEK-SFO, but it never has PZ space displayed…

The Air China Lounge

Once finishing up with the security, the next hurdle became taking the train to immigration and actually clearing immigration. While I love the concept of funneling passengers to different parts of a building, immigration took quite a while today in Beijing. 

When all was said and done, I made it through by about 12:15 pm and headed off to the Air China Lounge located by gates E13-E19. It’s a decent lounge offering plenty of seating, some local wines, local beers, and food, but it isn’t up there with the other carrier's lounges in Asia. It also gets packed around the peak departure times to Europe…

The secret Panda wifi 😉.

Some more pics from around the lounge! 

Some food selections as well. They have local wines on offer as well.

Boarding

With boarding time scheduled for 2:00 pm, I made my way out of the lounge around 1:50 pm to embark on the long walk to gate E36. Terminal 3 is a pretty straightforward terminal, but it’s also quite spread out meaning the furthest gate can take about 20 minutes to get to. However, I was greeted with some beautiful birds on the way…

Our plane for today:

As I arrived right on the stroke of 2 pm, boarding was just wrapping up. Seeing as my ticket was in Business, I was quickly scanned through and off down the jetbridge. 

Stepping onboard, I was greeted with smiles all around and complimented on my Panda hat (from the Great Wall Of China). I knew this flight was going to be a good one. 

The Seat/Cabin

Air China operates two different configurations on their A330-300s. The former is with 30 lie-flat seats and the latter is with 36 angled flat seats (I think). Thankfully, we were on the former today, featuring 5 rows of business class in a 2-2-2 configuration. 

Bulkhead

My seat: 15L

A dimmed cabin

These seats are pretty much identical to what you would find on the likes of LOT or Turkish Airlines (777s/333s) with unlimited legroom, storage underneath the ottoman, a light by your head, and seat controls in the middle.

Charger ports and remote:

However, the one difference I noticed was that the armrest between the pair of seats raises to create a privacy partition. That’s a nice feature!

Obviously, in today's world, a 2-2-2 configuration in business class is pretty outdated. However, with only 3 passengers booked into business, and 6 crew members resting in the seats, it was quite private on today's flight.

Departure

Once onboard, I was once again, escorted to my seat and shown a pair of those comfortable slippers to wear. This small detail from Air China is fantastic! 

Moments later, the lovely FA came around to offer me a pre-departure beverage of water, champagne, or orange juice, as well as distributing menus and showcasing the amenity kit.

As the clock ticked by, 2:25 came around and boarding was wrapped up. The FA came over and asked me if I wanted another glass of champagne… well… why not? Might as well indulge for the next few minutes before we push!

It was a beautiful day to be gazing out of the window, and even more beautiful when we pushed back 2 minutes behind schedule at 2:32. A few minutes later the engines were rolling and we motored our way on the long taxi out to 36R. 

Listening to the virtual “security officer” go on a cheeky rant about not what to do on the plane, I caught a glimpse of one of the airlines I have been dying to fly: Turkmenistan. How gorgeous is that plane??

I digress, 30 minutes after pushback we rocketed out of Beijing Capital to the North with a very bumpy ascent. In fact, it didn’t really calm down until about 25 minutes after departure…

China is honestly gorgeous. At some point in my life, I would love to come here for a year and explore smaller towns in the middle of nowhere. I sometimes forget how large of a country it is.

Amenities

Once airborne and with the cabin crew seated, I figured I should take a look at the amenities on offer this afternoon. Let’s just say, for a medium-haul flight, this is exceptional. Each passenger receives a comfortable pillow, a day blanket, a boujee pair of noise-canceling headphones, and a L’Occitane amenity kit. 

A comfy blanket

A lovely amenity kit:

IFE+WIFI

Now we’re zooming, let’s take a look at the IFE. Each passenger receives a decent high-definition touchscreen on the seatback in front featuring an okay* selection of movies and TV shows. I’m not going to go out there and say that Air China has exceptional IFE, but it has enough to keep one entertained on a couple of flights. 

