A380 Flyer

I am interested to know which of the Far Eastern airlines are generally thought of to be ahead of the rest? I have done a little analysis of some of them, but don't have experience with the Chinese carriers.

Would most people put Cathay and Korean Air ahead of the rest? Why? I certainly feel safest when I am flying with Cathay. On the other hand, airlines like China Eastern fill me with dread. Is this fair? How do they have such a reputation?

Being based in Europe, it is unlikely I would ever fly to the Far East directly (well, maybe on CX), as I would prefer to gain *A miles on the SQ A380. But it seems that airlines in that part of the world geographically need to concentrate on transpacific routes, as that's where the money is for them, rather than focusing on Europe or the Middle-East.

I have flown with Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, All Nippon, and EVA, but really want to fly with their rivals (Hong Kong Airlines, Asiana, JAL, China Airlines) to get a better comparison. And then Hainan Airlines, and China Southern (on their A380) will be good to experience.

What are your favourite airlines of this part of the world, and why?

http://backpackerlee.wordpress.com/2...athay-pacific/

dvs7310

A lot of this is going to be very subjective and depend on class of service. In premium classes you'll probably get tons of recommendations for new equiment on SQ, CX, and NH. OZ, KE, BR, JL not far behind if much at all. Next tier probably CI, TG, MH. Well below that are the 3 or 4 big Chinese carriers, VN, PR, etc. Again though this would be my ranking of premium classes, for economy I don't see enough of a difference in any of them to choose beyond which one is most convenient, 100% mileage earning in my preferred program (important) , and then price. All except PR and VN have quite a bit of service to Europe so you could easily sample any of them.

kkjay77

Agree with dvs7310. CX, SQ, NH are all great airlines while OZ and BR are very good too. All but one of the airlines above are in *A.

Wilbur

Again, I agree with kkjay77 and dvs7310 that this is subjective.

However, the vast majority of frequent travelers in Asia would suggest that either CX or SQ holds the crown, while NH is right beside them to make up the top three.

In my forty years of experience, the rest of the Asian airlines shake out as such. The next tier of excellence you have JL in all its permutations and Dragonair, the junior varsity of CX.

In the third tier you have the big nationals, including KE, BR, OZ, TG, MH, and CI. Sometimes you can have a great flight with these guys, but generally you will get what you expect.

In the fourth tier you have some new airlines, or old airlines with new aircraft, systems and management. Vietnam Airlines with the new planes is a good example, where the new-car smell of long-chain polymers can really enhance the experience.

In the fifth tier you have tired old airlines with bad hubs and endemic corruption like PAL, or shifty owners and bad safety records (pick the Indonesian airline of your choice).

And in the dungeon of air service, you have the internal Chinese flights, the holidaymaker specials to Bangkok on ancient aircraft, Air Koryo, or the flight with the special "fresh" kimchi meal.

A380 Flyer

Interesting tiers. I would always have put KE up there almost with CX and SQ. I have never had a bad flight with them around Asia (mainly NRT and HKG routes).

And when you mention the "dungeons", do you mean the likes of China Eastern or Air China? I was thinking of taking Air China to ULN later in the year...

smith80678

Here are the top airlines: World Airline Awards - Airline of the Year 2014

1. Cathay Pacific

2. Qatar Airways

3. Singapore Airlines

4. Emirates

5. Turkish Airlines

6. ANA All Nippon Airways

7. Garuda Indonesia

8. Asiana Airlines

9. Etihad Airways

10. Lufthansa

A380 Flyer

I believe those rankings are political.

So if you had to fly transpacific to LAX or JFK, would you choose NH, CX, BR, or KE? I think most people would prefer to fly with CX, but their fares are a premium.

relangford

I think Air Koryo is banned from most destinations outside North Korea. Even China no longer allows Air Koryo flights.

BuildingMyBento

There's not much choice on the PEK-ULN route. If you care about miles (even though it's not that many), go with CA. If you want to check off different airlines, consider a combination of Miat and CA, though that's inherently a riskier move.

As for East/SE Asian airlines, at least for service in Y, I believe JL is way beyond every other, but CI and CX have also been alright. Air Koryo was good too, in fact, my two flights with them were far better than most other flights I've taken in that region.

For food in Y, if it's not a Japanese or Korean airline, I'll aim for a Hindu meal. Since catering in Indonesia and China are unreliable, I try to "raid" an imported-goods supermarket the night before to stock up on snacks and sundries. Failing that, it's tough...

IFE is usually an important category for me, but it's much more preferable to be able to get up, stretch and find a place in which I can read a newspaper or magazine. Generally though, SQ and maybe CX have been the only contenders for their larger selection of programs and music.

h1ghfly3r

didn't know that. Do you have a source?

smith80678

The European Union banned air koryo over safety concerns. They do
allow their Tu-204 aircraft however http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-204

Wilbur

Internal Chinese flights are by definition going to be on Chinese carriers, and the service is uniformly poor on their internal flights for the following airlines in my experience.

Hainan
Air China
China Eastern
Xinhua
China Southern
Shanghai Airlines

And when you combined poor in-flight service consistent flight delays, grim hubs, lack of clean facilities and general disorganization, the complaints about domestic flights in the US seem a little shallow in comparison.

moondog

With the possible exceptions of CAN, KMG, and CTU, the "hub" concept (as in fly in from one place, switch planes, and fly out to a second place) doesn't really exist in China.

I actually don't think that Chinese airlines suck in the general sense, though I do have a strong dislike for MU/FM (always late and bad attitude). Shenzhen Airlines is probably my favorite right now (new planes, prompt by China standards, and nice people). Xiamen Airlines (wholly owned by CZ) is also pretty nice. Of the big 3, most people here seem to rate CZ the best, but I prefer CA as long as I'm on good airplanes (330, 77W).

I think a lot of people have negative impressions about flying in China because of delay problems. But, honestly, the airlines *usually* aren't to blame for these and KA is affected every bit as much as CA.

deniah

i haven't found any ground service better than TG's. (for that reason they make my personal tri-fecta of LX/LH/TG.)

CX on equal grounds with OZ.

havent sampled all of the world's premium product so cant compare with the rest of them, but of my 15 carriers or so, these are right up there again with TG in top3

celle

I've previously flown with EK, SQ, and TG. Never with Cathay Pacific.

This week, we flew LHR-HKG-AKL on Cathay Pacific.

For the LHR-HKG section, I would have rated CX very poorly. Uncomfortable seat, insipid meal and poor cabin crew service. (I think we had the B team).
For the HKG-AKL section, comfort, food and performance were all much improved and I would rate that flight as good as some on other airlines.

Of course, everyone's experience is subjective, but I think so much depends on the cabin crew.

Nothing in my recent experience would lead me to choose CX over SQ, EK, or TG.