Originally Posted by
rathin100
None of the above is true. Air China offers Chauffeur drive to transcon J pax at all its hubs. IMO there is therefore no cultural or logistical impediment -- If they can so can EK. BKK also has plenty of excellent car service providers at the airport.
Definitely not a cultural issue, however I guess EK is just too scared to provide the service as traffic trully can be horrible, and getting to the airport from some parts of SHA or PEK is really, really bad. (And much easier to take the subway or alternative means of transport)
It can't be a cost thingy either - if they can afford chaffeur drive in Switzerland where the driver will be getting 2500€ at least per month, then getting an english speaking driver for half that amount in China shouldn't be an issue.
So, what I guess is that they're just afraid of offering the service as they would have to make pickup times 4hrs++ for some places, or cut the range they offer chauffeur service massively.
Europe/US have much worse service on cheap or even "quality" airlines, service on China Southern or Hainan Airlines is quite decent, and even on Eastern it's much better than most Euro carriers which are much more expensive. Free hot ok-ish meal (2 choices) + free beer/soft drinks on a 1.5 hrs flight? I've experienced it on many Chinese carriers, but on US carriers?