Originally Posted by
miklcct
The last time I tried to fly through Beijing failed and I would not attempt to connect thru Beijing again - maybe I will fly Aeroflot to Europe in the future.
I booked flights with 9 hours between and the result was diversion after 5 hours delay for the 1st flight - which I missed the 2nd flight and had to bought another route immediately since the 2nd flight only flew once per 2-3 days. Flights to PEK are seldom on time, most notoriously flight CA116 which is almost always delayed by 4+ hours and 25% chance of cancelling.
Guess what happens if you miss a connection in Moscow that only has a 3x weekly flight.. at least in PEK you can go explore the city.
Bad stuff happens, getting a diversion happens round the globe.
Guess what happens if your flight is a bit late to land at most German airports? You'll be diverted to some regional 24hr open airport.. if you're unlucky (non-Schengen) you're "locked up" over night there.. won't happen in PEK. Does happen in FRA, MUC...
If you're flying on a "thin route", and really hitting all the unlucky spots, then yes, sometimes you just take the short straw. Doesn't have to do much with PEK, though. Flying int-int or int-dom via PEK never is an issue. Dom-Int, while I'd advise to get a longer layover, also never failed for me.
Delays and diversions are part of worlds flying. Nothing that PEK has exclusively booked. Flying this week through PEK, and MUCH more afraid of something going bad on my further connection in HKG due to their frequent typhoons..