However, when it comes to WIFI, this is where I was let down. Heading over to settings, I noticed that Air China might have wifi on today's flight? Unfortunately, I never actually got this to connect so I have no idea the speeds or prices…

Meal Service

Hmmm, I’m hungry (no really I am writing this from a hotel in Peshawar where all of the restaurants are closed due to Ramadan and I didn't think about this before…)! 30 Minutes after takeoff, the cabin crew came around to once again distribute hot towels and set up my table for lunch (I think, or maybe dinner at this rate).

While the menu looked really good, I was a little scared to eat some of it due to my nut allergy, hence why I usually eat Western food in my reviews. It’s really annoying, but I also would prefer to not go into anaphylaxis on the plane…

The drinks service started with a soda water and a glass of wine which was poured to perfection. The FA came over with the bottle, poured a little bit while showcasing the bottle, and proceeded to pour the remaining once I said: “Perfecto”. 

A couple of minutes later, the crew had arranged some fruit, cheese, plenty of garlic bread, and two portions of white rice for me to indulge in. Everything that I ate was delicious, and the crew was constantly coming around to top off my wine and garlic bread. 

Top notch service all around here. What a relaxing way to spend a flight. Before someone says anything, I am very mindful and eat over the bowl, nor do I spill anything…

An hour after takeoff, it was time for bed. 

Nap Time!

With a mostly empty cabin, the lights were all turned off once my meal was finished, at which point I decided to make up my bed. The one thing I will mention is that the seats on the A330 did feel a bit more narrow than the 787. Anyways, looks cozy doesn’t it? 

Well, as I was finishing up Jumanji, a pilot came over to sit in 5A and grabbed a thick blanket from above. I figured I might as well ask for one and my oh my am I glad I did, as this is the most comfortable blanket in the sky (minus an actual duvet). Note: these are not available usually.

Considering it had been a long day exploring the Great Wall of China, I managed to fall asleep for about 3.5 hours and was woken up by the cabin crew 40 minutes prior to landing asking if I would like something. A Champoffe it is for me!

Similar to Turkish Airlines, this was one of the best sleeps I have ever had on a plane. 

Lavatories

Feeling revived and ready to rumble, I headed over to the lavatory by door 2R. Throughout the flight, these were kept very clean which impressed me, although few amenities were on offer. 

1L Lavatory

For those interested, lavatories are located by doors 1L, 2L, and 2R creating a good ratio.  

Service

I don’t usually get to fly much with airlines from China, but I think this might change in the future. Carriers in Asia have long been known for their good service, and Air China was no exception on the two flights I took with them. From start to finish, the service was exceptional. Here are a couple of things that stood out to me.

The slippers being placed at my feet upon boarding is fantastic.
The cabin crew was very attentive during meal service, but not in your face. You can tell that from a couple of rows away, they glance to make sure you still have wine left in your glass before turning away smoothly.
When speaking, it was always at eye level which to me is a little unnecessary, but an amazing addition.
Just very kind people as a whole, much like everyone I met in China on this trip. 

Arrival

Returning back to my seat, I was pleasantly surprised to see two to-go cups waiting. One featuring a coffee, and the other featuring a champagne. Due to the mountainous region surrounding Islamabad, the cabin crew wrapped up the cabin with 30 minutes until landing and made sure that everyone had their seats upright, and seatbelts fastened. 

Having never been to Pakistan, I gazed out at the beauty of this country. The approach in itself was beautiful, as we flew right over the airport before making a bank to our portside, until eventually touching down behind schedule at 5:58 pm local time. 

As we pulled into the gate a few minutes late, an announcement was made about who could deplane and who couldn’t. Since this flight is a triangle route PEK-ISB-KHI-PEK, they had to verify each disembarking passenger's boarding pass.


No worries, as I was off the plane in no time to see, guess what? A KAM AIR A340-300 that had just landed from Kabul. How cool is that when I am supposed to fly on it tomorrow?? YES I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE EXCITED TO FLY A PLANE!

Okay, okay, I have to say it. With a long walk to immigration, I found not a line waiting, but a herd of people pushing through to the front of the line. Absolutely hilarious, it was honestly as if people were trying to be the first ones into a music festival. Within 20 minutes I had cleared immigration (somehow) and it was off to find a driver to take me to Peshawar!

Update: I got my visa to Afghanistan today. Guess it's all said and done, ready to go. Thanks for reading, and hope you are enjoying this live series 🙂.